1OPENVT(1)                   General Commands Manual                  OPENVT(1)
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NAME

6       openvt - start a program on a new virtual terminal (VT).
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SYNOPSIS

9       openvt [-c vtnumber] [OPTIONS] [--] command
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DESCRIPTION

12       openvt  will  find the first available VT, and run on it the given com‐
13       mand with the given command options , standard input, output and  error
14       are  directed to that terminal. The current search path ($PATH) is used
15       to find the requested command. If no  command  is  specified  then  the
16       environment variable $SHELL is used.
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18   OPTIONS
19       -c, --console=VTNUMBER
20              Use  the  given  VT number and not the first available. Note you
21              must have write access to the supplied VT for this to work.
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23       -f, --force
24              Force opening a VT without checking whether  it  is  already  in
25              use.
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27       -e, --exec
28              Directly  execute  the  given  command,  without  forking.  This
29              option is meant for use in /etc/inittab.
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31       -s, --switch
32              Switch to the new VT when starting the command. The  VT  of  the
33              new command will be made the new current VT.
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35       -u, --user
36              Figure  out  the  owner of the current VT, and run login as that
37              user.  Suitable to be called by init. Shouldn't be used with  -c
38              or -l.
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40       -l, --login
41              Make  the command a login shell. A - is prepended to the name of
42              the command to be executed.
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44       -v, --verbose
45              Be a bit more verbose.
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47       -w, --wait
48              wait for command to complete. If -w and  -s  are  used  together
49              then  openvt  will  switch back to the controlling terminal when
50              the command completes.
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52       -V, --version
53              print program version and exit.
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55       -h, --help
56              show this text and exit.
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58       --     end of options to openvt.
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NOTE

61       If openvt is compiled with a getopt_long() and you wish to set  options
62       to  the  command  to be run, then you must supply the end of options --
63       flag before the command.
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EXAMPLES

66       openvt can be used to start a shell on the next free VT, by  using  the
67       command:
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69       openvt bash
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72       To start the shell as a login shell, use:
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74       openvt -l bash
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77       To get a long listing you must supply the -- separator:
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79       openvt -- ls -l
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HISTORY

82       Earlier,  openvt  was  called  open.   It  was  written  by  Jon  Tombs
83       <jon@gtex02.us.es> or  <jon@robots.ox.ac.uk>.   The  -w  idea  is  from
84       "sam".
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SEE ALSO

88       chvt(1), doshell(8), login(1)
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92kbd                               19 Jul 1996                        OPENVT(1)
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