Clarify TTY and virtual consoles - Discuss

21 Sep 2009


      Hi,
                I need some help to clarify TTY and virtual consoles. Thanks a lot.
1. I learned that to switch from one TTY to another, one must be at the physical machine. Does the same apply to virtual consoles?
                2. My /etc/inittab includes the following. Does that mean there's only one instance of TTY on my CentOS?
...
                # Run gettys in standard runlevels
                co:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty xvc0 9600 vt100-nav
                #1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty1
                #2:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty2
                #3:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty3
                #4:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty4
                #5:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty5
                #6:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty6
3. My CentOS was installed with Base option only. (This should be the minimum.) I don't plan to use any GUI stuff, and I always connect to my CentOS server using SSH. In this case, do I still need virtual consoles and TTYs defined in /etc/securetty?
                4. What does "console" mean in /etc/securetty?