ttymon(1M)

ttymon -- port monitor for terminal ports

Synopsis

/usr/lib/saf/ttymon
/usr/lib/saf/ttymon -g [-h] [-d device] [-l ttylabel] [-t timeout]
[-p prompt] [-m modules]

Description

ttymon is a STREAMS-based TTY port monitor. Its function is to monitor ports, to set terminal modes, baud rates, and line disciplines for the ports, to identify and authenticate users, if required, and to connect users or applications to services associated with the ports. Normally, ttymon is configured to run under the Service Access Controller (SAC), as part of the Service Access Facility (SAF). This is commonly referred to as Daemon Mode. It is configured using the sacadm(1M) command. Each instance of ttymon can monitor multiple ports. The ports monitored by an instance of ttymon are specified in the port monitor's administrative file. The administrative file is configured using the pmadm(1M) and ttyadm(1M) commands. When an instance of ttymon is invoked by the sac command, it starts to monitor its ports. If ttymon is disabled, all ports under that instance of ttymon will also be disabled. For each port, ttymon first initializes the line discipline, and the speed and terminal settings. The values used for initialization are taken from the appropriate entry in the TTY settings file. This file is maintained by the sttydefs(1M) command. An alternative method of invoking ttymon is the Express Mode that is used to monitor a single port.

ttymon writes the information from the issue(4) file, then the login prompt, and waits for user input. If the user shows that the speed is inappropriate by pressing the BREAK key, ttymon hunts to the next ttylabel in the /etc/ttydefs file, adjusts termio(7) values, and writes the prompt again. When valid input is received, that is, one or more non-break keys followed by a newline, ttymon interprets the per-service configuration file for the port, if one exists, invokes the identification and authentication scheme, if one is specified, creates a utmp entry if required, establishes the service environment, and then invokes the service associated with the port. Valid input consists of a string of at least one non-newline character, terminated by a carriage return. After the service terminates, ttymon cleans up the utmp entry, if one exists, and returns the port to its initial state.

If autobaud is enabled for a port, ttymon will try to determine the baud rate on the port automatically. Users must enter a carriage return before ttymon can recognize the baud rate and print the prompt. Currently, the baud rates that can be determined by autobaud are 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200, 38400 and 115200.

If a port is configured as a bidirectional port, ttymon will allow users to connect to a service, and, if the port is free, will allow uucico, cu or ct to use it for dialing out. If a port is bidirectional, ttymon will wait to read a character before it prints a prompt. The bidirectional port option is supported only in Daemon Mode; it is not supported in Express Mode.

If the connect-on-carrier flag is set for a port, ttymon will immediately invoke the port's associated service when a connection request is received. The prompt message will not be sent.

If a port is disabled, ttymon will not start any service on that port. If a disabled message is specified, ttymon will send out the disabled message when a connection request is received.

Service invocation

The service ttymon invokes for a port is specified in the ttymon administrative file. ttymon scans the character string that gives the service to be invoked, looking for one of the two-character sequences ``%d'' and ``%%''. If ``%d'' is found, ttymon modifies the service command to be executed by replacing these two characters with the full pathname of the port (the device name). If ``%%'' is found, ttymon replaces the two characters with a single ``%''. When the service is invoked, file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 are opened to the port device for reading and writing.

If an authentication scheme is specified in the ttymon administrative file and there is no entry in the ID field (this is the default case), the service is invoked with the user ID, group ID, and current home directory set, through set_id, to the user name that is identified and authenticated by the authentication scheme. If both a user ID and an authentication scheme are specified in the ttymon administrative file, the authentication scheme is executed first, then the user ID is set, using the value in the administrative file, not the value given by the authentication scheme. The login authentication scheme is the scheme most commonly associated with ttymon. (See login(1).)

ttymon adds two environment variables, HOME and TTYPROMPT, to the service's environment. HOME is set to the home directory of the user name under which the service is invoked. TTYPROMPT is set to the prompt string configured for the service on the port. This is provided so that a service invoked by ttymon has a means of determining if a prompt was actually issued by ttymon and, if so, what that prompt actually was.

Options

In Express Mode (or standalone) ttymon takes the following options:

-v

On startup, ttymon will list all open virtual terminals (vts) associated with the device specified (typically /dev/console). On exit, the user will be prompted to close all open vts either manually or automatically. Choosing manual places the user in the highest numbered vt at which point the user must manually exit from each vt. Choosing automatic will cause the signals SIGHUP and SIGTERM to each open vt, then after 3 seconds SIGTERM will be sent to each open vt to ensure termination.

-g

A special invocation of ttymon is provided with the -g option. This option is used for the ttymon Express Mode. This form of the command should only be called by applications that need to set the correct baud rate and terminal settings on a port to invoke the LOGIN authentication scheme and then connect to a service, but that cannot be pre-configured under the SAC. The following combinations of options can be used with -g:

-d device: device is the full pathname of the port to which ttymon is to attach. If this option is not specified, file descriptor 0 must be set up by the invoking process to a TTY port.
-h: If the -h flag is not set, ttymon will force a hangup on the line by setting the speed to zero before setting the speed to the default or specified speed.
-t timeout: Specifies that ttymon should exit if no one types anything in timeout seconds after the prompt is sent.
-l ttylabel: ttylabel is a link to a speed and TTY definition in the ttydefs file. This definition tells ttymon at what speed to run initially, what the initial TTY settings are, and what speed to try next if the user shows that the speed is inappropriate by pressing the BREAK key. The default speed is 9600 baud.
-p prompt: Allows the user to specify a prompt string. The default prompt is

login:
-m modules: modules is a comma-separated list of pushable modules. When initializing the port, ttymon will pop all modules on the port and then push modules in the order specified. The line discipline module ldterm is commonly used for terminal ports.

Files

/usr/lib/locale/locale/LC_MESSAGES/uxcore.abi: language-specific message file (see LANG on environ(5)).

References

Callfilter(4bnu), Callservices(4bnu), issue(4), pmadm(1M), sac(1M), sacadm(1M), ttyadm(1M)

Notices

If a port is monitored by more than one ttymon, it is possible for the ttymons to send out prompt messages in such a way that they compete for input.

``Smart modems'' are ones that can communicate at different speeds between the line and the serial port. Do not use the autobaud feature for smart modems for incoming or bidirectional lines. A good choice for smart modems is the highest baud rate that the modem can support. Use the same speed for outgoing cu connections that ttymon uses to monitor incoming connections or the modem will continue to use the speed specified by the cu.

Smart modems that send result codes can result in a premature runtime connection indication. This behavior can be handled by the appropriate modem commands or by using the -r option for ttyadm, and enabling the Daemon Mode. See ttyadm(1M) for more information.

It is recommended that you use default settings on your modems. However, when you want to have the DTR held high on exit for a longer time, in the Daemon Mode add the line:

   'assign DTR_DELAY=delay '

to the /etc/saf/pmtag/_config file.

In the Express Mode, add:

   sh -c 'DTR_DELAY=delay ttymon -g...'

to the /etc/inttab file. In both cases, delay is in milliseconds.