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BowPark
Asked: 2015-08-26 02:19:48 +0800 CST

Use tty without login every time

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In the Ubuntu-based systems, from the desktop environment, it is possible to open several tabs from the terminal emulator without making a login every time: the user is already logged in for every tab (usually each tab corresponds to a /dev/pts/x device).

By pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1 ... F6 it is possible to access a tty which is a fully-textual and full-screen terminal. But in contrast with the graphic terminal emulator tabs, a new login is required every time and for each new tty.

Is there a way to avoid this? I would like to be already logged in when I press Ctrl+Alt+F1 ... F6, when I access those text-terminals from the graphic environment (where I logged in!).

command-line

2 Answers

  1. See man screen, it says, in part: 

    DESCRIPTION
       Screen  is  a  full-screen  window  manager that multiplexes a physical
       terminal between  several  processes  (typically  interactive  shells).
       Each  virtual  terminal  provides the functions of a DEC VT100 terminal
       and, in addition, several control functions from the ISO 6429 (ECMA 48,
       ANSI X3.64) and ISO 2022 standards (e.g. insert/delete line and support
       for multiple character sets).  There is a scrollback history buffer for
       each virtual terminal and a copy-and-paste mechanism that allows moving
       text regions between windows.

    I use it on CTRLAltFn screens all the time

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  2. Best Answer

    Ubuntu by default uses agetty to manange TTYs. The man page for that defines -a, --autologin username options for logging in a specified username automatically. Thus one can do the following:

    1. Open with root permissions /etc/init/tty1.conf file in your favorite text editor. I'm doing sudo vim /etc/init/tty1.conf but you can use pkexec gedit /etc/init/tty1.conf

    2. Alter the default line exec /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty2 to exec /sbin/getty --autologin myUserName -8 38400 tty2.

    3. Save and exit. Repeat for other tty files as necessary

    Note that for single-user system this is appropriate, but not recommended when you have multiple users ( for obvious privacy reasons )

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