Date: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 11:27:35 -0800 From: underway@comcast.net (Gary W. Swearingen) To: Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: network type console and /etc/ttys Message-ID: <xt7jxthlco.jxt@mail.comcast.net> In-Reply-To: <20040308214054.GD8114@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk> (Matthew Seaman's message of "Mon, 8 Mar 2004 21:40:54 %2B0000") References: <gjsmgjgi9u.mgj@mail.comcast.net> <20040308214054.GD8114@happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk>
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Matthew Seaman <m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk> writes: > On Mon, Mar 08, 2004 at 01:07:09PM -0800, Gary W. Swearingen wrote: >> Seems like basic stuff, but I've never seen mention of it before. > > Actually this comes up on this list quite regularly. Search for > 'remote console access' in the list archives. The trick, basically, > is to tell the system to use Serial A as it's console -- how to do > that is described in the Handbook: Thanks, but as you noted, it's not hard to find info about remote serial port consoles. My question was about doing a similar thing over Ethernet. That is, with a single Ethernet cable between the local NIC and the remote NIC, not necessarily on a real, many-port network, and definitely without telnet, ssh, and other network services running -- so that it works from single-user mode, working just like a serial console. I'm sure the Ethernet support is mostly there in the kernel, but maybe something fairly simple is missing from whatever reads /etc/ttys; eg, to know which NIC is to be the console port), and maybe there needs to be an ethernet-getty (similar to telnet, but which needn't even use IP addresses). And maybe a "ethconsole" addition to "comconsole" and "vidconsole" in "/boot/loader.conf". Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems like this would be a often- used feature, especially as RS-232 serial ports will probably be disappearing from new motherboards in the next few years.
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