consadm(1m)                                               System Administration Commands                                               consadm(1m)

NAME

       consadm - select or display devices used as auxiliary console devices

SYNOPSIS

       /usr/sbin/consadm

       /usr/sbin/consadm [-a device...] [-p]

       /usr/sbin/consadm [-d device...] [-p]

       /usr/sbin/consadm [-p]

DESCRIPTION

       consadm selects the hardware device or devices to be used as auxiliary console devices, or displays the current device. Only superusers are
       allowed to make or display auxiliary console device selections.

       Auxiliary console devices receive copies of console messages, and can be used as the console during single user mode. In  particular,  they
       receive  kernel  messages and messages directed to /dev/sysmsg. On Solaris x86 based systems they can also be used for interaction with the
       bootstrap.

       By default, selecting a display device to be used as an auxiliary console device selects that device for the duration  the  system  remains
       up. If the administrator needs the selection to persist across reboots the -p option can be specified.

       consadm  runs  a  daemon in the background, monitoring auxiliary console devices. Any devices that are disconnected (hang up, lose carrier)
       are removed from the auxiliary console device list, though not from the persistent list. While auxiliary  console  devices  may  have  been
       removed  from the device list receiving copies of console messages, those messages will always continue to be displayed by the default con-
       sole device.

       The daemon will not run if it finds there are not any auxiliary devices configured to monitor. Likewise, after the last  auxiliary  console
       is removed, the daemon will shut itself down. Therefore the daemon persists for only as long as auxiliary console devices remain active.

       See eeprom(1M) for instructions on assigning an auxiliary console device as the system console.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       -a device       Adds  device to the list of auxiliary console devices. Specify device as the path name to the device or devices to be added
                       to the auxiliary console device list.

       -d device       Removes device from the list of auxiliary console devices. Specify device as the path name to the device or devices  to  be
                       removed from the auxiliary console device list.

       -p              Prints the list of auxiliary consoles that will be auxiliary across reboots.

                       When invoked with the -a or -d options , tells the application to make the change persist across reboot.

EXAMPLES

       Example 1: Adding to the list of devices that will receive console messages

       The following command adds /dev/term/a to the list of devices that will receive console messages.

       example# consadm -a /dev/term/a

       Example 2: Removing from the list of devices that will receive console messages

       The  following command removes /dev/term/a from the list of devices that will receive console messages. This includes removal from the per-
       sistent list.

       example# consadm -d -p /dev/term/a

       Example 3: Printing the list of devices selected as auxiliary console devices

       The following command prints the name or names of the device or devices currently selected as auxiliary console devices.

       example# consadm

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment variables that affect the execution of  consadm:  LC_CTYPE,  LC_MESSAGES,  and
       NLSPATH.

EXIT STATUS

       The following exit values are returned:

       0               Successful completion.

       >0              An error occurred.

ATTRIBUTES

       See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |ATTRIBUTE TYPE               |ATTRIBUTE VALUE              |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Availability                 |SUNWcsu                      |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
       |Stability Level              |Evolving                     |
       +-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SEE ALSO

       svcs(1), eeprom(1M), svcadm(1M), syslogd(1M), kadb(1M), environ(5), attributes(5), smf(5), sysmsg(7d), console(7d)

NOTES

       Auxiliary  console  devices  are  not usable for kadb or firmware I/O, do not receive panic messages, and do not receive output directed to
       /dev/console.

       The consadm service is managed by the service management facility, smf(5), under the service identifier:

       svc:/system/consadm

       Administrative actions on this service, such as enabling, disabling, or requesting restart, can be performed  using  svcadm(1M).  The  ser-
       vice's status can be queried using the svcs(1) command.

SunOS 5.10                                                          27 Oct 2004                                                        consadm(1m)