Remember getty? Remember kermit? If you already put a fork in these utilities, think again. They are still useful today if you want to log into your Linux box over the serial port.
The first step is to make sure the serial port is enabled in the BIOS. I’ll often disable the serial port because it is not in use. Once it is enabled, add an entry in the /etc/inittab to start the getty process on your serial port. On Ubuntu, you just need to uncomment out the following:
T0:12345:respawn:/sbin/getty -L ttyS0 9600 vt100
In the event that the machine you are going to be logging in from is another Linux box, kermit makes a good choice to do the logging in. The rate can probably be set higher than 9600, but it works. To get back to the kermit prompt, type the escape character is ctrl-\ followed by a C. This will get you back to the kermit prompt. You can type connect to return.
-bash-3.00$ kermit -b 9600 -l /dev/ttyb C-Kermit 8.0.211, 10 Apr 2004, for NetBSD 1.6 Copyright (C) 1985, 2004, Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York. Type ? or HELP for help. (/u1/terry/) C-Kermit>set carrier-watch off (/u1/terry/) C-Kermit>connect Connecting to /dev/ttyb, speed 9600 Escape character: Ctrl- (ASCII 28, FS): enabled Type the escape character followed by C to get back, or followed by ? to see other options. ---------------------------------------------------- Ubuntu 6.06.1 LTS m715.tiptopsoftwarecompany.com ttyS0 m715.tiptopsoftwarecompany.com login: