Automatic login to virtual console
| Summary |
|---|
| Describes how to automatically log in to a virtual console. |
| Related |
| Display Manager |
| Start X at Boot |
This article describes how to automatically log in to a virtual console at the end of the boot process. This article only covers console log-ins; methods for starting an X server are described in Start X at Boot.
1 Using agetty or mingetty
This is the preferred (i.e. clean) method. Edit /etc/inittab:
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty1 linux c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty2 linux c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty3 linux c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty4 linux c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty5 linux c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty6 linux
and change it to:
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -a USERNAME -8 -s 38400 tty1 linux c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty2 linux c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty3 linux c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty4 linux c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty5 linux c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty6 linux
to automatically log in USERNAME to the first console (tty1).
Alternatively, you can install the mingetty package from the official repositories. mingetty is designed to be a minimal getty and allows automatic log-ins. Then, change the default /etc/inittab to:
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty --autologin USERNAME tty1 linux c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty2 linux c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty3 linux c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty4 linux c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty5 linux c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty6 linux
Using the above ways, you will not be able to log out from tty1, it will log you back again over and over. If you want the automatic login process to happen only at boot, and to be able to log out, you can edit /etc/inittab like this:
a1:2345:wait:/sbin/mingetty --autologin USERNAME tty1 linux c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty1 linux c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty2 linux c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty3 linux c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty4 linux c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty5 linux c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty6 linux
2 Using a C login program
As an alternative, a C login program can be written:
autologin.c
#include <unistd.h>
int main(void) {
execlp("login", "login", "-f", "USERNAME", NULL);
}
Here, the C function execlp executes the command login -f USERNAME.
The program must be compiled and copied to an appropriate location:
$ gcc -o autologin autologin.c # cp autologin /usr/local/sbin/
Finally, edit /etc/inittab and change:
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty1 linux c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty2 linux c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty3 linux c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty4 linux c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty5 linux c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty6 linux
to:
c1:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -n -l /usr/local/sbin/autologin -s 38400 tty1 linux c2:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty2 linux c3:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty3 linux c4:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty4 linux c5:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty5 linux c6:2345:respawn:/sbin/agetty -8 -s 38400 tty6 linux
