Installation guide

3, and 4. The respawn keyword tells init to re-create the getty process if
the active process terminates. If the process is active, init does not
respawn the process; if it terminates, the process is re-created.
_______________________ Note _______________________
In general, you should not modify the system console entry in
the inittab file unless you want to limit the system console’s
access to different run levels. By placing limitations on the
range of run levels for this terminal line, you risk disabling the
system console if the system enters a run level that prohibits
execution of the console’s getty process.
4.1.1.5 Specifying Terminals and Terminal Run Levels
To enable user logins at each terminal supported by your system, you must
maintain support for the terminal types available at your site and define
the run level and getty process for each supported terminal type. Use the
following database and file:
• The /usr/lib/terminfo database (a symbolic link to
/usr/share/lib/terminfo) defines the various terminal types.
• Entries in the /etc/inittab file define the run level and getty
process for the supported terminal types.
The Tru64 UNIX system supports a wide variety of terminal types. The
terminfo database contains entries that describe each terminal type and
its capabilities. The database is created by the tic program, which
compiles the source files into data files. The terminfo source files typically
consist of at least one device description that conforms to a particular
format. See the terminfo
(4) reference page for specific details on creating
and compiling source files.
The /usr/lib/terminfo directory contains the source files, each of which
has a .ti suffix, for example
name .ti. After you compile the source files
with the tic command, it places the output in a directory subordinate to
/usr/lib/terminfo.
Various commands and programs rely on the files in these directories. Set
your TERMINFO environment variable to the /usr/lib/terminfo
directory to instruct programs that rely on the database for information to
look there for relevant terminal information.
See the getty
(8), gettydefs(4), and inittab(4) reference pages for
information about defining terminal lines and managing terminal access.
4–8 Customizing the System Environment