CONSCONTROL(8)

📦 version 15.1, in freebsd 14.5, freebsd 15.1

💅 CONSCONTROL — bestie, it's giving console control

okay so this is from section 8 of the System Manager's Manual, and it's literally called conscontrol — the ✨ control physical system video console devices ✨ girlie. let's get into it.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

conscontrol [list]
conscontrol mute on | off
conscontrol add | delete console
conscontrol set | unset console

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so conscontrol is the utility you use to examine and modify the physical devices that back your virtual console devices. that's the whole vibe. and if you pass no arguments at all (or literally just the list command), it just shows you the current console settings. easy. iconic.

now, there are two types of logical consoles and you need to know about both, bestie:

  • the high level console — represented by /dev/console
  • the low level console — this one's for kernel printf(9) and ddb(4) debugger support

meanwhile the high level console is what user programs like syslogd(8) use. 💖

and here's the thing: multiple device support is implemented only for the low level console. the high level console is just set to the first device in the console list. that's it. that's the rule. no cap.

you can invoke multiple console support by passing the kernel the -D flag from the boot loader, or by using conscontrol to change the list of console devices after the system has booted. either way works, pick your fighter. 🔥

✨ OPTIONS ✨

the following options are available, and yes, we're going through every single one:

  • add | delete console — add or delete a physical device from the logical console. the device has to support low-level console operations, no exceptions. adding a device places it at the front of the list of console devices — and remember, that first device is what's used for the high level console. 👑

the console argument is the name of a console device in /dev — and good news, the name of the directory may be omitted. so you don't have to type the whole path. slay.

  • mute on | off — changes the state of console muting. when console muting is on, all console output is suppressed. like, all of it. silence. 🙈
  • set | unset console — set or unset the virtual console. when it's unset, output from the system (stuff like the kernel printf(9)) always goes out to the real main console. when it's set, it goes to another one. this is basically an interface to the tty ioctl TIOCCONS. iykyk 🧚

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

syscons(4), tty(4), vt(4), boot(8), loader(8)

💜 HISTORY 💜

the conscontrol utility first appeared in FreeBSD 5.0. a legend was born. 🎀

🌟 AUTHORS 🌟

Jonathan Lemon — thank you for your service, king. 🫶

and that's the whole page, bestie — this Debian build of the manual is dated July 7, 2024, so go forth and control those consoles responsibly. mwah 💋

📦 where this page comes from