CentOS / RHEL v6.x: Install And Configure Serial Console

Posted on in Categories , last updated February 25, 2013

How do I configure serial console under CentOS Linux or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x running on HP or Dell server?


You need to use setserial command. The command is designed to set and/or report the configuration information associated with a serial port.

setserial -g /dev/ttyS[0123]

Sample outputs:

/dev/ttyS0, UART: 16550A, Port: 0x03f8, IRQ: 4
/dev/ttyS1, UART: 16550A, Port: 0x02f8, IRQ: 3
/dev/ttyS2, UART: unknown, Port: 0x03e8, IRQ: 4
/dev/ttyS3, UART: unknown, Port: 0x02e8, IRQ: 3

Our sample setup

I am going to use the following configuration:

  1. Device name : /dev/ttyS1
  2. Speed: 19200
  3. Word: 8
  4. Parity: No
  5. Grub config file : /etc/grub.conf or /boot/grub/grub.conf
  6. Secure tty config file : /etc/securetty
  7. Upstart config file to start agetty on /dev/ttyS1: /etc/init/ttyS1.conf

Step #1: Grub configuration

Type the following command:
# vi /boot/grub/grub.conf
Add the following lines befor :hiddenmenu config options:

serial --unit=1 --speed=19200 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1
terminal --timeout=5 serial console

Scroll down and find out kernel line and append the following config options:

console=tty0 console=ttyS1,19200n8

At the end your grub.conf should look as follows:

default=0
timeout=5
#splashimage=(hd0,0)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
serial --unit=1 --speed=19200 --word=8 --parity=no --stop=1
terminal --timeout=5 serial console
:hiddenmenu
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64 ro root=UUID=00f30f09-2bfb-4dde-8396-eea16c0ee21a nomodeset rd_NO_LUKS LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd_NO_MD  KEYTABLE=us SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 crashkernel=auto rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_DM rhgb  pcie_aspm=off biosdevname=0 console=tty0 console=ttyS1,19200n8
        initrd /initramfs-2.6.32-358.el6.x86_64.img
title Red Hat Enterprise Linux (2.6.32-279.el6.x86_64)
        root (hd0,0)
        kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.32-279.el6.x86_64 ro root=UUID=00f30f09-2bfb-4dde-8396-eea16c0ee21a nomodeset rd_NO_LUKS LANG=en_US.UTF-8 rd_NO_MD  KEYTABLE=us SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 crashkernel=auto rd_NO_LVM rd_NO_DM rhgb  pcie_aspm=off biosdevname=0 console=tty0 console=ttyS1,19200n8
        initrd /initramfs-2.6.32-279.el6.x86_64.img

Step #2: Secure tty configuration

Type the following command:
# vi /etc/securetty
Append the following entry:

ttyS1

Save and close the file.

Step #3: Upstart configuration

init is upstart process management daemon. init is the parent of all processes on the system, it is executed by the kernel and is responsible for starting all other processes; it is the parent of all processes whose natural parents have died and it is responsible for reaping those when they die. Processes managed by init are known as jobs and are defined by files in the /etc/init directory. Type the following command to create /etc/init/ttyS1.conf file, enter::
# vi /etc/init/ttyS1.conf
Append the following config options:

start on runlevel [345]
stop on runlevel [S016]
 
respawn
instance /dev/ttyS1
exec /sbin/agetty ttyS1 19200 vt100-nav

Save and close the file.

Step 4: Verify settings

Reboot the server:
# reboot
Connect to console using serial console utility.

Posted by: Vivek Gite

The author is the creator of nixCraft and a seasoned sysadmin and a trainer for the Linux operating system/Unix shell scripting. He has worked with global clients and in various industries, including IT, education, defense and space research, and the nonprofit sector. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, Google+.

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19 comment

  1. I tried this conf on centos vm(kvm), but if put the vm on single user mode, my console stop working
    your config
    ================================================================
    start on runlevel [345]
    stop on runlevel [S016]

    respawn
    instance /dev/ttyS1
    exec /sbin/agetty ttyS1 19200 vt100-nav
    ================================================================
    my newconf
    ================================================================
    start on runlevel [1345]
    stop on runlevel [S06]

    respawn
    instance /dev/ttyS1
    exec /sbin/agetty ttyS1 19200 vt100-nav
    ================================================================

    Thanks

    Reply Report comment

    1. Thanks a lot cuturrr, your with some changes worked on a xen env:

      start on runlevel [1345]
      stop on runlevel [S06]

      respawn
      instance /dev/hvc0
      exec /sbin/agetty hvc0 115200 vt100-nav

      Reply Report comment

  3. Thanks for the article.

    I’m using Centos 6.4 and if I configured /etc/init/ttyS1.conf I couldn’t login via the console.

    I saw errors like this in the /var/log/messages:
    init: serial (ttyS1) main process (12879) terminated with status 1

    When I commented out the config in /etc/init/ttyS1.conf I could login via the console.

    Reply Report comment

  4. For most people with a single console, the work is much simpler. I appended the kernel parameters with this command:

    grubby –update-kernel=ALL –args=’console=ttyS0,9600n8 console=tty0′

    Reboot the system and the consoles worked. According to /etc/init/serial.conf , init will start the consoles automatically:

    # On boot, a udev helper examines /dev/console. If a serial console is the
    # primary console (last console on the commandline in grub), the event
    # ‘fedora.serial-console-available ‘ is emitted, which
    # triggers this script. It waits for the runlevel to finish, ensures
    # the proper port is in /etc/securetty, and starts the getty.

    Reply Report comment

  8. Actually, if /etc/grub.conf and /boot/grub/grub.conf (in CentOS 6.X) are both having the setting above (tested on ttyS0 and serial –unit=0), you don’t need the upstart configuration under /etc/init/ttyS0.conf
    Grub will do the all job without it. and (the best thing) it will show the console from boot time.

    Reply Report comment

  9. Just FYI – I had to remove the line –

    instance /dev/ttyS…

    to get it to behave properly. With that in, after the first serial session was opened, it was respawning a parallel login prompt and overlaying it on the same login. So it was impossible to work on the serial session after that. Once removed, it works well.

    Reply Report comment

  12. echo “ttyS0” >> /etc/securetty
    cat >/etc/init/serial-ttyS0.conf <<HERE
    stop on runlevel [016]
    start on runlevel [345]

    respawn
    instance /dev/ttyS0
    exec /sbin/mingetty /dev/ttyS0
    HERE

    initctl start serial-ttyS0

    Reply Report comment

  13. Morning,

    I followed your procedure, serial over lan is working at the boot but then stuck at FS-Cache: Netfs ‘nfs’ registered for caching
    Jul 18 10:58:49 cwo-774-tste kernel: FS-Cache: Netfs ‘nfs’ registered for caching
    In the main screen, I can see the welcome screen, machine is ready, but still stuck on the serial console
    As below the latest log
    Jul 18 10:58:49 cwo-774-tste kernel: FS-Cache: Netfs ‘nfs’ registered for caching
    Jul 18 10:58:50 cwo-774-tste polkitd[3341]: started daemon version 0.96 using authority implementation `local’ version `0.96′
    Jul 18 10:58:50 cwo-774-tste rtkit-daemon[3345]: Sucessfully made thread 3343 of process 3343 (/usr/bin/pulseaudio) owned by ‘gdm’ high priority at nice level -11.
    Jul 18 10:58:50 cwo-774-tste rtkit-daemon[3345]: Sucessfully made thread 3349 of process 3343 (/usr/bin/pulseaudio) owned by ‘gdm’ RT at priority 5.
    Jul 18 10:58:50 cwo-774-tste rtkit-daemon[3345]: Sucessfully made thread 3350 of process 3343 (/usr/bin/pulseaudio) owned by ‘gdm’ RT at priority 5.
    Jul 18 10:58:58 cwo-774-tste modem-manager: (ttyS1) closing serial device…
    Jul 18 10:58:58 cwo-774-tste modem-manager: (ttyS1) opening serial device…
    Jul 18 10:59:04 cwo-774-tste modem-manager: (ttyS1) closing serial device…

    Reply Report comment

  14. I removed modem-manager which is not closing serial device anymore, but still hanging at FS-Cache: Netfs ‘nfs’ registered for caching. Not getting in login prompt. Is there another way to test getting a login prompt?

    Reply Report comment

  15. Change to full multiple user mode, as I don’t have the root password, I tried lookupcache=none in my fstab, with no luck still hanging at the boot via serial console, but booting ok on the screen attached to the PC.

    Reply Report comment

  16. I made some progress, no I’m getting the OS name after the boot has finished but still not the login.
    FS-Cache: Netfs ‘nfs’ registered for caching

    Scientific Linux

    I only enabled /etc/inittab
    c0:12345:respawn:/sbin/getty -L 115200 ttyS1 vt100-nav

    initctl list return:
    serial (ttyS1) start/running, process 3051

    Reply Report comment

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