ptyctl — List, monitor and hang up pseudo TTYs registered with the pseudo TTY broker
ptyctl [OPTIONS...] [COMMAND] [NAME...]
ptyctl may be used to introspect and control the pseudo TTY allocations
registered with the pseudo TTY broker,
systemd-ptybrokerd.service(8).
The broker keeps the frontend (i.e. the "master") side of registered pseudo TTYs open,
while the payload — a service, a container, a virtual machine console, or similar — runs connected to the
backend (i.e. the "slave") side. ptyctl permits listing these pseudo
TTYs, interactively connecting to them, and hanging them up.
Pseudo TTYs are registered with the broker for example via --console=broker of
systemd-pty-forward(1),
systemd-nspawn(1) and
systemd-vmspawn(1), or
via StandardOutput=broker in service units, see
systemd.exec(5).
The following commands are understood:
List the pseudo TTYs currently registered with the broker, showing their name, description, log tag, frontend and backend types, and backend TTY path. This command is the default if no command is specified.
NAME¶Connect interactively to the pseudo TTY registered under the specified name: its output is forwarded to the local terminal, and local input is forwarded back to it. To disconnect, press Ctrl+] three times within one second. Disconnecting only ends the monitor connection, the pseudo TTY itself remains registered with the broker and the payload continues to run.
NAME…¶Hang up the pseudo TTYs registered under the specified names. This executes the equivalent of vhangup(2) on the pseudo TTY, disconnecting the session running on its backend side.
The following options are understood:
--system, --user¶Selects whether to talk to the system-wide instance or the per-user instance of
systemd-ptybrokerd.service(8).
Defaults to --system.
--background=COLOR¶Change the terminal background color to the specified ANSI color while monitoring a
pseudo TTY. The color specified should be an ANSI X3.64 SGR background color, i.e. strings such as
"40", "41", …, "47", "48;2;…",
"48;5;…". See ANSI
Escape Code (Wikipedia) for details. Only has an effect on the monitor
command.
Example: "--background=44" for a blue background.
--title=TITLE¶Change the terminal title to the specified string while monitoring a pseudo TTY. Only has an effect on the monitor command.
--quiet, -q¶Suppresses additional informational output while running.
--no-ask-password¶Do not query the user for authentication for privileged operations.
-h, --help¶--version¶Print a short version string and exit.