20.1 Synopsis

UNIX® has always had support for serial communications. In fact, the very first UNIX machines relied on serial lines for user input and output. Things have changed a lot from the days when the average “terminal” consisted of a 10-character-per-second serial printer and a keyboard. This chapter will cover some of the ways in which FreeBSD uses serial communications.

After reading this chapter, you will know:

• How to connect terminals to your FreeBSD system.

• How to use a modem to dial out to remote hosts.

• How to allow remote users to login to your system with a modem.

• How to boot your system from a serial console.

Before reading this chapter, you should:

• Know how to configure and install a new kernel (Chapter 8).

• Understand UNIX permissions and processes (Chapter 3).

• Have access to the technical manual for the serial hardware (modem or multi-port card) that you would like to use with FreeBSD.