2 Notify Users on System Related Issues 1.108.5 Notify users on system-related issues Weight 1 Linux Professional Institute Certification — 102 /etc/issue /etc/issue.net /etc/motd Notify Users on System Related Issues TBA Geoffrey Robertson ge@ffrey.com Nick Urbanik nicku@nicku.org 2005 July Description of Objective Customize the Local Login screen with /etc/issue • The login screen for RH73 looks like this: Candidates should be able to notify the users about current issues related to the system. This objective includes automating the communication process, e.g. through logon messages. Red Hat Linux release 7.3 (Valhalla) Kernel 2.4.18-3 on an i686 login: • The getty process spawned by init presents the contents of the file /etc/issue and provides a login: prompt for the user. • The file /etc/issue $ cat /etc/issue ← Red Hat Linux release 7.3 (Valhalla) Kernel \r on an \m man issue ISSUE(5) NAME Linux Programmer’s Manual ISSUE(5) Key files, terms, and utilities include: /etc/issue /etc/issue.net /etc/motd Documentation 2.108.1 Use and Manage Local System Documentation 2.108.2 Find Linux Documentation on the Internet 2.108.5 Notify Users on System Related Issues [] Notify Users on System Related Issues Candidates should be able to notify the users about current issues related to the system. This objective includes automating the communication process, e.g. through logon messages. issue - pre-login message and identification file DESCRIPTION The file /etc/issue is a text file which contains a message or system identification to be printed before the login prompt. It may contain various @char and \char sequences, if supported by getty(1). FILES /etc/issue 3 Manpage for motd MOTD(5) ISSUE(5) NAME Linux Programmer’s Manual motd - message of the day MOTD(5) 4 SEE ALSO getty(1), motd(5) Linux 1993-07-24 man getty—embedded in the /etc/issue \d \l \m \n \o \r \t \s \u \v insert current day (localtime), insert line on which mingetty is running, inserts machine architecture (uname -m), inserts machine’s network node hostname (uname -n), inserts domain name, inserts operating system release (uname -r), insert current time (localtime), inserts operating system name, resp. \U the current number of users which are currently logged in. \U inserts "n users", where as \u only inserts "n". inserts operating system version (uname -v). DESCRIPTION The contents of /etc/motd are displayed by login(1) after a suc cessful login but just before it executes the login shell. The abbreviation "motd" stands for "message of the day", and this file has been traditionally used for exactly that (it requires much less disk space than mail to all users). FILES SEE ALSO Linux /etc/motd login(1), issue(5) 1992-12-29 MOTD(5) motd 1 $ cat /etc/motd ← Have a nice day :-) $^D 2 Red Hat Linux release 9 (Shrike) Kernel 2.4.20-8 on an i686 marsbar login: geoffrey Password: Last login: Wed Sep 10 22:23:15 on tty2 Have a nice day :-) You have new mail. $ Notify Users of System Related Issues Login Screen /etc/issue 1 Telnet Login Screen /etc/issue.net 2 Login message /etc/motd 3 Telnet uses /etc/issue.net The following sequences are supported by telnetd: %l %h, %n %D, %o %d, %t %s %m %r %v %% show the current tty show the system node name (FQDN) show the name of the NIS domain show the current time and date show the name of the operating system show the machine (hardware) type show the operating system release show the operating system version display a single ’%’ character Message of the Day—motd • Contents of /etc/issue is displayed. • getty displays the login prompt. • /bin/login handles the login process. – User is authorized. – Contents of /etc/motd is displayed. – The login shell is executed. 5 wall Message to all terminals 4 talk Split screen message 5 Email Users list 6 Phone They have a phone 7 Visit They have an office The End License Of This Document