Search code examples
node.jsubuntustdouttty

What is a TTY and how can I enable it on Ubuntu?


I'm currently setting up a node.js server and I'm using the debug module here https://github.com/visionmedia/debug.

I'm trying to enable it so I can get the colored debugging information in my output, however my terminal looks like the last terminal screen at the bottom after it says:

When stdout is not a TTY, Date#toUTCString() is used, making it more useful for logging the debug information as shown below:

Can anyone shed some light on this? Thanks.


Solution

  • tty is one of those funky Unix commands that prints (or, displays) to standard output the name of the terminal connected to standard input.

    These are commonly used as a way to get access to the computer to fix things, without actually logging into a possibly b0rked desktop.

    Related: What is tty7 in the commandline?

    By default Ubuntu has 7 tty's.

    1-6 are command line only, 7 runs your X session (your normal desktop).

    To access them, use this keyboard shortcut:

    Ctrl + Alt + F1

    (changing F1 to F1-F6 to access the terminal that you need)

    To get back to your X session (the normal desktop),

    Ctrl + Alt + F7