Serial communication under Linux

Well this is just cool.

I bought myself a new switch for home (I hope to write a review of it shortly). I can administer it with a web browser once I have it configured using the serial cable. Unfortunately, I just discovered that my IBM T43 laptop does not have a serial port. So I was going to install minicom on my home PC when I came across this post.

Before I install minicom I figured I'd give it a try.

# screen /dev/ttys0 9600

NOTE: FreeBSD won't let you install screen due to some security vulnerabilities. You can use cu instead.

Edit /etc/ttys and change ttyd0 (for COM1) to on instead of off:

ttyd0 "/usr/libexec/getty std.9600" dialup on secure

Reboot

# cu -l /dev/ttyd0 9600

Hit ENTER a couple of times, logged in and yippee! I can configure my switch. Pretty damn cool.