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Something has changed in server 16.04 LTS, I can't find tty1, but I need to make an auto-login on tty1 (in console mode), in 14.04 LTS I can make this work.

I can't find /etc/init/tty1.conf

How to, or a link?

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In Ubuntu 16.04, which uses systemd, the method is slightly different. I'll quote the relevant bits of my related post How do I override or configure systemd services?:

Say I want to have TTY2 autologin to my user (this is not advisable, but just an example). TTY2 is run by the getty@tty2 service (tty2 being an instance of the template /lib/systemd/system/getty@service). To do this, I have to modify the getty@tty2 service.

[…]

In particular, I have to change the ExecStart line, which currently is:

$ systemctl cat getty@tty2 | grep Exec     
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --noclear %I $TERM

To override this, do:

sudo systemctl edit getty@tty2

And add:

[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty -a <USERNAME> --noclear %I $TERM

[…]

Now:

$ systemctl cat getty@tty2 | grep Exec
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --noclear %I $TERM
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty -a <USERNAME> --noclear %I $TERM

And if I do:

sudo systemctl restart getty@tty2

and press CtrlAltF2, presto! I'll be logged into my account on that TTY.

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  • That procedure brings to me a blank tty screen. – Zac Jun 14 '16 at 8:10
  • @Zac and what does systemctl status getty@tty2 report for you? – muru Jun 14 '16 at 8:14
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    I was in a virtual machine with just 1 tty, and I was not able to log in anymore! (blessed snapshots!) I solved as I wrote here. – Zac Jun 14 '16 at 8:17
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    @Zac if you says so. This works fine for me on Arch Linux and Ubuntu. – muru Jun 14 '16 at 8:18
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    @VarunAgw sure, create /etc/systemd/system/getty@tty2.service.d/override.conf with the additional lines, and run systemctl daemon-reload. – muru Sep 19 '17 at 11:37
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I used this website to achieve auto-login: http://www.pcworld.com/article/259236/how_to_turn_your_laptop_into_a_typewriter.html.

sudo nano /etc/init/tty1.conf

Again, type your password if requested. You are now editing a configuration file, the last line of which starts with an 'exec' command. Replace that line with:

exec /bin/login -f USERNAME < /dev/tty1 > /dev/tty1 2>&1

Where USERNAME is your own username, of course. Be sure to type this line accurately. Then save the file (Ctrl+O) and exit (Ctrl+X).

Now, let's test again to make sure everything is working correctly. Reboot the computer to see if automatic login works:

sudo reboot now
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    This answer won' t work for 16.04 because it uses systemd by default and not upstart. Even for upstart systems, you should use agetty's -a option instead of this. – muru Jan 23 '17 at 12:41
  • That's strange, as I was pretty sure I was running 16.04 Server. That would't change just because I was using a PPC, would it? – 345422 Jan 23 '17 at 13:20

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