Note: When the terminal -timeout=5 serial console line is added to your menu.lst, your boot sequence will now show a series of Press any key to continue messages. Read GRUB's manual on Using GRUB via a serial line and the serial command for detailed explanation of the available options.Įdit the GRUB Legacy configuration file /boot/grub/menu.lst and add these lines to the general area of the configuration: GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND='serial -unit=0 -speed=115200' For COM1 ( /dev/ttyS0) with baud rate of 115200 bit/s: Next add the GRUB_SERIAL_COMMAND variable and set the options for the serial connection. When using GRUB with a generated grub.cfg, edit /etc/default/grub and enable serial input and output support: The configuration instructions below will enable boot loader menu selection, boot messages, and terminal forwarding to the serial console.Ĭonfigure console access on the target machine Boot loader GRUB The administering machine can be any Unix/Linux or Windows machine with a terminal emulator program (PuTTY or Minicom, for example). Installation of Arch Linux is possible via the serial console as well.Ī basic environment for this scenario is two machines connected using a serial cable (9-pin connector cable). An Arch Linux machine can be configured for connections via the serial console port, which enables administration of a machine even if it has no keyboard, mouse, monitor, or network attached to it.