consoletype

Additional Notes

consoletype reports what kind of console is attached, such as a virtual console, serial console, or pseudo-terminal depending on system support.

It is mostly useful in scripts that behave differently on local consoles versus remote or pseudo-terminal sessions.

Syntax

consoletype

Parameters

• No arguments are normally needed.
• Standard input: The terminal or console being inspected.

Examples

consoletype

Print the current console type.

tty

Show the terminal device path.

[ "$(consoletype 2>/dev/null)" = "pty" ] && echo remote-or-pseudo

Use it in a conditional script.

Practical Notes

• This command is not available on every distribution.
• Use tty, who, or environment variables such as SSH_TTY for related checks.
• Scripts should handle missing consoletype gracefully.