this is what i have read in the book, A practical guide to ubuntu linux

When running Linux on a personal computer, you frequently work with the display and keyboard attached to the computer. Using this physical console, you can access as many as 63 virtual consoles (also called virtual terminals). Some are set up to allow logins; others act as graphical displays. To switch between virtual consoles,hold the CONTROL and ALT keys down and press the function key that corresponds to
the console you want to view. For example, CONTROL-ALT-F5 displays the fifth virtual console.


AFAIK there are 6 virtual consoles, so how is it possible to access nth(say 40 th) virtual console ?

i tried pressing CONTROL-ALT-F10, but i just got a blank screen only

There are actually 64 virtual consoles defined in /dev/ttyX (where X is 0-63). tty0 is actually an alias for the current tty, so that leaves you 63. Commonly in Linux systems you have 7 of them attached to programs and displays. For example in RHEL and Ubuntu systems you'll have 1 - 6 running a getty program while the 7 is the display you have your X. Anyway, this is not fixed and the number of VCs can be changes as well as the key combination used to access them.

You can run,
$ ps aux | grep tty
to find which processes are linked with a tty.

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don't forget about the program called 'screen'.

http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/screen.html

This will/can give you even more.

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