source: chapter07/console.xml@ d781ffb

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  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.4/docbookx.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent">
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<sect1 id="ch-scripts-console">
  <?dbhtml filename="console.html"?>

  <title>Configuring the Linux Console</title>

  <indexterm zone="ch-scripts-console">
    <primary sortas="d-console">console</primary>
    <secondary>configuring</secondary>
  </indexterm>

  <para>This section discusses how to configure the <command>console</command>
  bootscript that sets up the keyboard map and the console font. If non-ASCII
  characters (e.g., the British pound sign and Euro character) will not be used
  and the keyboard is a U.S. one, skip this section. Without the configuration
  file, the <command>console</command> bootscript will do nothing.</para>

  <para>The <command>console</command> script reads the
  <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> file for configuration information.
  Decide which keymap and screen font will be used. Various language-specific
  HOWTO's can also help with this (see <ulink
  url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/other-lang.html"/>. A pre-made
  <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> file with known settings for several
  countries was installed with the LFS-Bootscripts package, so the relevant
  section can be uncommented if the country is supported. If still in doubt, look
  in the <filename class="directory">/usr/share/kbd</filename> directory for valid
  keymaps and screen fonts. Read <filename>loadkeys(1)</filename> and
  <filename>setfont(8)</filename> to determine the correct arguments for
  these programs. Once decided, create the configuration file with the following
  command:</para>

<screen><userinput>cat &gt;/etc/sysconfig/console &lt;&lt;"EOF"
<literal>KEYMAP="<replaceable>[arguments for loadkeys]</replaceable>"
FONT="<replaceable>[arguments for setfont]</replaceable>"</literal>
EOF</userinput></screen>

  <para>For example, for Spanish users who also want to use the Euro
  character (accessible by pressing AltGr+E), the following settings are
  correct:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat &gt;/etc/sysconfig/console &lt;&lt;"EOF"
<literal>KEYMAP="es euro2"
FONT="lat9-16 -u iso01"</literal>
EOF</userinput></screen>

  <note>
    <para>The <envar>FONT</envar> line above is correct only for the ISO 8859-15
    character set. If using ISO 8859-1 and, therefore, a pound sign
    instead of Euro, the correct <envar>FONT</envar> line would be:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>FONT="lat1-16"</userinput></screen>
  </note>

  <para>If the <envar>KEYMAP</envar> or <envar>FONT</envar> variable is not set,
  the <command>console</command> initscript will not run the corresponding
  program.</para>

  <para>In some keymaps, the Backspace and Delete keys send characters different
  from ones in the default keymap built into the kernel. This confuses some
  applications. For example, Emacs displays its help (instead of erasing the
  character before the cursor) when Backspace is pressed. To check if the keymap
  in use is affected (this works only for i386 keymaps):</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>zgrep '\W14\W' <replaceable>[/path/to/your/keymap]</replaceable></userinput></screen>

  <para>If the keycode 14 is Backspace instead of Delete, create the
  following keymap snippet to fix this issue:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>mkdir -pv /etc/kbd &amp;&amp; cat &gt; /etc/kbd/bs-sends-del &lt;&lt;"EOF"
<literal>                  keycode  14 = Delete Delete Delete Delete
              alt keycode  14 = Meta_Delete
        altgr alt keycode  14 = Meta_Delete
                  keycode 111 = Remove
    altgr control keycode 111 = Boot
      control alt keycode 111 = Boot
altgr control alt keycode 111 = Boot</literal>
EOF</userinput></screen>

  <para>Tell the <command>console</command> script to load this
  snippet after the main keymap:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat &gt;&gt;/etc/sysconfig/console &lt;&lt;"EOF"
<literal>KEYMAP_CORRECTIONS="/etc/kbd/bs-sends-del"</literal>
EOF</userinput></screen>

  <para>To compile the keymap directly into the kernel instead of
  setting it every time from the <command>console</command> bootscript,
  follow the instructions given in <xref linkend="ch-bootable-kernel" role="."/>
  Doing this ensures that the keyboard will always work as expected,
  even when booting into maintenance mode (by passing
  <parameter>init=/bin/sh</parameter> to the kernel), because the
  <command>console</command> bootscript will not be run in that
  situation. Additionally, the kernel will not set the screen font
  automatically. This should not pose many problems because ASCII characters
  will be handled correctly, and it is unlikely that a user would need
  to rely on non-ASCII characters while in maintenance mode.</para>

  <para>Since the kernel will set up the keymap, it is possible to omit
  the <envar>KEYMAP</envar> variable from the
  <filename>/etc/sysconfig/console</filename> configuration file. It can
  also be left in place, if desired, without consequence.  Keeping it
  could be beneficial if running several different kernels where it is
  difficult to ensure that the keymap is compiled into every one of
  them.</para>

</sect1>