source: chapter07/consoled.xml@ 1118b17

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<!DOCTYPE sect1 PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.5/docbookx.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY % general-entities SYSTEM "../general.ent">
  %general-entities;
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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>systemd-vconsole-setup</command> system service, which configures
  the virtual console font and console keymap.</para>

  <para>The <command>systemd-vconsole-setup</command> service reads the
  <filename>/etc/vconsole.conf</filename> file for configuration
  information. Decide which keymap and screen font will be used. Various
  language-specific HOWTOs can also help with this, see <ulink
  url="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/other-lang.html"/>.
  Examine <command>localectl list-keymaps</command> output for a list of
  valid console keymaps. Look in
  <filename class="directory">/usr/share/consolefonts</filename>
  directory for valid screen fonts.</para>

  <para>The <filename>/etc/vconsole.conf</filename> file should contain lines
  of the form: VARIABLE="value". The following variables are recognized:</para>

  <variablelist>

    <varlistentry>
      <term>KEYMAP</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>This variable specifies the key mapping table for the keyboard. If
        unset, it defaults to <literal>us</literal>.</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term>KEYMAP_TOGGLE</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>This variable can be used to configure a second toggle keymap and
        is unset by default.</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term>FONT</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>This variable specifies the font used by the virtual
        console.</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term>FONT_MAP</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>This variable specifies the console map to be used.</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term>FONT_UNIMAP</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>This variable specifies the Unicode font map.</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

  </variablelist>

  <para>An example for a German keyboard and console is given below:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>cat &gt; /etc/vconsole.conf &lt;&lt; "EOF"
<literal>KEYMAP=de-latin1
FONT=Lat2-Terminus16</literal>
EOF</userinput></screen>

  <para>You can change KEYMAP value at runtime by using the
  <command>localectl</command> utility:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>localectl set-keymap MAP</userinput></screen>

  <note><para>Please note that <command>localectl</command> command can
  be used  only on a system booted with systemd.</para></note>

  <para>You can also use <command>localectl</command> utility with the
  corresponding parameters to change X11 keyboard layout, model, variant
  and options:</para>

<screen role="nodump"><userinput>localectl set-x11-keymap LAYOUT [MODEL] [VARIANT] [OPTIONS]</userinput></screen>

  <para>To list possible values for <command>localectl set-x11-keymap</command>
  parameters, run <command>localectl</command> with parameters listed below:
  </para>

  <variablelist>

    <varlistentry>
      <term>list-x11-keymap-models</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>Show known X11 keyboard mapping models.</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term>list-x11-keymap-layouts</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>Show known X11 keyboard mapping layouts.</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term>list-x11-keymap-variants</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>Show known X11 keyboard mapping variants.</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

    <varlistentry>
      <term>list-x11-keymap-options</term>
      <listitem>
        <para>Show known X11 keyboard mapping options.</para>
      </listitem>
    </varlistentry>

  </variablelist>

  <note><para>Using any of the parameters listed above requires
  XKeyboard Config package from BLFS.</para></note>

</sect1>