Configuring the Linux Console

This section discusses how to configure the systemd-vconsole-setup system service, which configures the virtual console font and console keymap.

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

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

KEYMAP

This variable specifies the key mapping table for the keyboard. If unset, it defaults to us.

KEYMAP_TOGGLE

This variable can be used to configure a second toggle keymap and is unset by default.

FONT

This variable specifies the font used by the virtual console.

FONT_MAP

This variable specifies the console map to be used.

FONT_UNIMAP

This variable specifies the Unicode font map.

An example for a German keyboard and console is given below:

cat > /etc/vconsole.conf << "EOF"
KEYMAP=de-latin1
FONT=Lat2-Terminus16
EOF

You can change KEYMAP value at runtime by using the localectl utility:

localectl set-keymap MAP

Note

Please note that the localectl command can be used only on a system booted with systemd.

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

localectl set-x11-keymap LAYOUT [MODEL] [VARIANT] [OPTIONS]

To list possible values for localectl set-x11-keymap parameters, run localectl with parameters listed below:

list-x11-keymap-models

Show known X11 keyboard mapping models.

list-x11-keymap-layouts

Show known X11 keyboard mapping layouts.

list-x11-keymap-variants

Show known X11 keyboard mapping variants.

list-x11-keymap-options

Show known X11 keyboard mapping options.

Note

Using any of the parameters listed above requires the XKeyboard Config package from BLFS.