setterm
set terminal attributes
see also :
tput - stty - tty
Synopsis
setterm
[options]
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description
setterm
writes to standard output a character string that will
invoke the specified terminal capabilities. Where possible
terminfo is consulted to find the string to use. Some
options however (marked "virtual consoles only"
below) do not correspond to a terminfo(5) capability.
In this case, if the terminal type is "con" or
"linux" the string that invokes the specified
capabilities on the PC Minix virtual console driver is
output. Options that are not implemented by the terminal are
ignored.
options
For boolean
options (on or off), the default is
on.
For
conciseness, an 8-color below is black,
red, green, yellow, blue,
magenta, cyan, or white.
A
16-color is an 8-color, grey, or
bright followed by red, green,
yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, or
white.
The various
color options may be set independently, at least at virtual
consoles, though the results of setting multiple modes (for
example, -underline and
-half-bright) are hardware-dependent.
-term terminal_name
Overrides the TERM environment
variable.
-reset
Displays the terminal reset string, which typically
resets the terminal to its power on state.
-initialize
Displays the terminal
initialization string, which typically sets the
terminal’s rendering options, and other attributes to
the default values.
-cursor
[on|off]
Turns the terminal’s
cursor on or off.
-repeat
[on|off] (virtual consoles only)
Turns keyboard repeat on or
off.
-appcursorkeys
[on|off] (virtual consoles only)
Sets Cursor Key Application
Mode on or off. When on, ESC O A, ESC O B, etc. will be sent
for the cursor keys instead of ESC [ A, ESC [ B, etc. See
the "vi and Cursor-Keys" section of the
Text-Terminal-HOWTO for how this can cause problems for vi
users.
-linewrap
[on|off] (virtual consoles only)
Turns automatic line-wrapping
on or off.
-default
Sets the terminal’s
rendering options to the default values.
-foreground
8-color|default (virtual consoles only)
Sets the foreground text
color.
-background
8-color|default (virtual consoles only)
Sets the background text
color.
-ulcolor
16-color (virtual consoles only)
Sets the color for underlined
characters.
-hbcolor
16-color (virtual consoles only)
Sets the color for half-bright
characters.
-inversescreen
[on|off] (virtual consoles only)
Inverts the screen colors.
Foreground and background are swapped, as are underline and
half-brightness.
-bold
[on|off]
Turns bold (extra bright) mode
on or off. Except at a virtual console, -bold
off turns off all attributes (bold, half-brightness,
blink, reverse).
-half-bright
[on|off]
Turns dim (half-brightness)
mode on or off (see -hbcolor). Except at a
virtual console, -half-bright off turns off all
attributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse).
-blink
[on|off]
Turns blink mode on or off.
Except at a virtual console, -blink off turns
off all attributes (bold, half-brightness, blink,
reverse).
-reverse
[on|off]
Turns reverse video mode on or
off. Except at a virtual console, -reverse off
turns off all attributes (bold, half-brightness, blink,
reverse).
-underline
[on|off]
Turns underline mode on or off
(see -ulcolor).
-store (virtual
consoles only)
Stores the terminal’s
current rendering options (foreground and background colors)
as the values to be used at reset-to-default.
-clear
[all]
Clears the screen and
"homes" the cursor, as clear(1).
-clear rest
Clears from the current cursor
position to the end of the screen.
-tabs [tab1
tab2 tab3 ...] (virtual consoles only)
Sets tab stops at the given
horizontal cursor positions, in the range 1-160. Without
arguments, shows the current tab stop settings.
-clrtabs [tab1
tab2 tab3 ...] (virtual consoles only)
Clears tab stops from the given
horizontal cursor positions, in the range 1-160. Without
arguments, clears all tab stops.
-regtabs
[1-160] (virtual consoles only)
Clears all tab stops, then sets
a regular tab stop pattern, with one tab every specified
number of positions. Without an argument, defaults to 8.
-blank
[0-60|force|poke] (virtual consoles
only)
Sets the interval of
inactivity, in minutes, after which the screen will be
automatically blanked (using APM if available). Without an
argument, gets the blank status (returns which vt was
blanked or zero for unblanked vt).
The
force option keeps screen blank even if a key is
pressed.
The poke
option unblank the screen.
-dump
[1-NR_CONS]
Writes a snapshot of the given
virtual console (with attributes) to the file specified in
the -file option, overwriting its contents; the
default is screen.dump. Without an argument, dumps the
current virtual console. Overrides -append.
-append
[1-NR_CONS]
Like -dump, but
appends to the snapshot file instead of overwriting it. Only
works if no -dump options are given.
-file
dumpfilename
Sets the snapshot file name for
any -dump or -append options on
the same command line. If this option is not present, the
default is screen.dump in the current directory. A path name
that exceeds system maximum will be truncated, see PATH_MAX
from linux/limits.h for the value.
-msg
[on|off] (virtual consoles only)
Enables or disables the sending
of kernel printk() messages to the console.
-msglevel
1-8 (virtual consoles only)
Sets the console logging level
for kernel printk() messages. All messages strictly
more important than this will be printed, so a logging level
of 0 has the same effect as -msg on and a
logging level of 8 will print all kernel messages.
klogd(8) may be a more convenient interface to the
logging of kernel messages.
-powersave
on|vsync
Puts the monitor into VESA
vsync suspend mode.
-powersave
hsync
Puts the monitor into VESA
hsync suspend mode.
-powersave
powerdown
Puts the monitor into VESA
powerdown mode.
-powersave
[off]
Turns off monitor VESA
powersaving features.
-powerdown
[0-60]
Sets the VESA powerdown
interval in minutes. Without an argument, defaults to 0
(disable powerdown). If the console is blanked or the
monitor is in suspend mode, then the monitor will go into
vsync suspend mode or powerdown mode respectively after this
period of time has elapsed.
-blength
[0-2000]
Sets the bell duration in
milliseconds. Without an argument, defaults to 0.
-bfreq
[freqnumber]
Sets the bell frequency in Hz.
Without an argument, defaults to 0.
-version
Output version information and
exit.
-help
Output help screen and exit.
availability
The setterm command is part of the util-linux package and is
available from ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/.
bugs
Differences
between the Minix and Linux versions are not documented.
see also
tput ,
stty , terminfo, tty