setxkbmap
set the keyboard using the X Keyboard Extension
see also :
xkbcomp
Synopsis
setxkbmap
[ args ] [ layout [
variant [ option ... ] ] ]
add an example, a script, a trick and tips
examples
source
setxkbmap -option ctrl:nocaps
source
setxkbmap -option 'ctrl:nocaps'
source
setxkbmap -option compose:caps
source
setxkbmap dvorak # uså°±å??ä¾?äº?
source
Using a custom keyboard map
Is it acceptable for you to do this by Xmodmap?
When you run xmodmap -pke > .Xmodmap it will
generate a .Xmodmap file containing your current
keyboard mapping in a format like keycode 57 = n N
with a line for each keycode followed by the keysyms currently
mapped to it by your layout and each column corresponing to a
different modifier (so in this case 'n' with no modifier and 'N'
when used with shift). You can edit your layout there and just
run xmodmap .Xmodmap to activate it.
A short, helpful introduction can be found here
source
How to configure X kbmap for 4 languages while keeping two "main" languages easily switchable?
Have bound the following script to a hotkey:
#!/bin/sh
if setxkbmap -query | grep -q lang1,lang2 ; then
setxkbmap -model acer_laptop -layout lang3,lang4 -variant , ;
else
setxkbmap -model acer_laptop -layout lang1,lang2 -variant , ;
fi
source
Linux, Ubuntu & Apple Aluminium keyboard: remap greater/less with tilde
xmodmap Way
First, check this out.
Here's my version of .xsession:
#! /usr/bin/env sh
GTK_IM_MODULE=xim
QT_IM_MODULE=xim
xmodmap ~/.Xmodmap-Apple
and the corresponding ~/.Xmodmap-Apple (for the
Russian version):
keycode 94 = grave asciitilde Cyrillic_io Cyrillic_IO
keycode 191 = Print Sys_Req Print Sys_Req Print Sys_Req
keycode 192 = Scroll_Lock NoSymbol Scroll_Lock NoSymbol Scroll_Lock
keycode 193 = Pause Break Pause Break Pause Break
keycode 49 = less greater less greater
keycode 108 = Multi_key Alt_L Multi_key Alt_L
setxkbmap way
In Linux, setxkbmap is used to switch keyboard
layouts. Alas, setxkbmap & xmodmap
can't work together: they reset each other's changes :( You'll
have to pick one of:
- Just don't switch layouts
- Invoke
xmodmap after every layout switching (or
make a script replacing setxkbmap)
- modify
xkb key mappings for your keyboard.
We'll use the latter. First, check which layout you're using:
$ setxkbmap -print
xkb_keymap {
xkb_keycodes { include "evdev+aliases(qwerty)" };
xkb_types { include "complete+caps(internal)" };
xkb_compat { include "complete" };
xkb_symbols { include "pc+us+ru:2+inet(evdev)+altwin(meta_win)+group(alt_shift_toggle)+compose(ralt)+eurosign(e)+terminate(ctrl_alt_bksp)+macintosh_vndr/apple(alupckeys)" };
xkb_geometry { include "pc(pc104)" };
};
Here's your symbols map: xkb_symbols ...
macintosh_vndr/apple(alupckeys)
In Ubuntu, we have a mapping for apple keyboards here:
'/usr/share/X11/xkb/*symbols/macintosh_vndr/apple*'. First,
backup this file. This file has several sections, each starts
like this:
xkb_symbols "extended" {
xkb_symbols "laptop" {
xkb_symbols "laptop_bad_switch" {
xkb_symbols "alukbd" {
xkb_symbols "alupckeys" {
The latter mapping, "alupckeys", replaces
F13-F15 with PrintScreen,
ScrollLock, Pause. Use it if you lack these
keys :)
Choose the section you've got from the command output above, and
append the following, before the final } of the
section:
key <LSGT> { [ grave, asciitilde, grave, asciitilde ] };
};
Now, restart X. Yeehaw, enjoy having the tilde key on the correct
place :)
This command can also help:
$ setxkbmap -option "apple:alupckeys" -print | xkbcomp - $DISPLAY
description
The
setxkbmap command maps the keyboard to use the layout
determined by the options specified on the command line.
An XKB keymap
is constructed from a number of components which are
compiled only as needed. The source for all of the
components can be found in /usr/share/X11/xkb.
options
-help
Prints a message describing the
valid input to setxkbmap.
-compat
name
Specifies the name of the
compatibility map component used to construct a keyboard
layout.
-config
file
Specifies the name of an XKB
configuration file which describes the keyboard to be
used.
-device
device
Specifies the numeric device id
of the input device to be updated with the new keyboard
layout. If not specified, the core keyboard device of the X
server is updated.
-display
display
Specifies the display to be
updated with the new keyboard layout.
-geometry
name
Specifies the name of the
geometry component used to construct a keyboard layout.
-I
directory
Adds a directory to the list of
directories to be used to search for specified layout or
rules files.
-keycodes
name
Specifies the name of the
keycodes component used to construct a keyboard layout.
-keymap
name
Specifies the name of the
keymap description used to construct a keyboard layout.
-layout
name
Specifies the name of the
layout used to determine the components which make up the
keyboard description. The -layout option may only be
used once. Multiple layouts can be specified as a
comma-separated list.
-model
name
Specifies the name of the
keyboard model used to determine the components which make
up the keyboard description. Only one model may be specified
on the command line.
-option
name
Specifies the name of an option
to determine the components which make up the keyboard
description; multiple options may be specified, one per
-option flag. Note that setxkbmap adds options
specified in the command line to the options that were set
before (as saved in root window properties). If you want to
replace all previously specified options, use the
-option flag with an empty argument first.
-print
With this option setxkbmap just prints component
names in a format acceptable by xkbcomp (an XKB
keymap compiler) and exits. The option can be used for tests
instead of a verbose option and in cases when one needs to
run both the setxkbmap and the xkbcomp in
chain (see below).
-query
With this option setxkbmap just prints the
current rules, model, layout, variant, and options, then
exits.
-rules
file
Specifies the name of the rules
file used to resolve the requested layout and model to a set
of component names.
-symbols
name
Specifies the name of the
symbols component used to construct a keyboard layout.
-synch
Force synchronization for X requests.
-types
name
Specifies the name of the types
component used to construct a keyboard layout.
-variant
name
Specifies which variant of the
keyboard layout should be used to determine the components
which make up the keyboard description. The -variant
option may only be used once. Multiple variants can be
specified as a comma-separated list and will be matched with
the layouts specified with -layout.
-verbose|-v
[level]
Specifies level of verbosity in
output messages. Valid levels range from 0 (least verbose)
to 10 (most verbose). The default verbosity level is 5. If
no level is specified, each -v or -verbose
flag raises the level by 1.
files
/usr/share/X11/xkb
using with xkbcomp
If you have an Xserver and a client shell running on different
computers and XKB configuration files on those machines are
different you can get problems specifying a keyboard map by
model, layout, options names. This is because setxkbcomp
converts these names to names of XKB configuration files
according to files that are on the client side computer, then it
sends the file names to the server where the xkbcomp has
to compose a complete keyboard map using files which the server
has. Thus if the sets of files differ significantly the names
that the setxkbmap generates can be unacceptable on the
server side. You can solve this problem by running the
xkbcomp on the client side too. With the -print
option setxkbmap just prints the file names in an
appropriate format to its stdout and this output can be piped
directly to the xkbcomp input. For example, the command
setxkbmap us -print | xkbcomp - $DISPLAY
makes both steps run on the same (client) machine and loads a
keyboard map into the server.
see also
xkbcomp ,
xkeyboard-config