1SETXKBMAP(1)                General Commands Manual               SETXKBMAP(1)
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NAME

6       setxkbmap - set the keyboard using the X Keyboard Extension
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SYNOPSIS

9       setxkbmap [ args ] [ layout [ variant [ option ...  ] ] ]
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DESCRIPTION

12       The setxkbmap command maps the keyboard to use the layout determined by
13       the options specified on the command line.
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15       An XKB keymap is constructed from a number of components which are com‐
16       piled  only  as  needed.   The  source for all of the components can be
17       found in /usr/share/X11/xkb.
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OPTIONS

20       -compat name
21               Specifies the name of the compatibility map component  used  to
22               construct a keyboard layout.
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24       -config file
25               Specifies the name of an XKB configuration file which describes
26               the keyboard to be used.
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28       -device device
29               Specifies the numeric device id of the input device to  be  up‐
30               dated  with the new keyboard layout. If not specified, the core
31               keyboard device of the X server is updated.
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33       -display display
34               Specifies the display to be updated with the new keyboard  lay‐
35               out.
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37       -geometry name
38               Specifies  the name of the geometry component used to construct
39               a keyboard layout.
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41       -help   Prints a message describing the valid input to setxkbmap.
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43       -I directory
44               Adds a directory to the list  of  directories  to  be  used  to
45               search for specified layout or rules files.
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47       -keycodes name
48               Specifies  the name of the keycodes component used to construct
49               a keyboard layout.
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51       -keymap name
52               Specifies the name of the keymap description used to  construct
53               a keyboard layout.
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55       -layout name
56               Specifies  the  name of the layout used to determine the compo‐
57               nents which make up the keyboard description. The  -layout  op‐
58               tion  may  only be used once. Multiple layouts can be specified
59               as a comma-separated list.
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61       -model name
62               Specifies the name of the keyboard model used to determine  the
63               components  which  make  up the keyboard description.  Only one
64               model may be specified on the command line.
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66       -option name
67               Specifies the name of an option  to  determine  the  components
68               which  make  up the keyboard description;  multiple options may
69               be specified, one per -option flag. Note  that  setxkbmap  adds
70               options  specified in the command line to the options that were
71               set before (as saved in root window properties). If you want to
72               replace  all previously specified options, use the -option flag
73               with an empty argument first.
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75       -print  With this option setxkbmap just prints  component  names  in  a
76               format  acceptable  by xkbcomp (an XKB keymap compiler) and ex‐
77               its. The option can be used for tests instead of a verbose  op‐
78               tion  and in cases when one needs to run both the setxkbmap and
79               the xkbcomp in chain (see below).
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81       -query  With this option  setxkbmap  just  prints  the  current  rules,
82               model, layout, variant, and options, then exits.
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84       -rules file
85               Specifies  the  name  of the rules file used to resolve the re‐
86               quested layout and model to a set of component names.
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88       -symbols name
89               Specifies the name of the symbols component used to construct a
90               keyboard layout.
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92       -synch  Force synchronization for X requests.
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94       -types name
95               Specifies  the  name of the types component used to construct a
96               keyboard layout.
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98       -variant name
99               Specifies which variant of the keyboard layout should  be  used
100               to determine the components which make up the keyboard descrip‐
101               tion. The -variant option may only be used once. Multiple vari‐
102               ants  can  be  specified  as a comma-separated list and will be
103               matched with the layouts specified with -layout.
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105       -verbose|-v [level]
106               Specifies level of verbosity in output messages.  Valid  levels
107               range from 0 (least verbose) to 10 (most verbose).  The default
108               verbosity level is 5.  If no level is  specified,  each  -v  or
109               -verbose flag raises the level by 1.
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111       -version
112               Prints the program's version number.
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USING WITH xkbcomp

115       If  you have an Xserver and a client shell running on different comput‐
116       ers and some XKB configuration files on those machines  are  different,
117       you  can  get  problems specifying a keyboard map by model, layout, and
118       options names.  This is because setxkbmap  converts  its  arguments  to
119       names  of  XKB  configuration  files according to files that are on the
120       client-side computer, then sends these file names to the  server  where
121       xkbcomp  has  to  compose a complete keyboard map using files which the
122       server has.  Thus if the sets of files differ in some  way,  the  names
123       that  setxkbmap  generates can be unacceptable on the server side.  You
124       can solve this problem by running the xkbcomp on the client  side  too.
125       With  the  -print option setxkbmap just prints the file names in an ap‐
126       propriate format to its stdout and this output can be piped directly to
127       the xkbcomp input.  For example, the command
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129       setxkbmap us -print | xkbcomp - $DISPLAY
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131       makes  both steps run on the same (client) machine and loads a keyboard
132       map into the server.
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134

XWAYLAND

136       Xwayland is an X server that uses  a  Wayland  Compositor  as  backend.
137       Xwayland  acts as translation layer between the X protocol and the Way‐
138       land protocol but does not manage the keymaps - these  are  handled  by
139       the Wayland Compositor.
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141       Changing  the  keymap  with setxkbmap is not supported by Xwayland.  In
142       most instances, using setxkbmap on Xwayland is indicative of a bug in a
143       shell  script  and setxkbmap will print a warning. Use the Wayland Com‐
144       positor's native XKB configuration methods instead.
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SEE ALSO

148       xkbcomp(1), xkeyboard-config(7)
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FILES

151       /usr/share/X11/xkb
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155X Version 11                    setxkbmap 1.3.3                   SETXKBMAP(1)
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