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       -help   Prints a message describing the valid input to setxkbmap.
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22       -compat name
23               Specifies the name of the compatibility map component  used  to
24               construct a keyboard layout.
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26       -config file
27               Specifies the name of an XKB configuration file which describes
28               the keyboard to be used.
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30       -device device
31               Specifies the numeric device id  of  the  input  device  to  be
32               updated  with  the  new  keyboard layout. If not specified, the
33               core keyboard device of the X server is updated.
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35       -display display
36               Specifies the display to be updated with the new keyboard  lay‐
37               out.
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39       -geometry name
40               Specifies  the name of the geometry component used to construct
41               a keyboard layout.
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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.  Only one  layout
58               may be specified on the command line.
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60       -model name
61               Specifies  the name of the keyboard model used to determine the
62               components which make up the keyboard  description.   Only  one
63               model may be specified on the command line.
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65       -option name
66               Specifies  the  name  of  an option to determine the components
67               which make up the keyboard description;  multiple  options  may
68               be  specified,  one  per -option flag. Note that setxkbmap adds
69               options specified in the command line to the options that  were
70               set before (as saved in root window properties). If you want to
71               replace all previously specified options, use the -option  flag
72               with an empty argument first.
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74       -print  With  this  option  setxkbmap  just prints component names in a
75               format acceptable by  xkbcomp  (an  XKB  keymap  compiler)  and
76               exits.  The  option  can be used for tests instead of a verbose
77               option and in cases when one needs to run  both  the  setxkbmap
78               and the xkbcomp in chain (see below).
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80       -query  With  this  option  setxkbmap  just  prints  the current rules,
81               model, layout, variant, and options, then exits.
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83       -rules file
84               Specifies the name of  the  rules  file  used  to  resolve  the
85               requested layout and model to a set of component names.
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87       -symbols name
88               Specifies the name of the symbols component used to construct a
89               keyboard layout.
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91       -synch  Force synchronization for X requests.
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93       -types name
94               Specifies the name of the types component used to  construct  a
95               keyboard layout.
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97       -variant name
98               Specifies  which  variant of the keyboard layout should be used
99               to determine the components which make up the keyboard descrip‐
100               tion.  Only one variant may be specified on the command line.
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102       -verbose|-v [level]
103               Specifies  level of verbosity in output messages.  Valid levels
104               range from 0 (least verbose) to 10 (most verbose).  The default
105               verbosity  level  is  5.   If no level is specified, each -v or
106               -verbose flag raises the level by 1.
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USING WITH xkbcomp

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

129       xkbcomp(1)
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FILES

132       /usr/share/X11/xkb
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136X Version 11                    setxkbmap 1.2.0                   SETXKBMAP(1)