Manual: localedef

localedef(1)					   General Commands Manual					localedef(1)

NAME
       localedef - compile locale definition files

SYNOPSIS
       localedef [options] outputpath

       localedef --add-to-archive [options] compiledpath

       localedef --delete-from-archive [options] localename ...

       localedef --list-archive [options]

       localedef --help

       localedef --usage

       localedef --version

DESCRIPTION
       The  localedef  program reads the indicated charmap and input files, compiles them to a binary form quickly usable by
       the locale functions in the C library (setlocale(3), localeconv(3), etc.), and places the output in outputpath.

       The outputpath argument is interpreted as follows:

       •  If outputpath contains a slash character ('/'), it is interpreted as the name of the directory  where	 the  output
	  definitions  are  to	be stored.  In this case, there is a separate output file for each locale category (LC_TIME,
	  LC_NUMERIC, and so on).

       •  If the --no-archive option is used, outputpath is the name of a subdirectory in /usr/lib/locale where per-category
	  compiled files are placed.

       •  Otherwise, outputpath is the name of a locale	 and  the  compiled  locale  data  is  added  to  the  archive	file
	  /usr/lib/locale/locale-archive.   A  locale archive is a memory-mapped file which contains all the system-provided
	  locales; it is used by all localized programs when the environment variable LOCPATH is not set.

       In any case, localedef aborts if the directory in which it tries to write locale files has not already been created.

       If no charmapfile is given, the value ANSI_X3.4-1968 (for ASCII) is used by default.  If no inputfile is given, or if
       it is given as a dash (-), localedef reads from standard input.

OPTIONS
   Operation-selection options
       A few options direct localedef to do something other than compile locale definitions.   Only  one  of  these  options
       should be used at a time.

       --add-to-archive
	      Add the compiledpath directories to the locale archive file.  The directories should have been created by pre‐
	      vious runs of localedef, using --no-archive.

       --delete-from-archive
	      Delete the named locales from the locale archive file.

       --list-archive
	      List the locales contained in the locale archive file.

   Other options
       Some  of	 the  following options are sensible only for certain operations; generally, it should be self-evident which
       ones.  Notice that -f and -c are reversed from what you might expect; that is, -f is not the same as --force.

       -f charmapfile
       --charmap=charmapfile
	      Specify the file that defines the character set that is used by the input file.	If  charmapfile	 contains  a
	      slash  character	('/'), it is interpreted as the name of the character map.  Otherwise, the file is sought in
	      the current directory and the default directory for character maps.  If the environment variable	I18NPATH  is
	      set,  $I18NPATH/charmaps/ and $I18NPATH/ are also searched after the current directory.  The default directory
	      for character maps is printed by localedef --help.

       -i inputfile
       --inputfile=inputfile
	      Specify the locale definition file to compile.  The file is sought in the current directory  and	the  default
	      directory	 for  locale  definition files.	 If the environment variable I18NPATH is set, $I18NPATH/locales/ and
	      $I18NPATH are also searched after the current directory.	The default directory for locale definition files is
	      printed by localedef --help.

       -u repertoirefile
       --repertoire-map=repertoirefile
	      Read mappings from symbolic names to Unicode code points from repertoirefile.  If	 repertoirefile	 contains  a
	      slash character ('/'), it is interpreted as the pathname of the repertoire map.  Otherwise, the file is sought
	      in  the current directory and the default directory for repertoire maps.	If the environment variable I18NPATH
	      is set, $I18NPATH/repertoiremaps/ and $I18NPATH are also searched after the current  directory.	The  default
	      directory for repertoire maps is printed by localedef --help.

       -A aliasfile
       --alias-file=aliasfile
	      Use aliasfile to look up aliases for locale names.  There is no default aliases file.

       --force
       -c     Write the output files even if warnings were generated about the input file.

       --verbose
       -v     Generate extra warnings about errors that are normally ignored.

       --big-endian
	      Generate big-endian output.

       --little-endian
	      Generate little-endian output.

       --no-archive
	      Do  not  use the locale archive file, instead create outputpath as a subdirectory in the same directory as the
	      locale archive file, and create separate output files for locale categories in it.  This is helpful to prevent
	      system locale archive updates from overwriting custom locales created with localedef.

       --no-hard-links
	      Do not create hard links between installed locales.

       --no-warnings=warnings
	      Comma-separated list of warnings to disable.  Supported warnings are ascii and intcurrsym.

       --posix
	      Conform strictly to POSIX.  Implies --verbose.  This option currently has no other effect.  POSIX	 conformance
	      is assumed if the environment variable POSIXLY_CORRECT is set.

       --prefix=pathname
	      Set  the	prefix	to be prepended to the full archive pathname.  By default, the prefix is empty.	 Setting the
	      prefix to foo, the archive would be placed in foo/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive.

       --quiet
	      Suppress all notifications and warnings, and report only fatal errors.

       --replace
	      Replace a locale in the locale archive file.  Without this option, if the locale is in the  archive  file	 al‐
	      ready, an error occurs.

       --warnings=warnings
	      Comma-separated list of warnings to enable.  Supported warnings are ascii and intcurrsym.

       --help
       -?     Print a usage summary and exit.  Also prints the default paths used by localedef.

       --usage
	      Print a short usage summary and exit.

       --version
       -V     Print the version number, license, and disclaimer of warranty for localedef.

EXIT STATUS
       One of the following exit values can be returned by localedef:

       0      Command completed successfully.

       1      Warnings or errors occurred, output files were written.

       4      Errors encountered, no output created.

ENVIRONMENT
       POSIXLY_CORRECT
	      The --posix flag is assumed if this environment variable is set.

       I18NPATH
	      A colon-separated list of search directories for files.

FILES
       /usr/share/i18n/charmaps
	      Usual default character map path.

       /usr/share/i18n/locales
	      Usual default path for locale definition files.

       /usr/share/i18n/repertoiremaps
	      Usual default repertoire map path.

       /usr/lib/locale/locale-archive
	      Usual default locale archive location.

       /usr/lib/locale
	      Usual default path for compiled individual locale data files.

       outputpath/LC_ADDRESS
	      An output file that contains information about formatting of addresses and geography-related items.

       outputpath/LC_COLLATE
	      An output file that contains information about the rules for comparing strings.

       outputpath/LC_CTYPE
	      An output file that contains information about character classes.

       outputpath/LC_IDENTIFICATION
	      An output file that contains metadata about the locale.

       outputpath/LC_MEASUREMENT
	      An output file that contains information about locale measurements (metric versus US customary).

       outputpath/LC_MESSAGES/SYS_LC_MESSAGES
	      An  output file that contains information about the language messages should be printed in, and what an affir‐
	      mative or negative answer looks like.

       outputpath/LC_MONETARY
	      An output file that contains information about formatting of monetary values.

       outputpath/LC_NAME
	      An output file that contains information about salutations for persons.

       outputpath/LC_NUMERIC
	      An output file that contains information about formatting of nonmonetary numeric values.

       outputpath/LC_PAPER
	      An output file that contains information about settings related to standard paper size.

       outputpath/LC_TELEPHONE
	      An output file that contains information about formats to be used with telephone services.

       outputpath/LC_TIME
	      An output file that contains information about formatting of data and time values.

STANDARDS
       POSIX.1-2008.

EXAMPLES
       Compile the locale files for Finnish in the UTF-8 character set and add it to the default  locale  archive  with	 the
       name fi_FI.UTF-8:

	   localedef -f UTF-8 -i fi_FI fi_FI.UTF-8

       The  next  example  does the same thing, but generates files into the fi_FI.UTF-8 directory which can then be used by
       programs when the environment variable LOCPATH is set to the current directory (note that the last argument must con‐
       tain a slash):

	   localedef -f UTF-8 -i fi_FI ./fi_FI.UTF-8

SEE ALSO
       locale(1), charmap(5), locale(5), repertoiremap(5), locale(7)

Linux man-pages 6.17					 2026-02-08						localedef(1)