Manual: setxkbmap

SETXKBMAP(1)					   General Commands Manual					SETXKBMAP(1)

NAME
       setxkbmap - set the keyboard using the X Keyboard Extension

SYNOPSIS
       setxkbmap [ args ] [ layout [ variant [ option ...  ] ] ]

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
       -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 speci‐
	       fied, 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.

       -help   Prints a message describing the valid input to setxkbmap.

       -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 descrip‐
	       tion.  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	com‐
	       piler) 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	ver‐
	       bose).	The  default  verbosity	 level	is 5.  If no level is specified, each -v or -verbose flag raises the
	       level by 1.

       -version
	       Prints the program's version number.

USING WITH xkbcomp
       If you have an Xserver and a client shell running on different computers and some XKB configuration  files  on  those
       machines	 are different, you can get problems specifying a keyboard map by model, layout, and options names.  This is
       because setxkbmap converts its arguments to names of XKB configuration files according  to  files  that	are  on	 the
       client-side  computer, then sends these file names to the server where xkbcomp has to compose a complete keyboard map
       using files which the server has.  Thus if the sets of files differ in some way, the names that	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.

XWAYLAND
       Xwayland	 is an X server that uses a Wayland Compositor as backend.  Xwayland acts as translation layer between the X
       protocol and the Wayland protocol but does not manage the keymaps - these are handled by the Wayland Compositor.

       Changing the keymap with setxkbmap is not supported by Xwayland.	 In most instances, using setxkbmap on	Xwayland  is
       indicative  of  a  bug  in a shell script and setxkbmap will print a warning. Use the Wayland Compositor's native XKB
       configuration methods instead.

SEE ALSO
       xkbcomp(1), xkeyboard-config(7)

FILES
       /usr/share/X11/xkb

X Version 11					       setxkbmap 1.3.4						SETXKBMAP(1)