LOADKEYS(1) General Commands Manual LOADKEYS(1)
NAME
loadkeys - load keyboard translation tables
SYNOPSIS
loadkeys [ -b --bkeymap ] [ -c --clearcompose ] [ -C '<FILE>' | --console=<FILE> ] [ -d --default ] [ -h
--help ] [ -m --mktable ] [ -q --quiet ] [ -s --clearstrings ] [ -u --unicode ] [ -v --verbose ] [ filename...
]
DESCRIPTION
The program loadkeys reads the file or files specified by filename.... Its main purpose is to load the kernel
keymap for the console. You can specify console device by the -C (or --console ) option.
RESET TO DEFAULT
If the -d (or --default ) option is given, loadkeys loads a default keymap, probably the file defkeymap.map
either in /lib/kbd/keymaps or in /usr/src/linux/drivers/char. (Probably the former was user-defined, while
the latter is a qwerty keyboard map for PCs - maybe not what was desired.) Sometimes, with a strange keymap
loaded (with the minus on some obscure unknown modifier combination) it is easier to type `loadkeys
defkeymap'.
LOAD KERNEL KEYMAP
The main function of loadkeys is to load or modify the keyboard driver's translation tables. When specifying
the file names, standard input can be denoted by dash (-). If no file is specified, the data is read from the
standard input.
For many countries and keyboard types appropriate keymaps are available already, and a command like `loadkeys
uk' might do what you want. On the other hand, it is easy to construct one's own keymap. The user has to tell
what symbols belong to each key. She can find the keycode for a key by use of showkey(1), while the keymap
format is given in keymaps(5) and can also be seen from the output of dumpkeys(1).
LOAD KERNEL ACCENT TABLE
If the input file does not contain any compose key definitions, the kernel accent table is left unchanged,
unless the -c (or --clearcompose ) option is given, in which case the kernel accent table is emptied. If the
input file does contain compose key definitions, then all old definitions are removed, and replaced by the
specified new entries. The kernel accent table is a sequence of (by default 68) entries describing how dead
diacritical signs and compose keys behave. For example, a line
compose ',' 'c' to ccedilla
means that <ComposeKey><,><c> must be combined to <ccedilla>. The current content of this table can be see
using `dumpkeys --compose-only'.
LOAD KERNEL STRING TABLE
The option -s (or --clearstrings ) clears the kernel string table. If this option is not given, loadkeys will
only add or replace strings, not remove them. (Thus, the option -s is required to reach a well-defined
state.) The kernel string table is a sequence of strings with names like F31. One can make function key F5
(on an ordinary PC keyboard) produce the text `Hello!', and Shift+F5 `Goodbye!' using lines
keycode 63 = F70 F71
string F70 = "Hello!"
string F71 = "Goodbye!"
in the keymap. The default bindings for the function keys are certain escape sequences mostly inspired by the
VT100 terminal.
CREATE KERNEL SOURCE TABLE
If the -m (or --mktable ) option is given loadkeys prints to the standard output a file that may be used as
The -u (or --unicode) switch forces loadkeys to convert all keymaps to Unicode. If the keyboard is in a non-
Unicode mode, such as XLATE, loadkeys will change it to Unicode for the time of its execution. A warning mes‐
sage will be printed in this case.
It is recommended to run kbd_mode(1) before loadkeys instead of using the -u option.
OTHER OPTIONS
-h --help
loadkeys prints its version number and a short usage message to the programs standard error output and
exits.
-q --quiet
loadkeys suppresses all normal output.
WARNING
Note that anyone having read access to /dev/console can run loadkeys and thus change the keyboard layout, pos‐
sibly making it unusable. Note that the keyboard translation table is common for all the virtual consoles, so
any changes to the keyboard bindings affect all the virtual consoles simultaneously.
Note that because the changes affect all the virtual consoles, they also outlive your session. This means that
even at the login prompt the key bindings may not be what the user expects.
FILES
/lib/kbd/keymaps
default directory for keymaps
/usr/src/linux/drivers/char/defkeymap.map
default kernel keymap
SEE ALSO
dumpkeys(1), keymaps(5)
6 Feb 1994 LOADKEYS(1)
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