man/localectl.xml

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<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
  "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1+ -->

<refentry id="localectl" conditional='ENABLE_LOCALED'
    xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">

  <refentryinfo>
    <title>localectl</title>
    <productname>systemd</productname>
  </refentryinfo>

  <refmeta>
    <refentrytitle>localectl</refentrytitle>
    <manvolnum>1</manvolnum>
  </refmeta>

  <refnamediv>
    <refname>localectl</refname>
    <refpurpose>Control the system locale and keyboard layout settings</refpurpose>
  </refnamediv>

  <refsynopsisdiv>
    <cmdsynopsis>
      <command>localectl</command>
      <arg choice="opt" rep="repeat">OPTIONS</arg>
      <arg choice="req">COMMAND</arg>
    </cmdsynopsis>
  </refsynopsisdiv>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Description</title>

    <para><command>localectl</command> may be used to query and change
    the system locale and keyboard layout settings. It communicates with
    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-localed</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
    to modify files such as <filename>/etc/locale.conf</filename> and
    <filename>/etc/vconsole.conf</filename>.</para>

    <para>The system locale controls the language settings of system
    services and of the UI before the user logs in, such as the
    display manager, as well as the default for users after
    login.</para>

    <para>The keyboard settings control the keyboard layout used on
    the text console and of the graphical UI before the user logs in,
    such as the display manager, as well as the default for users
    after login.</para>

    <para>Note that the changes performed using this tool might require
    the initramfs to be rebuilt to take effect during early system boot.
    The initramfs is not rebuilt automatically by <filename>localectl</filename>.
    </para>

    <para>Note that
    <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-firstboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>
    may be used to initialize the system locale for mounted (but not booted)
    system images.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Options</title>

    <para>The following options are understood:</para>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--no-ask-password</option></term>

        <listitem><para>Do not query the user for authentication for
        privileged operations.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><option>--no-convert</option></term>

        <listitem><para>If <command>set-keymap</command> or
        <command>set-x11-keymap</command> is invoked and this option
        is passed, then the keymap will not be converted from the
        console to X11, or X11 to console,
        respectively.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <xi:include href="user-system-options.xml" xpointer="host" />
      <xi:include href="user-system-options.xml" xpointer="machine" />

      <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="help" />
      <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="version" />
      <xi:include href="standard-options.xml" xpointer="no-pager" />
    </variablelist>
  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Commands</title>

    <para>The following commands are understood:</para>

    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>status</command></term>

        <listitem><para>Show current settings of the system locale and keyboard mapping.
        If no command is specified, this is the implied default.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>set-locale LOCALE</command></term>
        <term><command>set-locale VARIABLE=LOCALE…</command></term>

        <listitem><para>Set the system locale. This takes one locale such as <literal>en_US.UTF-8</literal>, or takes one or more
        locale assignments such as <literal>LANG=de_DE.utf8</literal>, <literal>LC_MESSAGES=en_GB.utf8</literal>, and so on. If
        one locale without variable name is provided, then <literal>LANG=</literal> locale variable will be set. See
        <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>
        for details on the available settings and their meanings. Use
        <command>list-locales</command> for a list of available
        locales (see below). </para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>list-locales</command></term>

        <listitem><para>List available locales useful for
        configuration with
        <command>set-locale</command>.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>set-keymap MAP [TOGGLEMAP]</command></term>

        <listitem><para>Set the system keyboard mapping for the
        console and X11. This takes a mapping name (such as "de" or
        "us"), and possibly a second one to define a toggle keyboard
        mapping. Unless <option>--no-convert</option> is passed, the
        selected setting is also applied as the default system
        keyboard mapping of X11, after converting it to the closest
        matching X11 keyboard mapping. Use
        <command>list-keymaps</command> for a list of available
        keyboard mappings (see below).</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>list-keymaps</command></term>

        <listitem><para>List available keyboard mappings for the
        console, useful for configuration with
        <command>set-keymap</command>.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>set-x11-keymap LAYOUT [MODEL [VARIANT [OPTIONS]]]</command></term>

        <listitem><para>Set the system default keyboard mapping for
        X11 and the virtual console. This takes a keyboard mapping
        name (such as <literal>de</literal> or <literal>us</literal>),
        and possibly a model, variant, and options, see
        <citerefentry><refentrytitle>kbd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>4</manvolnum></citerefentry>
        for details. Unless <option>--no-convert</option> is passed,
        the selected setting is also applied as the system console
        keyboard mapping, after converting it to the closest matching
        console keyboard mapping.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><command>list-x11-keymap-models</command></term>
        <term><command>list-x11-keymap-layouts</command></term>
        <term><command>list-x11-keymap-variants [LAYOUT]</command></term>
        <term><command>list-x11-keymap-options</command></term>

        <listitem><para>List available X11 keymap models, layouts,
        variants and options, useful for configuration with
        <command>set-keymap</command>. The command
        <command>list-x11-keymap-variants</command> optionally takes a
        layout parameter to limit the output to the variants suitable
        for the specific layout.</para></listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>

  </refsect1>

  <refsect1>
    <title>Exit status</title>

    <para>On success, 0 is returned, a non-zero failure code
    otherwise.</para>
  </refsect1>

  <xi:include href="less-variables.xml" />

  <refsect1>
    <title>See Also</title>
    <para>
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry project='man-pages'><refentrytitle>locale.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>vconsole.conf</refentrytitle><manvolnum>5</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry project='mankier'><refentrytitle>loadkeys</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>kbd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>4</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <ulink url="http://www.x.org/releases/current/doc/xorg-docs/input/XKB-Config.html">
        The XKB Configuration Guide
      </ulink>,
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-localed.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-firstboot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
      <citerefentry project='die-net'><refentrytitle>mkinitrd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
    </para>
  </refsect1>

</refentry>