loadkeys

load keyboard translation tables for the console

TLDR

Load keyboard layout

$ sudo loadkeys [en|de|dvorak]

Load default keymap

$ sudo loadkeys --default

Load keymap for specific console

$ sudo loadkeys -C /dev/ttyN [layout]

Load from file

$ sudo loadkeys -C /dev/ttyN [path/to/keymap]

Create binary keymap

$ loadkeys --bkeymap > [output.bmap]

Parse keymap without loading

$ loadkeys --parse [keymap]

SYNOPSIS

loadkeys [options] [keymap...]

DESCRIPTION

loadkeys reads keymap files and loads the keyboard translation tables into the kernel, changing the keyboard layout for virtual consoles.

PARAMETERS

-d, --default

Load default keymap

-C, --console DEVICE

Target specific console device

-m, --mktable

Output kernel source table

-b, --bkeymap

Output binary keymap

-p, --parse

Parse keymap without loading

-q, --quiet

Suppress all normal output

-u, --unicode

Force Unicode mode

-a, --ascii

Force conversion to ASCII

-s, --clearstrings

Clear kernel string table

-c, --clearcompose

Clear kernel accent table

-t, --tkeymap [shape]

Output a text keymap (optional shape: 2, 4, 8, 16)

-V, --version

Display version number and exit

INSTALL

sudo apt install kbd

sudo dnf install kbd

sudo pacman -S kbd

sudo apk add kbd

sudo zypper install kbd

nix profile install nixpkgs#kbd

CAVEATS

Only affects Linux virtual consoles, not X11 or Wayland. Changes apply to all virtual consoles simultaneously and persist until reboot. Anyone with read access to /dev/console can run loadkeys.