xref: /freebsd/share/man/man4/vt.4 (revision 3823d5e198425b4f5e5a80267d195769d1063773)
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25.\" $FreeBSD$
26.\"
27.Dd October 20, 2014
28.Dt "VIRTUAL TERMINALS" 4
29.Os
30.Sh NAME
31.Nm vt
32.Nd virtual terminal console driver
33.Sh SYNOPSIS
34.Cd "options TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=_attribute_"
35.Cd "options TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=_attribute_"
36.Cd "options VT_MAXWINDOWS=N"
37.Cd "options VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1"
38.Cd "options VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE"
39.Cd "options VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X"
40.Cd "options VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y"
41.Cd "options SC_NO_CUTPASTE"
42.Cd "device vt"
43.Pp
44In
45.Xr loader.conf 5 :
46.Cd hw.vga.textmode=1
47.Cd kern.vty=vt
48.Pp
49In
50.Xr loader.conf 5 or
51.Xr sysctl.conf 5 :
52.Cd kern.vt.kbd_halt=1
53.Cd kern.vt.kbd_poweroff=1
54.Cd kern.vt.kbd_reboot=1
55.Cd kern.vt.kbd_debug=1
56.Cd kern.vt.kbd_panic=0
57.Sh DESCRIPTION
58The
59.Nm
60device provides multiple virtual terminals with an extensive feature
61set:
62.Bl -item -offset indent
63.It
64Unicode UTF-8 text with double-width characters.
65.It
66Large font maps in graphics mode, including support for Asian
67character sets.
68.It
69Graphics-mode consoles.
70.It
71Integration with
72KMS
73.Pq Kernel Mode Setting
74video drivers for switching between the
75.Em X Window System
76and virtual terminals.
77.El
78.Ss Virtual Terminals
79Multiple virtual terminals are provided on a single computer.
80Up to sixteen virtual terminals can be defined.
81A single virtual terminal is connected to the screen and keyboard
82at a time.
83Key combinations are used to select a virtual terminal.
84Alt-F1 through Alt-F12 correspond to the first twelve virtual terminals.
85If more than twelve virtual terminals are created, Shift-Alt-F1 through
86Shift-Alt-F4 are used to switch to the additional terminals.
87.Ss Copying and Pasting Text with a Mouse
88Copying and pasting text from the screen with a mouse is supported.
89Press and hold down mouse button 1, usually the left button, while
90moving the mouse to select text.
91Selected text is highlighted with reversed foreground and background
92colors.
93To select more text after releasing mouse button 1, press mouse button
943, usually the right button.
95To paste text that has been selected, press mouse button 2, usually the
96middle button.
97The text is entered as if it were typed at the keyboard.
98The
99.Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
100kernel option can be used with mice that only have two buttons.
101Setting this option makes the second mouse button into the
102paste button.
103See
104.Xr moused 8
105for more information.
106.Ss Scrolling Back
107Output that has scrolled off the screen can be reviewed by pressing the
108Scroll Lock key, then scrolling up and down with the arrow keys.
109The Page Up and Page Down keys scroll up or down a full screen at a
110time.
111The Home and End keys jump to the beginning or end of the scrollback
112buffer.
113When finished reviewing, press the Scroll Lock key again to return to
114normal use.
115.Sh DRIVER CONFIGURATION
116.Ss Kernel Configuration Options
117These kernel options control the
118.Nm
119driver.
120.Bl -tag -width MAXCONS
121.It Dv TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR= Ns Pa attribute
122.It Dv TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR= Ns Pa attribute
123These options allow changing the default colors used for normal and kernel
124text.
125Available colors are defined in
126.In sys/terminal.h .
127See
128.Sx EXAMPLES
129below.
130.It Dv VT_MAXWINDOWS=N
131Set the number of virtual terminals to be created to
132.Fa N .
133The value defaults to 12.
134.It Dv VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1
135When the Alt key is held down while pressing another key, send an ESC
136sequence instead of the Alt key.
137.It Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
138If defined, swap the functions of mouse buttons 2 and 3.
139In effect, this makes the right-hand mouse button perform a paste.
140These options are checked in the order shown.
141.It Dv SC_NO_CUTPASTE
142Disable mouse support.
143.It VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X
144Set the default width to
145.Fa X .
146.It VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y
147Set the default height to
148.Fa Y .
149.El
150.Sh BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY
151Several options are provided for compatibility with the previous
152console device,
153.Xr sc 4 .
154These options will be removed in a future
155.Fx
156version.
157.Bl -column -offset indent ".Sy vt VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE" ".Sy SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE"
158.It Sy vt Option Name Ta Sy sc Option Name
159.It Dv TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR Ta Dv SC_KERNEL_CONS_ATTR
160.It Dv TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR Ta Dv SC_NORM_ATTR
161.It Dv VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE Ta Dv SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
162.It Dv VT_MAXWINDOWS Ta Dv MAXCONS
163.It none Ta Dv SC_NO_CUTPASTE
164.El
165.Sh START-UP OPERATION WITH X86 BIOS SYSTEMS
166The computer BIOS starts in text mode, and
167the
168.Fx
169.Xr loader 8
170runs, loading the kernel.
171If
172.Va hw.vga.textmode
173is set, the system remains in text mode.
174Otherwise,
175.Nm
176switches to 640x480x16 VGA mode using
177.Cm vt_vga .
178If a KMS
179.Pq Kernel Mode Switching
180video driver is available, the display is switched to high resolution
181and the KMS driver takes over.
182When a KMS driver is not available,
183.Cm vt_vga
184remains active.
185.Sh LOADER TUNABLES
186These settings can be entered at the
187.Xr loader 8
188prompt or in
189.Xr loader.conf 5 .
190.Bl -tag -width indent
191.It Va hw.vga.textmode
192Set to 1 to use virtual terminals in text mode instead of graphics mode.
193Features that require graphics mode, like loadable fonts, will be
194disabled.
195.It Va kern.vty
196Set this value to
197.Ql vt
198or
199.Ql sc
200to override the default driver used for the system console.
201By default,
202.Xr sc 4
203is used on computers that boot from BIOS, and
204.Nm
205is used on computers that boot from UEFI.
206.Sh KEYBOARD SYSCTL TUNABLES
207These settings control whether certain special key combinations are enabled or
208ignored.
209The specific key combinations can be configured by using a
210.Xr keymap 5
211file.
212.Pp
213These settings can be entered at the
214.Xr loader 8
215prompt or in
216.Xr loader.conf 5
217and can also be changed at runtime with the
218.Xr sysctl 8
219command.
220.Bl -tag -width indent
221.It Va kern.vt.kbd_halt
222Enable halt keyboard combination.
223.It Va kern.vt.kbd_poweroff
224Enable power off key combination.
225.It Va kern.vt.kbd_reboot.
226Enable reboot key combination, usually Ctrl+Alt+Del.
227.It Va kern.vt.kbd_debug
228Enable debug request key combination, usually Ctrl+Alt+Esc.
229.It Va kern.vt.kbd_panic
230Enable panic key combination.
231.El
232.Sh FILES
233.Bl -tag -width /usr/share/vt/keymaps/* -compact
234.It Pa /dev/console
235.It Pa /dev/consolectl
236.It Pa /dev/ttyv*
237virtual terminals
238.It Pa /etc/ttys
239terminal initialization information
240.It Pa /usr/share/vt/fonts/*.fnt
241console fonts
242.It Pa /usr/share/vt/keymaps/*.kbd
243keyboard layouts
244.El
245.Sh EXAMPLES
246This example changes the default color of normal text to green on a
247black background, or black on a green background when reversed.
248Note that white space cannot be used inside the attribute string
249because of the current implementation of
250.Xr config 8 .
251.Pp
252.Dl "options TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=(FG_GREEN|BG_BLACK)"
253.Pp
254This line changes the default color of kernel messages to be bright red
255on a black background, or black on a bright red background when reversed.
256.Pp
257.Dl "options TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=(FG_LIGHTRED|BG_BLACK)"
258.Sh SEE ALSO
259.Xr kbdcontrol 1 ,
260.Xr login 1 ,
261.Xr vidcontrol 1 ,
262.Xr atkbd 4 ,
263.Xr atkbdc 4 ,
264.Xr keyboard 4 ,
265.Xr screen 4 ,
266.Xr splash 4 ,
267.Xr syscons 4 ,
268.Xr ukbd 4 ,
269.Xr kbdmap 5 ,
270.Xr rc.conf 5 ,
271.Xr ttys 5 ,
272.Xr config 8 ,
273.Xr getty 8 ,
274.Xr kbdmux 8 ,
275.Xr kldload 8 ,
276.Xr moused 8 ,
277.Xr vtfontcvt 8
278.Sh HISTORY
279The
280.Nm
281driver first appeared in
282.Fx 9.3 .
283.Sh AUTHORS
284.An -nosplit
285The
286.Nm
287device driver was developed by
288.An Ed Schouten Aq Mt ed@FreeBSD.org ,
289.An Ed Maste Aq Mt emaste@FreeBSD.org ,
290and
291.An Aleksandr Rybalko Aq Mt ray@FreeBSD.org ,
292with sponsorship provided by the
293.Fx
294Foundation.
295This manual page was written by
296.An Warren Block Aq Mt wblock@FreeBSD.org .
297.Sh CAVEATS
298Paste buffer size is limited by the system value
299.Brq Dv MAX_INPUT ,
300the number of bytes that can be stored in the terminal
301input queue, usually 1024 bytes
302(see
303.Xr termios 4 ) .
304