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

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.