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NAME
vt — virtual terminal console driver
SYNOPSIS
options TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=_attribute_
options TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=_attribute_
options VT_MAXWINDOWS=N
options VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1
options VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
options VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X
options VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y
options SC_NO_CUTPASTE
device vt
In loader.conf(5):
hw.vga.textmode=1
kern.vty=vt
DESCRIPTION
The vt device provides multiple virtual terminals with an extensive feature set:
Unicode UTF-8 text with double-width characters.
Large font maps in graphics mode, including support for Asian character sets.
Graphics-mode consoles.
Integration with KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) video drivers for switching between the X Window System
and virtual terminals.
Virtual Terminals
Multiple virtual terminals are provided on a single computer. Up to sixteen virtual terminals can be
defined. A single virtual terminal is connected to the screen and keyboard at a time. Key combinations
are used to select a virtual terminal. Alt-F1 through Alt-F12 correspond to the first twelve virtual
terminals. If more than twelve virtual terminals are created, Shift-Alt-F1 through Shift-Alt-F4 are used
to switch to the additional terminals.
Copying and Pasting Text with a Mouse
Copying and pasting text from the screen with a mouse is supported. Press and hold down mouse button 1,
usually the left button, while moving the mouse to select text. Selected text is highlighted with
reversed foreground and background colors. To select more text after releasing mouse button 1, press
mouse button 3, usually the right button. To paste text that has been selected, press mouse button 2,
usually the middle button. The text is entered as if it were typed at the keyboard. The
VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE kernel option can be used with mice that only have two buttons. Setting this option
makes the second mouse button into the paste button. See moused(8) for more information.
Scrolling Back
Output that has scrolled off the screen can be reviewed by pressing the Scroll Lock key, then scrolling
up and down with the arrow keys. The Page Up and Page Down keys scroll up or down a full screen at a
time. The Home and End keys jump to the beginning or end of the scrollback buffer. When finished
reviewing, press the Scroll Lock key again to return to normal use.
DRIVER CONFIGURATION
Kernel Configuration Options
These kernel options control the vt driver.
TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=attribute
TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=attribute
These options allow changing the default colors used for normal and kernel text. Available
colors are defined in <sys/terminal.h>. See “EXAMPLES” below.
VT_MAXWINDOWS=N
Set the number of virtual terminals to be created to N. The value defaults to 12.
VT_ALT_TO_ESC_HACK=1
When the Alt key is held down while pressing another key, send an ESC sequence instead of the
Alt key.
VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
If defined, swap the functions of mouse buttons 2 and 3. In effect, this makes the right-hand
mouse button perform a paste. These options are checked in the order shown.
SC_NO_CUTPASTE
Disable mouse support.
VT_FB_DEFAULT_WIDTH=X
Set the default width to X.
VT_FB_DEFAULT_HEIGHT=Y
Set the default height to Y.
BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY
Several options are provided for compatibility with the previous console device, sc(4). These options
will be removed in a future FreeBSD version.
vt Option Name sc Option Name
TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR SC_KERNEL_CONS_ATTR
TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR SC_NORM_ATTR
VT_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE SC_TWOBUTTON_MOUSE
VT_MAXWINDOWS MAXCONS
none SC_NO_CUTPASTE
START-UP OPERATION WITH X86 BIOS SYSTEMS
The computer BIOS starts in text mode, and the FreeBSD loader(8) runs, loading the kernel. If
hw.vga.textmode is set, the system remains in text mode. Otherwise, vt switches to 640x480x16 VGA mode
using vt_vga. If a KMS (Kernel Mode Switching) video driver is available, the display is switched to
high resolution and the KMS driver takes over. When a KMS driver is not available, vt_vga remains
active.
LOADER TUNABLES
These settings can be entered at the loader(8) prompt or in loader.conf(5).
hw.vga.textmode
Set to 1 to use virtual terminals in text mode instead of graphics mode. Features that require
graphics mode, like loadable fonts, will be disabled.
kern.vty
When both vt and sc(4) have been compiled into the kernel, the one to use for the system console
can be selected by setting this value to ‘vt’ or ‘sc’. If this value is not set, sc(4) is used.
FILES
/dev/console
/dev/consolectl
/dev/ttyv* virtual terminals
/etc/ttys terminal initialization information
/usr/share/vt/fonts/*.fnt
console fonts
/usr/share/vt/keymaps/*.kbd
keyboard layouts
EXAMPLES
This example changes the default color of normal text to green on a black background, or black on a green
background when reversed. Note that white space cannot be used inside the attribute string because of
the current implementation of config(8).
options TERMINAL_NORM_ATTR=(FG_GREEN|BG_BLACK)
This line changes the default color of kernel messages to be bright red on a black background, or black
on a bright red background when reversed.
options TERMINAL_KERN_ATTR=(FG_LIGHTRED|BG_BLACK)
SEE ALSO
kbdcontrol(1), login(1), vidcontrol(1), atkbd(4), atkbdc(4), keyboard(4), screen(4), splash(4),
syscons(4), ukbd(4), kbdmap(5), rc.conf(5), ttys(5), config(8), getty(8), kbdmux(8), kldload(8),
moused(8)
HISTORY
The vt driver first appeared in FreeBSD 9.3.
AUTHORS
The vt device driver was developed by Ed Schouten <ed@FreeBSD.org>, Ed Maste <emaste@FreeBSD.org>, and
Aleksandr Rybalko <ray@FreeBSD.org>, with sponsorship provided by the FreeBSD Foundation. This manual
page was written by Warren Block <wblock@FreeBSD.org>.
CAVEATS
Paste buffer size is limited by the system value {MAX_INPUT}, the number of bytes that can be stored in
the terminal input queue, usually 1024 bytes (see termios(4)).
Debian July 2, 2014 VIRTUAL TERMINALS(4)