X11 – Key Binding to Increment/Decrement Virtual Console

keyboard shortcutsvirtual-consolesx11

One can change virtual consoles (or virtual terminals, VTs) by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Fn (where Fn represents F1, F2, etc.). In addition, when not running X, one can press Alt and the arrow keys to cycle through VTs (Alt← to decrement and Alt→ to increment the virtual terminal).

However, if X is running on one of the VTs, the arrow key bindings are not typically set and one must fall back to Ctrl+Alt+Fn to change to another VT.

I generally prefer using the arrow bindings to change VTs. To avoid having to switch between key bindings (Ctrl+Alt+Fn for VTs with X; arrows for VTs without it), to what command would one bind Alt←/→ for decrementing/incrementing the VT in X?

In case the answer depends on the system, I am running debian and using dwm and openbox as window managers.

Best Answer

I can only tell you a dirty workaround. Use xbindkeys and add to ~/.xbindkeysrc:

"sudo chvt $(($XDG_VTNR-1))"
   alt + c:113

"sudo chvt $(($XDG_VTNR+1))"
   alt + c:114

If you don't have XDG_VTNR variable, then you have to hardcode previous/next vt.

You also have to put yourself into /etc/sudoers:

USER ALL=NOPASSWD:/bin/chvt

Related Solutions

Linux – How to Disable Alt-Arrow Switching of Virtual Consoles

You can use the loadkeys command to remap keys on the Linux console. The following lines define the key bindings to switch consoles (on a PC keyboard):

alt keycode 105 = Decr_Console
alt keycode 106 = Incr_Console

Load your own keymap file that overrides these bindings with an escape sequence that fish recognizes. To make a key send an escape sequence, you need to bind it to a key name of the form FNUMBER and define a character sequence for FNUMBER.

alt keycode 105 = F105
alt keycode 106 = F106
string F105 = "\033\033[D"
string F105 = "\033\033[C"

Different distributions (and sometimes different packages for console support) store the system boot-time keymap in different locations under /etc. Look for a file called *.kmap or *.kmap.gz or *.map or *.map.gz under /etc or consult your distribution's manual. Some distributions store a the keymap's name in /etc instead and put the actual keymap elsewhere; look for a keymap-related setting under /etc/sysconfig or other configuration directory.

You can either write your own keymap and use include "/path/to/foo.map" to reference the system keymap, or arrange to load your own keymap containing just the settings you want to change during the boot process.

Lock Virtual Terminals when resuming

I did it with a not-so-graceful way: first, changed to the first terminal with chvt (that's where my slock locker will be running), then disabled the keys F1 to F12 with xmodmap in a systemd unit called after sleep.target, and enabled them back after resume.target, and it seems to be working fine.

systemd Unit:

[Unit]  
Description=Disable Switching VTS when locked  
Before=sleep.target

[Service]  
User=root  
Type=forking  
Environment=DISPLAY=:0  
ExecStartPre=chvt 1  
ExecStart=/path/to/disableVTS.sh

[Install]  
WantedBy=sleep.target

disableVTS.sh script:

#!/bin/sh  
xmodmap -e 'keycode 67 ='  
xmodmap -e 'keycode 68 = '

Best Answer

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Linux – How to Disable Alt-Arrow Switching of Virtual Consoles

Lock Virtual Terminals when resuming

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