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Keyboard configuration (kbd)

• This document covers the compilation, installation and configuration of the kbd utilities, which are used to change key associations for international users. More advanced uses of the utilities are covered in many online documents. A good place to start is the The Linux Documentation Project website.
• It is possible to change the system-wide default keyboard mappings by using command line options when compiling the kernel. However this software allows different users (potentially in different countries, or just with different keyboards, to use the same Linux system with only a couple of lines of bash commands.
• If you spot any major errors on this page, please e-mail me using the link above.

• It is assumed that this installation takes place on a computer on which Core Linux has been successfully installed.
• No software other than the packages bundled with Core Linux have been installed.
• As described in the installation guide, it is assumed that any downloaded application source code is stored in a directory called /apps on the CD-R.
• It is assumed that in addition to the Core Linux computer, there is at least one other machine with internet access and a CD burner.

Preparation

1. Download the kdb source code from www.kernel.org.
2. Burn the file kbd-1.08.tar.gz to a CD. This page assumes that the subdirectory /apps is used for the .tar.gz file. The CD-ROM can be a multi-session disk.

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Booting

1. Boot your Core Linux PC.
2. Login as root. You will need to enter the password at the prompt.

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Extract the source

1. Place the CD-R in the CD-ROM drive. Mount the CD-ROM drive under /mnt/cdrom.
2. Change to the /apps directory on the CD-R.
3. Copy the kbd-1.08.tar.gz file to the directory /usr/src.
4. Change to the /usr/src directory and extract the source from the .tar.gz file.

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Configure and compile

1. Change to the /usr/src/kbd-1.08 directory.
2. Run the ./configure script.
3. Run the make program.
4. Run the make program with the argument install.

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Choosing and starting a new key map

1. Select the new key map which you want to use. This example uses the UK key map, settings for which are held in the file uk.map. Other keymaps are held in the directory /usr/src/kdb-1.08/data/keymaps and are sorted by system architecture, keyboard type and country.
2. Create the directory /etc/kbd.
3. Copy the new key map to the /etc/kbd directory. The key map used in this example is /usr/src/kbd-1.08/data/keymaps/i386/qwerty/uk.map
4. It may be necessary to add some lines to your .inputrc file. For example, the extra keys on a Danish keyboard require the following lines to be added to .inputrc:
5. Run the program loadkeys with the argument /etc/kbd/uk.map.
6. Test your new key associations.

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Automating loadkeys

1. Insert the following line at the beginning of the /etc/rc.d/rc.mu script:
   loadkeys /etc/kbd/uk.map
   You can also add comments and echoes for your own information.
2. Reboot the system and check that the keyboard mapping is correct.

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