Linux "setterm" Command Line Options and Examples

set terminal attributes

setterm writes to standard output a character string that will invoke the specified terminal capabilities. Where possible terminfo is consulted to find the string to use. Some options however (marked "virtual con‐ soles only" below) do not correspond to a terminfo(5) capability.

Usage:

setterm [options]

Related Commands

Command Line Options:

--appcursorkeys

Sets Cursor Key Application Mode on or off. When on, ESC O A, ESC O B, etc. will be sent for the cur‐sor keys instead of ESC [ A, ESC [ B, etc. See the vi and Cursor-Keys section of the Text-Terminal-HOWTO for how this can cause problems for vi users.


                            setterm --appcursorkeys ...

--append

Like --dump, but appends to the snapshot file instead of overwriting it. Only works if no --dumpoptions are given.


                            setterm --append ...

--background

Sets the background text color.


                            setterm --background ...

--blank

Sets the interval of inactivity, in minutes, after which the screen will be automatically blanked(using APM if available). Without an argument, it gets the blank status (returns which vt was blanked,or zero for an unblanked vt).The force option keeps the screen blank even if a key is pressed.The poke option unblanks the screen.


                            setterm --blank ...

--bfreq

Sets the bell frequency in Hertz. Without an argument, it defaults to 0.


                            setterm --bfreq ...

--blength

Sets the bell duration in milliseconds. Without an argument, it defaults to 0.


                            setterm --blength ...

--blink

Turns blink mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --blink off turns off all attributes (bold,half-brightness, blink, reverse).


                            setterm --blink ...

--bold

Turns bold (extra bright) mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --bold off turns off allattributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse).


                            setterm --bold ...

--clear

Without an argument or with the argument all, the entire screen is cleared and the cursor is set to thehome position, just like clear(1) does. With the argument rest, the screen is cleared from the currentcursor position to the end.


                            setterm --clear ...

--clrtabs

Clears tab stops from the given horizontal cursor positions, in the range 1-160. Without arguments, itclears all tab stops.


                            setterm --clrtabs ...

--cursor

Turns the terminal's cursor on or off.


                            setterm --cursor ...

--default

Sets the terminal's rendering options to the default values.


                            setterm --default ...

--dump

Writes a snapshot of the virtual console with the given number to the file specified with the --fileoption, overwriting its contents; the default is screen.dump. Without an argument, it dumps the cur‐rent virtual console. This overrides --append.


                            setterm --dump ...

--file

Sets the snapshot file name for any --dump or --append options on the same command line. If thisoption is not present, the default is screen.dump in the current directory. A path name that exceedsthe system maximum will be truncated, see PATH_MAX from linux/limits.h for the value.


                            setterm --file ...

--foreground

Sets the foreground text color.


                            setterm --foreground ...

--half-bright

Turns dim (half-brightness) mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --half-bright off turns offall attributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse).


                            setterm --half-bright ...

--hbcolor

Sets the color for bold characters.


                            setterm --hbcolor ...

--initialize

Displays the terminal initialization string, which typically sets the terminal's rendering options, andother attributes to the default values.


                            setterm --initialize ...

--inversescreen

Swaps foreground and background colors for the whole screen.


                            setterm --inversescreen ...

--linewrap

Makes the terminal continue on a new line when a line is full.


                            setterm --linewrap ...

--msg

Enables or disables the sending of kernel printk() messages to the console.


                            setterm --msg ...

--msglevel

Sets the console logging level for kernel printk() messages. All messages strictly more important thanthis will be printed, so a logging level of 0 has the same effect as --msg on and a logging level of 8will print all kernel messages. klogd(8) may be a more convenient interface to the logging of kernelmessages.


                            setterm --msglevel ...

--powerdown

Sets the VESA powerdown interval in minutes. Without an argument, it defaults to 0 (disable power‐down). If the console is blanked or the monitor is in suspend mode, then the monitor will go intovsync suspend mode or powerdown mode respectively after this period of time has elapsed.


                            setterm --powerdown ...

--powersave

Turns off monitor VESA powersaving features.


                            setterm --powersave ...

--regtabs

Clears all tab stops, then sets a regular tab stop pattern, with one tab every specified number ofpositions. Without an argument, it defaults to 8.


                            setterm --regtabs ...

--repeat

Turns keyboard repeat on or off.


                            setterm --repeat ...

--reset

Displays the terminal reset string, which typically resets the terminal to its power-on state.


                            setterm --reset ...

--resize

Reset terminal size by assessing maximum row and column. This is useful when actual geometry and ker‐nel terminal driver are not in sync. Most notable use case is with serial consoles, that do not useioctl(3) but just byte streams and breaks.


                            setterm --resize ...

--reverse

Turns reverse video mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --reverse off turns off allattributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse).


                            setterm --reverse ...

--store

Stores the terminal's current rendering options (foreground and background colors) as the values to beused at reset-to-default.


                            setterm --store ...

--tabs

Sets tab stops at the given horizontal cursor positions, in the range 1-160. Without arguments, itshows the current tab stop settings.


                            setterm --tabs ...

--term

Overrides the TERM environment variable.


                            setterm --term ...

--ulcolor

Sets the color for underlined characters.


                            setterm --ulcolor ...

--underline

Turns underline mode on or off.


                            setterm --underline ...

--version

Displays version information and exits.


                            setterm --version ...

--help

COMPATIBILITYSince version 2.25 setterm has support for long options with two hyphens, for example --help, beside the his‐torical long options with a single hyphen, for example -help. In scripts it is better to use the backward-compatible single hyphen rather than the double hyphen. Currently there are no plans nor good reasons to dis‐continue single-hyphen compatibility.


                            setterm --help ...