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VIRTUAL TERMINALS(4)	     Kernel Interfaces Manual	    VIRTUAL TERMINALS(4)

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
     kern.vt.fb.default_mode="<X>x<Y>"
     kern.vt.fb.modes.<connector>="<X>x<Y>"

     In loader.conf(5)or sysctl.conf(5):
     kern.vt.kbd_halt=1
     kern.vt.kbd_poweroff=1
     kern.vt.kbd_reboot=1
     kern.vt.kbd_debug=1
     kern.vt.kbd_panic=0

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 charac-
	   ter sets.

	   Graphics-mode consoles.

	   Integration	with KMS (Kernel Mode Setting) video drivers for switch-
	   ing between the X Window System and virtual terminals.

   Virtual Terminals
     Multiple virtual terminals are provided on a single computer.  Up	to  six-
     teen  virtual  terminals can be defined.  A single virtual terminal is con-
     nected 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  cre-
     ated,  Shift-Alt-F1  through  Shift-Alt-F4  are used to switch to the addi-
     tional 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  fore-
     ground  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 ef-
	      fect, 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  Setting)  video  driver  is  available,  the display is
     switched to high resolution and the KMS driver takes over.  When a KMS dri-
     ver 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
	     Set this value to `vt' or `sc' to override the default driver  used
	     for  the  system  console.   By default, sc(4) is used on computers
	     that boot from BIOS, and vt is used on  computers	that  boot  from
	     UEFI.

     kern.vt.fb.default_mode
	     Set  this	value  to  a  graphic  mode to override the default mode
	     picked by the vt backend.	The mode is applied to all  output  con-
	     nectors.	This  is  currently  only supported by the vt_fb backend
	     when it's paired with a KMS video driver.

     kern.vt.fb.modes.connector_name
	     Set this value to a graphic  mode	to  override  the  default  mode
	     picked  by the vt backend.  This mode is applied to the output con-
	     nector   connector_name	only.	 It    has    precedence    over
	     kern.vt.fb.default_mode.	The  names  of available connector names
	     can be found in dmesg(8) after loading the  KMS  driver.	It  will
	     contain  a  list of connectors and their associated tunables.  This
	     is currently only supported by the vt_fb backend when  it's  paired
	     with a KMS video driver.

KEYBOARD SYSCTL TUNABLES
     These settings control whether certain special key combinations are enabled
     or  ignored.   The  specific  key combinations can be configured by using a
     keymap(5) file.

     These settings can be entered at the loader(8) prompt or in  loader.conf(5)
     and can also be changed at runtime with the sysctl(8) command.

     kern.vt.kbd_halt
	     Enable halt keyboard combination.

     kern.vt.kbd_poweroff
	     Enable power off key combination.

     kern.vt.kbd_reboot.
	     Enable reboot key combination, usually Ctrl+Alt+Del.

     kern.vt.kbd_debug
	     Enable debug request key combination, usually Ctrl+Alt+Esc.

     kern.vt.kbd_panic
	     Enable panic key combination.

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 im-
     plementation 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)

     To set a 1024x768 mode on all output connectors, put the following line  in
     /boot/loader.conf:

	   kern.vt.fb.default_mode="1024x768"

     To  set  a  800x600 only on a laptop builtin screen, use the following line
     instead:

	   kern.vt.fb.modes.LVDS-1="800x600"

     The connector name was found in dmesg(8):

	   info: [drm] Connector LVDS-1: get mode from tunables:
	   info: [drm] - kern.vt.fb.modes.LVDS-1
	   info: [drm] - kern.vt.fb.default_mode

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), vtfontcvt(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 writ-
     ten 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)).

FreeBSD 10.2			October 20, 2014	    VIRTUAL TERMINALS(4)
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