SETUP-KEYMAP(8)

💅 SETUP-KEYMAP — okay bestie, let's talk keyboards ✨

So this is a page from the System Manager's Manual, section 8, and it's literally all about getting your keyboard to stop typing like a chaos gremlin 🔥 pwetty please read it, it's short and it slays.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

setup-keymap — set system keyboard layout and variant 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

setup-keymap [-h] [LAYOUT [VARIANT]]

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

setup-keymap configures the keyboard layout and variant. That's it. That's the whole vibe. 💖

Here's the little routine it runs, in order, no cap:

• it installs the kbd-bkeymaps package 📦
• it copies the keymap file to /etc/keymap/ 📁
• it writes KEYMAP in /etc/conf.d/loadkmap ✍️
• it starts loadkmap and enables it at boot 🔁

LAYOUT and VARIANT can be given as two separate arguments. And lowkey in interactive mode? They can also be entered as a single space-separated value — like us dvorak — iconic behaviour tbh 🫶

When LAYOUT is none, no keymap is configured. Zero. Nothing. We simply do not configure. 💀

If LAYOUT is omitted, the script lists available layouts and prompts for a selection. Then, after a layout is chosen, it lists available variants and prompts for one. And if only one variant exists? It's selected automatically — the script said "not you having to choose, girl, I got u" 🧚✨

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💅 OPTIONS 💅

• -h — display usage information and exit 👋 super simple, super chic

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🎀 INTERACTIVE MODE 🎀

Without a LAYOUT argument, the script lists all available layouts from /usr/share/bkeymaps/ and prompts:

Select keyboard layout:

At this prompt the user can enter a layout name, a layout name followed by a variant, or abort / none to exit 🚪

After a layout is selected, the available variants for that layout get listed and the script prompts:

Select variant (or 'abort'):

Here the user can enter a variant name, or abort / none to return to the previous layout-selection prompt 🔙 she said "jk, back up."

Choosing abort or none at the layout prompt exits the script without changing the keymap. No keymap touched. Hands off. 🙈

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🌈 FILES 🌈

• /usr/share/bkeymaps/ — directory containing keyboard layout and variant files 📂 all the vibes live here
• /etc/conf.d/loadkmap — the loadkmap configuration file; setup-keymap sets KEYMAP here ✍️
• /etc/keymap/ — directory where the selected keymap file is installed 🏠

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⭐ EXIT STATUS ⭐

• 0 — success 🎉 ate, no crumbs
• non-zero — an error occurred (invalid usage, copy failure) 😭 it's giving "something went wrong"

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💜 SEE ALSO 💜

loadkmap(8), setup-alpine(8) — go read those too, iykyk 📚

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

Natanael Copa <ncopa@alpinelinux.org> and others 🫶 (and others!! everybody say thank you)

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mwah 💋 that's the whole page — this beauty is from Alpine Linux, dated 2026-06-09, and it's the SETUP-KEYMAP(8) page, fr fr. now go forth and type in dvorak or whatever, bestie 💖✨🎀