VIRTUAL TERMINALS(4)

NAME
vt - virtual terminal console driver

SYNOPSIS
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

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 character sets.

Graphics-mode consoles.

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

  Virtual Terminals
Multiple virtual terminals are provided on a single computer. Up to sixteen virtual terminals can be defined. A single virtual terminal is connected 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 created, Shift-Alt-F1 through Shift-Alt-F4 are used to switch to the additional 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 foreground 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.

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 effect, 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
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(4). If a KMS (Kernel Mode Switching) video driver is available, the display is switched to high resolution and the KMS driver takes over. When a KMS driver is not available, vt_vga(4) 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.

FILES
/dev/console
/dev/consolectl
/dev/ttyv*
    virtual terminals
/etc/ttys
    terminal initialization information

SEE ALSO
kbdcontrol(1), login(1), vidcontrol(1), atkbd(4), atkbdc(4), keyboard(4), screen(4), splash(4), syscons(4), ukbd(4), vga(4), kbdmap(5), rc.conf(5), ttys(5), config(8), getty(8), kbdmux(8), kldload(8), moused(8)

HISTORY
The vt driver first appeared in FreeBSD 9.3.

AUTHORS
-nosplit 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 written 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)).