# change keybord layout in single user mode



## ccc (Jul 14, 2009)

hi

howto change keybord layout in single user mode?


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## tangram (Jul 14, 2009)

Usually people during install set the keyboard layout. You can run `# sysinstall` and configure the keyboard layout.

AFAIK another alternative is kbdcontrol(1).


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## aragon (Jul 14, 2009)

Never done it, but there's also kbdmap(1) which is menu driven so probably easier.  It lives in /usr/sbin so in single user mode you will need to ensure /usr is mounted.


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## ccc (Aug 2, 2009)

tangram said:
			
		

> AFAIK another alternative is kbdcontrol(1).



can I use kbdcontrol in a single user mode and howto point to  swiss german keyboard using this tool?


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## mickey (Aug 2, 2009)

I use the following in my kernel configuration file, to switch
the kernel's default keyboard layout to german:


```
options         ATKBD_DFLT_KEYMAP
makeoptions     ATKBD_DFLT_KEYMAP="german.iso"
```


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## ccc (Aug 2, 2009)

mickey said:
			
		

> I use the following in my kernel configuration file, to switch
> the kernel's default keyboard layout to german:
> 
> 
> ...



thx, but where did you changed this?


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## DutchDaemon (Aug 2, 2009)

In his kernel configuration file .. http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/kernelconfig.html


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## caimadur (May 9, 2012)

You can use kbdmap(1) to change your keymap interactively.


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## tingo (May 9, 2012)

If the correct keymap is configured in /etc/rc.conf, it is also possible to just use
`# /etc/rc.d/syscons start`
or
`# service syscons start`
to set your console and keymap settings.


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