{
    "mode": "man",
    "parameter": "setterm",
    "section": "1",
    "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/setterm/1/json",
    "generated": "2026-06-13T22:56:08Z",
    "synopsis": "setterm [options]",
    "sections": {
        "NAME": {
            "content": "setterm - set terminal attributes\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SYNOPSIS": {
            "content": "setterm [options]\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "DESCRIPTION": {
            "content": "setterm writes to standard output a character string that will invoke the specified terminal\ncapabilities. Where possible terminfo is consulted to find the string to use. Some options\nhowever (marked \"virtual consoles only\" below) do not correspond to a terminfo(5) capability.\nIn this case, if the terminal type is \"con\" or \"linux\" the string that invokes the specified\ncapabilities on the PC Minix virtual console driver is output. Options that are not\nimplemented by the terminal are ignored.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "OPTIONS": {
            "content": "For boolean options (on or off), the default is on.\n\nBelow, an 8-color can be black, red, green, yellow, blue, magenta, cyan, or white.\n\nA 16-color can be an 8-color, or grey, or bright followed by red, green, yellow, blue,\nmagenta, cyan, or white.\n\nThe various color options may be set independently, at least on virtual consoles, though the\nresults of setting multiple modes (for example, --underline and --half-bright) are\nhardware-dependent.\n\nThe optional arguments require '=' (equals sign) and not space between the option and the\nargument. For example --option=argument.\n\n--appcursorkeys on|off\nSets Cursor Key Application Mode on or off. When on, ESC O A, ESC O B, etc. will be sent\nfor the cursor keys instead of ESC [ A, ESC [ B, etc. See the vi and Cursor-Keys section\nof the Text-Terminal-HOWTO for how this can cause problems for vi users. Virtual consoles\nonly.\n\n--append consolenumber\nLike --dump, but appends to the snapshot file instead of overwriting it. Only works if no\n--dump options are given.\n\n--background 8-color|default\nSets the background text color.\n\n--blank[=0-60|force|poke]\nSets the interval of inactivity, in minutes, after which the screen will be automatically\nblanked (using APM if available). Without an argument, it gets the blank status (returns\nwhich vt was blanked, or zero for an unblanked vt). Virtual consoles only.\n\nThe force argument keeps the screen blank even if a key is pressed.\n\nThe poke argument unblanks the screen.\n\n--bfreq[=number]\nSets the bell frequency in Hertz. Without an argument, it defaults to 0. Virtual consoles\nonly.\n\n--blength[=0-2000]\nSets the bell duration in milliseconds. Without an argument, it defaults to 0. Virtual\nconsoles only.\n\n--blink on|off\nTurns blink mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --blink off turns off all\nattributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse).\n\n--bold on|off\nurns bold (extra bright) mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --bold off turns\noff all attributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse).\n\n--clear[=all|rest]\nWithout an argument or with the argument all, the entire screen is cleared and the cursor\nis set to the home position, just like clear(1) does. With the argument rest, the screen\nis cleared from the current cursor position to the end.\n\n--clrtabs[=tab1 tab2 tab3 ...]\nClears tab stops from the given horizontal cursor positions, in the range 1-160. Without\narguments, it clears all tab stops. Virtual consoles only.\n\n--cursor on|off\nTurns the terminal’s cursor on or off.\n",
            "subsections": [
                {
                    "name": "--default",
                    "content": "Sets the terminal’s rendering options to the default values.\n\n--dump[=consolenumber]\nWrites a snapshot of the virtual console with the given number to the file specified with\nthe --file option, overwriting its contents; the default is screen.dump. Without an\nargument, it dumps the current virtual console. This overrides --append.\n\n--file filename\nSets the snapshot file name for any --dump or --append options on the same command line.\nIf this option is not present, the default is screen.dump in the current directory. A\npath name that exceeds the system maximum will be truncated, see PATHMAX from\nlinux/limits.h for the value.\n\n--foreground 8-color|default\nSets the foreground text color.\n\n--half-bright on|off\nTurns dim (half-brightness) mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --half-bright\noff turns off all attributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse).\n\n--hbcolor [bright] 16-color\nSets the color for half-bright characters.\n",
                    "long": "--default"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--initialize",
                    "content": "Displays the terminal initialization string, which typically sets the terminal’s\nrendering options, and other attributes to the default values.\n\n--inversescreen on|off\nSwaps foreground and background colors for the whole screen.\n\n--linewrap on|off\nMakes the terminal continue on a new line when a line is full.\n\n--msg on|off\nEnables or disables the sending of kernel printk() messages to the console. Virtual\nconsoles only.\n\n--msglevel 0-8\nSets the console logging level for kernel printk() messages. All messages strictly more\nimportant than this will be printed, so a logging level of 0 has the same effect as --msg\non and a logging level of 8 will print all kernel messages. klogd(8) may be a more\nconvenient interface to the logging of kernel messages.\n\nVirtual consoles only.\n\n--powerdown[=0-60]\nSets the VESA powerdown interval in minutes. Without an argument, it defaults to 0\n(disable powerdown). If the console is blanked or the monitor is in suspend mode, then\nthe monitor will go into vsync suspend mode or powerdown mode respectively after this\nperiod of time has elapsed.\n\n--powersave mode\nValid values for mode are:\n\nvsync|on\nPuts the monitor into VESA vsync suspend mode.\n\nhsync\nPuts the monitor into VESA hsync suspend mode.\n\npowerdown\nPuts the monitor into VESA powerdown mode.\n\noff\nTurns monitor VESA powersaving features.\n\n--regtabs[=1-160]\nClears all tab stops, then sets a regular tab stop pattern, with one tab every specified\nnumber of positions. Without an argument, it defaults to 8. Virtual consoles only.\n\n--repeat on|off\nTurns keyboard repeat on or off. Virtual consoles only.\n",
                    "long": "--initialize"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--reset",
                    "content": "Displays the terminal reset string, which typically resets the terminal to its power-on\nstate.\n",
                    "long": "--reset"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--resize",
                    "content": "Reset terminal size by assessing maximum row and column. This is useful when actual\ngeometry and kernel terminal driver are not in sync. Most notable use case is with serial\nconsoles, that do not use ioctl(3p) but just byte streams and breaks.\n\n--reverse on|off\nTurns reverse video mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --reverse off turns off\nall attributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse).\n",
                    "long": "--resize"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--store",
                    "content": "Stores the terminal’s current rendering options (foreground and background colors) as the\nvalues to be used at reset-to-default. Virtual consoles only.\n\n--tabs[=tab1 tab2 tab3 ...]\nSets tab stops at the given horizontal cursor positions, in the range 1-160. Without\narguments, it shows the current tab stop settings.\n\n--term terminalname\nOverrides the TERM environment variable.\n\n--ulcolor [bright] 16-color\nSets the color for underlined characters. Virtual consoles only.\n\n--underline on|off\nTurns underline mode on or off.\n",
                    "long": "--store"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--version",
                    "content": "Displays version information and exits.\n",
                    "long": "--version"
                },
                {
                    "name": "--help",
                    "content": "Displays a help text and exits.\n",
                    "long": "--help"
                }
            ]
        },
        "COMPATIBILITY": {
            "content": "Since version 2.25 setterm has support for long options with two hyphens, for example --help,\nbeside the historical long options with a single hyphen, for example -help. In scripts it is\nbetter to use the backward-compatible single hyphen rather than the double hyphen. Currently\nthere are no plans nor good reasons to discontinue single-hyphen compatibility.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "BUGS": {
            "content": "Differences between the Minix and Linux versions are not documented.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "SEE ALSO": {
            "content": "stty(1), tput(1), tty(4), terminfo(5)\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "REPORTING BUGS": {
            "content": "For bug reports, use the issue tracker at https://github.com/karelzak/util-linux/issues.\n",
            "subsections": []
        },
        "AVAILABILITY": {
            "content": "The setterm command is part of the util-linux package which can be downloaded from Linux\nKernel Archive <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>.\n\n\n\nutil-linux 2.37.2                            2021-06-02                                   SETTERM(1)",
            "subsections": []
        }
    },
    "summary": "setterm - set terminal attributes",
    "flags": [
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--default",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Sets the terminal’s rendering options to the default values. --dump[=consolenumber] Writes a snapshot of the virtual console with the given number to the file specified with the --file option, overwriting its contents; the default is screen.dump. Without an argument, it dumps the current virtual console. This overrides --append. --file filename Sets the snapshot file name for any --dump or --append options on the same command line. If this option is not present, the default is screen.dump in the current directory. A path name that exceeds the system maximum will be truncated, see PATHMAX from linux/limits.h for the value. --foreground 8-color|default Sets the foreground text color. --half-bright on|off Turns dim (half-brightness) mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --half-bright off turns off all attributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse). --hbcolor [bright] 16-color Sets the color for half-bright characters."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--initialize",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Displays the terminal initialization string, which typically sets the terminal’s rendering options, and other attributes to the default values. --inversescreen on|off Swaps foreground and background colors for the whole screen. --linewrap on|off Makes the terminal continue on a new line when a line is full. --msg on|off Enables or disables the sending of kernel printk() messages to the console. Virtual consoles only. --msglevel 0-8 Sets the console logging level for kernel printk() messages. All messages strictly more important than this will be printed, so a logging level of 0 has the same effect as --msg on and a logging level of 8 will print all kernel messages. klogd(8) may be a more convenient interface to the logging of kernel messages. Virtual consoles only. --powerdown[=0-60] Sets the VESA powerdown interval in minutes. Without an argument, it defaults to 0 (disable powerdown). If the console is blanked or the monitor is in suspend mode, then the monitor will go into vsync suspend mode or powerdown mode respectively after this period of time has elapsed. --powersave mode Valid values for mode are: vsync|on Puts the monitor into VESA vsync suspend mode. hsync Puts the monitor into VESA hsync suspend mode. powerdown Puts the monitor into VESA powerdown mode. off Turns monitor VESA powersaving features. --regtabs[=1-160] Clears all tab stops, then sets a regular tab stop pattern, with one tab every specified number of positions. Without an argument, it defaults to 8. Virtual consoles only. --repeat on|off Turns keyboard repeat on or off. Virtual consoles only."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--reset",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Displays the terminal reset string, which typically resets the terminal to its power-on state."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--resize",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Reset terminal size by assessing maximum row and column. This is useful when actual geometry and kernel terminal driver are not in sync. Most notable use case is with serial consoles, that do not use ioctl(3p) but just byte streams and breaks. --reverse on|off Turns reverse video mode on or off. Except on a virtual console, --reverse off turns off all attributes (bold, half-brightness, blink, reverse)."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--store",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Stores the terminal’s current rendering options (foreground and background colors) as the values to be used at reset-to-default. Virtual consoles only. --tabs[=tab1 tab2 tab3 ...] Sets tab stops at the given horizontal cursor positions, in the range 1-160. Without arguments, it shows the current tab stop settings. --term terminalname Overrides the TERM environment variable. --ulcolor [bright] 16-color Sets the color for underlined characters. Virtual consoles only. --underline on|off Turns underline mode on or off."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--version",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Displays version information and exits."
        },
        {
            "flag": "",
            "long": "--help",
            "arg": null,
            "description": "Displays a help text and exits."
        }
    ],
    "examples": [],
    "see_also": [
        {
            "name": "stty",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/stty/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "tput",
            "section": "1",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/tput/1/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "tty",
            "section": "4",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/tty/4/json"
        },
        {
            "name": "terminfo",
            "section": "5",
            "url": "https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/terminfo/5/json"
        }
    ]
}