I know that on many Desktop Environments, Using win + Space one can switch between installed language inputs.
Is there a command line way of achieving the same ?
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Please see [this question](http://askubuntu.com/q/690539) for some guidance. – Gunnar Hjalmarsson Sep 28 '16 at 17:11
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Yes, I am looking for a commandline way to switch between two languages As I don't use a DE @GunnarHjalmarsson – Severus Tux Sep 28 '16 at 17:35
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Ah, so you don't have a desktop at all? That was important information. :) You may want to check out the answer I linked to in the previous comment. Not sure, though, if it applies to you then. – Gunnar Hjalmarsson Sep 28 '16 at 17:39
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@GunnarHjalmarsson I tried all numbers from 1 to 10, Input is still English. btw I use xmonad - tailed window manager – Severus Tux Sep 28 '16 at 17:45
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Don't worry, there is a quick solution.
Open a new terminal and execute localectl set-locale LOCALEVAR=LOCALE to impose a new locale.
Before executing the command, replace "LOCALE" with the desired locale from the output of localectl list-locales and "LOCALEVAR" with any variable name from the output of locale.
If you want to change the keyboard input locale of the terminal use localectl set-keymap LANGNAME; if you want to change the keyboard input locale of the GUI use localectl set-x11-keymap LANGNAME. Replace "LANGNAME" with the short-name of your language.
Explanation: the console command localectl is used to change the system locale and keyboard layout settings.
The system locale if for the system services and the GUI; the keyboard settings control the keyboard layout used on the console and of the GUI.
Lorenzo Ancora
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2Isn't this something different than emulating
+ – Gunnar Hjalmarsson Sep 28 '16 at 17:27from command line for changing the current input language? -
@GunnarHjalmarsson this will change the system input locale (second part of the answer) or the system output locale (first part): all GUI and CLI applications will use the new locale if correctly configured. Note that the user who asked the question [does not use a desktop environment](http://askubuntu.com/questions/830806/switch-between-two-language-inputs-from-command-line/830829?noredirect=1#comment1265969_830806), so this is a quick way to change the output/input language globally. – Lorenzo Ancora Sep 28 '16 at 18:56
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Maybe you are right; this is new stuff to me. If I run `localectl list-keymaps` (in a terminal window on my desktop or in a TTY window) it returns "Couldn't find any console keymaps." `setxkbmap` OTOH changes the current layout in terminal/TTY instantly. – Gunnar Hjalmarsson Sep 28 '16 at 19:45
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@Gunnar Hjalmarsson it happens because you did not install any keymap. :-) `setxkbmap` is valid *only if* the system uses the old X keyboard extension. `localectl` is more portable because it uses the native `kbd` driver and the change is immediate, but you need to correctly configure your Xorg server. – Lorenzo Ancora Sep 28 '16 at 22:58
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1Thanks for the lesson. :) As regards "valid only if the system uses the old X keyboard extension" - isn't that still standard in Ubuntu? Is it about to be changed? – Gunnar Hjalmarsson Sep 28 '16 at 23:42
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@GunnarHjalmarsson you're welcome. :-) It is not a global standard (even if *de facto* is used by many desktop systems) and, because it is an extension, can be replaced easily in future versions of the X Server or with the advent of new system daemons. This should be a good thing to keep the system safe and allow the input from new devices. ;-) – Lorenzo Ancora Sep 29 '16 at 15:26
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Trying to help by posting an own answer using the setxkbmap command.
To switch to English(US):
setxkbmap -layout us
To switch to Kannada:
setxkbmap -layout in -variant kan
Gunnar Hjalmarsson
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