Virtual consoles reachable with Ctrl+Alt+F1-F6
A virtual console, also known as a virtual terminal, is a textual interface to Linux. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_console
Questions tagged [virtual-console]
196 questions
199
votes
3 answers
Why is a virtual terminal "virtual", and what/why/where is the "real" terminal?
I hope the question is self-explanatory.
My understanding is that gnome-terminal and konsole are virtual terminals, and they are basically serving the same purpose, i.e. a command line environment for various optional command interpreters. (I'm not…
Peter.O
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78
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3 answers
How to search strings inside files like in Windows without search monkey?
I am using Ubuntu on VMWare but I cannot connect to internet because of security restrictions.
I was wondering if there was a way to search for strings through the terminal and find which line the string is located on within the file.
user138056
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75
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6 answers
Why does switching to the tty give me a blank screen?
After booting to the GUI in 12.04, I attempt to move to the virtual terminal (or shell, or tty) via Ctrl-Alt-F1 (F1 through F6), and the screen remains blank. I have tried all 6 tty instances and the results are the same. Ctrl-alt-F7 brings me back…
SeanO
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60
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1 answer
How do I switch between console mode and GUI in 17.10 and newer?
After upgrading to 17.10 like a true pioneer, I found the old CtrlAltF1 no longer switches between console mode and GUI, and a quick Google search brought up nothing useful. Was this feature removed entirely?
Aero Windwalker
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52
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3 answers
How do I disable messages or logging from printing on the console/virtual terminals?
My wireless driver is noisy. It prints out messages to the console every 10-30 seconds. So, if I'm working on VT1 or something, I get messages scrolling by all the time. Is there a way to shut this feature off? I like working on the virtual…
dpb
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38
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1 answer
Can I change the Linux console (Ctrl+Alt+F1) font to Ubuntu Mono?
Is there a way to set a specific TTF font to be used on the console? (I believe you might have to convert it to a bitmap font?)
If it needs to be converted, what tools can I use to do the conversion? Otherwise, how do I pick Ubuntu Monospace for my…
Azendale
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36
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4 answers
What is a virtual terminal for?
When I press Ctrl+Alt+F1 it goes to virtual terminal.
What is this virtual terminal for? When do you need to use it?
shin
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34
votes
4 answers
Why so many Virtual consoles?
What is the reason for having so many virtual consoles?
I would understand if there was one in case the GUI crashes but 6 more besides the default? What are they for? I even see no usage for any of them except when the GUI freezes.
Hinklo
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33
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2 answers
How do I get to the GUI after switching to a virtual console?
I just jumped into a command line virtual console using Ctrl-Alt-F1, and i would now like to return to the gui. startx gives me something along the lines of 'this server is already active for display 0' if ...etc. it gives me a command to remove…
expiredninja
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30
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2 answers
Alt+Left and Right arrow keys change from GUI to console
I'm using Ubuntu GNOME 16.10 and recently I noticed that by pressing Alt+Left changes from the GUI to the tty.
I use that shortcut regularly and this behavior interferes with my workflow.
How can I disable it?
Ricardo Rodrigues
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24
votes
4 answers
How to exit the virtual terminal?
After I press ctrl + alt + f4 the virtual terminal appears but I can't exit anymore because it is always back to "input username" and "password". Any idea how to go back to my desktop?
Kerth G.
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23
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2 answers
Can I take a screenshot of a virtual console?
Is there a way for me to take a screenshot in a virtual console?
ændrük
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21
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3 answers
Enable Ctrl+Alt+F1 Virtual Consoles in GNOME (Ubuntu 17.04+)
In previous versions of Ubuntu, Ctrl+Alt+F1 through F6 opened up virtual consoles. On Ubuntu Gnome 17.04 Ctrl+Alt+F1 opens another GUI and the others do nothing.
How do I restore the old behavior?
jumpnett
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21
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4 answers
How can I customize a full-screen console background (TTY)?
I used to use full-screen consoles (those opened with Ctrl+Alt+F1...F6) actively and have come to an idea that I would like to try decorating it with a "wallpaper" of a sort (a rather dark and monotonous one of course so that it wouldn't decrease…
Ivan
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3 answers
How do I get Ctrl+Left / Ctrl+Right to jump a word again in byobu?
On my Ubuntu 11.10 machines running byobu 4.37 I can use the key combination Ctrl+← / Ctrl+→ to jump a word at a time in the terminal. However, on my Ubuntu 12.04 machines with byobu 5.17 this no longer works.
I've read that byobu has remapped those…
chmac
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