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125 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
125 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
How To Configure Mouse Support For Linux Virtual Consoles
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======
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I use Oracle VirtualBox to test various Unix-like operating systems. Most of my VMs are headless servers that does not have graphical desktop environment. For a long time, I have been wondering how can we use the mouse in the text-based terminals in headless Linux servers. Thanks to **GPM** , today I learned that we can use Mouse in virtual consoles for copy and paste operations. **GPM** , acronym for **G** eneral **P** urpose **M** ouse, is a daemon that helps you to configure mouse support for Linux virtual consoles. Please do not confuse GPM with **GDM** (GNOME Display manager). Both serves entirely different purpose.
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GPM is especially useful in the following scenarios:
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* New Linux server installations or for systems that cannot or do not use an X windows system by default, like Arch Linux and Gentoo.
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* Use copy/paste operations around in the virtual terminals/consoles.
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* Use copy/paste in text-based editors and browsers (Eg. emacs, lynx).
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* Use copy/paste in text file managers (Eg. Ranger, Midnight commander).
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In this brief tutorial, we are going to see how to use Mouse in Text-based terminals in Unix-like operating systems.
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### Installing GPM
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To enable mouse support in Text-only Linux systems, install GPM package. It is available in the default repositories of most Linux distributions.
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On Arch Linux and its variants like Antergos, Manjaro Linux, run the following command to install GPM:
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```
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$ sudo pacman -S gpm
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```
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On Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint:
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```
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$ sudo apt install gpm
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```
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On Fedora:
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```
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$ sudo dnf install gpm
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```
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On openSUSE:
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```
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$ sudo zypper install gpm
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```
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Once installed, enable and start GPM service using the following commands:
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```
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$ sudo systemctl enable gpm
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$ sudo systemctl start gpm
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```
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In Debian-based systems, gpm service will be automatically started after you installed it, so you need not to manually start the service as shown above.
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### Configure Mouse Support For Linux Virtual Consoles
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There is no special configuration required. GPM will start working as soon as you installed it and started gpm service.
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Have a look at the following screenshot of my Ubuntu 18.04 LTS server before installing GPM:
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As you see in the above screenshot, there is no visible Mouse pointer in my Ubuntu 18.04 LTS headless server. Only a blinking cursor and it won’t let me to select a text, copy/paste text using mouse. In CLI-only Linux servers, the mouse is literally not useful at all.
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Now check the following screenshot of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS server after installing GPM:
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See? I can now be able to select the text.
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To select, copy and paste text, do the following:
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* To select text, press the left mouse button and drag the mouse.
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* Once you selected the text, release the left mouse button and paste text in the same or another console by pressing the middle mouse button.
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* The right button is used to extend the selection, like in `xterm’.
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* If you’re using two-button mouse, use the right button to paste text.
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It’s that simple!
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Like I already said, GPM works just fine and there is no extra configuration needed. Here is the sample contents of GPM configuration file **/etc/gpm.conf** (or `/etc/conf.d/gpm` in some distributions):
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```
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# protected from evaluation (i.e. by quoting them).
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#
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# This file is used by /etc/init.d/gpm and can be modified by
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# "dpkg-reconfigure gpm" or by hand at your option.
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#
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device=/dev/input/mice
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responsiveness=
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repeat_type=none
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type=exps2
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append=''
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sample_rate=
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```
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In my example, I use USB mouse. If you’re using different mouse, you might have to change the values of **device=/dev/input/mice** and **type=exps2** parameters.
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For more details, refer man pages.
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```
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$ man gpm
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```
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And, that’s all for now. Hope this was useful. More good stuffs to come. Stay tuned!
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Cheers!
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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via: https://www.ostechnix.com/how-to-configure-mouse-support-for-linux-virtual-consoles/
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作者：[SK][a]
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选题：[lujun9972](https://github.com/lujun9972)
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译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID)
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校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID)
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本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出
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[a]: https://www.ostechnix.com/author/sk/
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