rxvt-unicode

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Important
The rxvt-unicode FAQ states: "Problems appearing on Gentoo systems will usually simply be ignored unless they can be reproduced on non-Gentoo systems."

rxvt-unicode, also known simply as urxvt, is a fast and lightweight terminal emulator with Xft and Unicode support.

Many Gentoo users enjoy using urxvt inside the i3 and Sway window managers.

Installation

USE flags

USE flags for x11-terms/rxvt-unicode rxvt clone with xft and unicode support

+font-styles Enable support for bold and italic fonts
+mousewheel Enable scrolling via mouse wheel or buttons 4 and 5
24-bit-color Enable 24-bit color support. Note that this feature is unofficial, may cause visual glitches due to the fact there is no termcap/terminfo definition for rxvt-unicode-24bit yet so it is necessary to use the one for 256 colours, visibly increases memory usage, and might slow urxvt down dramatically when more than six fonts are in use in a terminal instance.
256-color Enable 256 color support
blink Enable blinking text
fading-colors Enable colors fading when off focus
gdk-pixbuf Enable transparency support using x11-libs/gdk-pixbuf
iso14755 Enable ISO-14755 support
perl Enable perl script support. You can still disable this at runtime with -pe ""
startup-notification Enable application startup event feedback mechanism
unicode3 Use 21 instead of 16 bits to represent unicode characters
wide-glyphs Enable support for wide glyphs, required for certain symbol/icon fonts to display correctly. Note that this feature is *unofficial* and has been observed to cause stability issues for some users.
xft Build with support for XFT font renderer (x11-libs/libXft)
Data provided by the Gentoo Package Database · Last update: 2024-09-12 18:37 More information about USE flags

Emerge

Install x11-terms/rxvt-unicode:

root #emerge --ask rxvt-unicode

Daemon

It is possible to operate urxvt as a daemon, which will lead to lower resource usage and quicker startup for new terminals. It is a good idea to start the daemon at the beginning of the X session.

The following command will start the daemon and fork it into the background.

user $urxvtd --quiet --opendisplay --fork

After this, new clients can be opened on the single daemon process, rather than spawning new processes for each terminal. To do this, simply run urxvtc in place of the usual urxvt command. Keep in mind that if for any reason the daemon is terminated, any subsequent urxvtc calls as well all client instances will be closed.

Environment variable can be used to specify different location for the daemon ~/.urxvt/urxvtd-hostname listening socket.

CODE The socket location as environment variable
export RXVT_SOCKET='/tmp/urxvt-socket'

Configuration

Configuration for urxvt is done mainly through the X resources system, though command line equivalents are also available in most cases. A full list of these options can be found in the urxvt manpage. To configure all urxvt options in a different file and including this file in .Xresources my be advisable. For example:

FILE ~/.Xresources
...
#include ".config/urxvt"
...

Some common configuration options are listed below.

Note
It is recommended to become familiar with the X resources syntax before editing the configuration.

Font

urxvt's font can be configured using either XLFD notation or, provided the package was compiled with the xft USE flag, Xft fonts.

FILE ~/.Xresources
! Using XLFD (created via e.g. xfontsel)
URxvt*font:           -misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed-*-12-90-100-*-c-60-iso8859-1
! Using Xft
URxvt*font:           xft:Inconsolata:size=8

Fonts can be modified while urxvt is running by assigning actions to keys:

FILE ~/.Xresources
! Bind C-p to use unifont and show 'halfwidth left corner bracket', U+FF62,｢
URxvt.keysym.C-p: 	command:\033]710;xft:Unifont:pixelsize=20\007
! Bind C--, C-0(=) and C-+ to activate small, medium, and big font size resp. 
URxvt.keysym.C-minus: 	command:\033]710;xft:Liberation Mono:pixelsize=12\007
URxvt.keysym.C-0:	command:\033]710;xft:DejaVu Sans Mono:pixelsize=16\007
URxvt.keysym.C-plus:	command:\033]710;xft:Liberation Mono:pixelsize=20\007
Note
In some fonts, depending on the font size, Unicode may not work properly.

Rendering settings can be tweaked for Xft fonts as well. Note that this is not specific to urxvt.

FILE ~/.Xresources
Xft.dpi:        96
Xft.antialias:  true
Xft.rgba:       rgb
Xft.hinting:    true
Xft.hintstyle:  hintslight
Xft.autohint:   false
Xft.lcdfilter:  lcddefault

Scrollbar

The look of the scrollbar can be changed, or it can be removed entirely.

FILE ~/.Xresources
URxvt.scrollBar: false
URxvt.scrollBar_right: false
URxvt.scrollBar_floating: false
URxvt.scrollstyle: rxvt

Scrollback

The size of the scrollback buffer can be increased with:

FILE ~/.Xresources
URxvt*saveLines: 16384

Printing

By default, urxvt will print out a screen dump, via lpr, when PrntScrn is pressed. Using Ctrl+PrintScrn or Shift-PrintScrn will include the terminal's scroll back in the printout as well. This behavior can be changed, or disabled entirely, based on personal preference and need.

FILE ~/.Xresources
! The string will be interpreted as if typed into the shell as-is.
! In this example, printing will be disabled altogether.
URxvt.print-pipe: "cat > /dev/null"

Copy/Paste

By default, urxvt will copy selected text to the PRIMARY clipboard, and paste it when middle click is pressed.

To use the CLIPBOARD clipboard, use Ctrl+Alt+C to copy, and Ctrl+Alt+V to paste.

Note
Right click can be used to adjust the size of the selection.

URL handling/Perl extensions

The default urxvt Perl extensions can be used for copy and paste actions as well for URL handling capabilities. In order to use Perl extensions in urxvt, the package must have been compiled with perl. The x11-misc/urxvt-perls package provides the keyboard-select extension not included by default. The package sources code can be found in muennich's GitHub repository or an ebuild for example. It is possible to get other Perl extensions.

Here is an example of a ~/.Xresources. The following lines could also be added to ~/.Xdefaults, though ~/.Xresources is preferred.

FILE ~/.Xresources
!-*- Perl extensions -*-
URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,selection-to-clipboard,pasta,matcher,keyboard-select
URxvt.keysym.M-u:     perl:url-select:select_next
URxvt.url-launcher:   /usr/bin/firefox
URxvt.underlineURLs:  True
URxvt.matcher.button: 1 
URxvt.keysym.M-Escape:perl:keyboard-select:activate
URxvt.keysym.Control-Shift-V:     perl:pasta:paste
! The following configuration will automatically update the CLIPBOARD when the PRIMARY selection changes
! This is deprecated since Control-Alt-C/V has been implemented since 9.20 
URxvt.clipboard.autocopy: true

The default selection-to-clipboard extension will put the selected text into the clipboard automatically. To add pasting functionality we have to create a simple extension:

FILE /usr/lib64/urxvt/perl/pasta
#! /usr/bin/env perl -w
# Author:   Aaron Caffrey
# Website:  https://github.com/wifiextender/urxvt-pasta
# License:  GPLv3

# Usage: put the following lines in your .Xdefaults/.Xresources:
# URxvt.perl-ext-common           : selection-to-clipboard,pasta
# URxvt.keysym.Control-Shift-V    : perl:pasta:paste

use strict;

sub on_user_command {
  my ($self, $cmd) = @_;
  if ($cmd eq "pasta:paste") {
    $self->selection_request (urxvt::CurrentTime, 3);
  }
  ()
}
Note
Some urxvt-perls have been deprecated because of improved urxvt functionality https://github.com/xyb3rt/urxvt-perls/blob/master/deprecated/README.md

Icons

Menu icon

This adds menu entry and menu icon for urxvt. If urxvt doesn't have a .desktop file, create one.

FILE /usr/share/applications/urxvt.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Urxvt
Comment=Terminal emulator
TryExec=urxvt
Exec=urxvt
Icon=utilities-terminal
Type=Application
Categories=GTK;TerminalEmulator;System;
# This assumes the 'startup-notification' USE flag being enabled
StartupNotify=true

Application icon

For setting application icon x11-terms/rxvt-unicode has to be compiled with pixbuf.

FILE ~/.Xresources
URxvt.iconFile:    /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/Terminal.svg

Color theme

The main urxvt's color palette is defined by background, foreground and colorn resources. It is also possible to set color of other elements (e.g. cursor or text underline). For more information consult the urxvt manpage.

FILE ~/.Xresources
*background: #0f0f0f
*foreground: #c8c8c8

!black
*color0:  #251f1f
*color8:  #5e5e5e
!red
*color1:  #eb4509
*color9:  #eb4509
!green
*color2:  #94e76b
*color10: #95e76b
!yellow
*color3:  #ffac18
*color11: #ffac18
!blue
*color4:  #46aede
*color12: #46aede
!magenta
*color5:  #e32c57
*color13: #e32c57
!cyan
*color6:  #d6dbac
*color14: #d6dbac
!white
*color7:  #efefef
*color15: #efefef
FILE ~/.XresourcesTango colors
! black
*color0:  #2E3436
*color8:  #555753
! red
*color1:  #a40000
*color9:  #EF2929
! green
*color2:  #4E9A06
*color10: #8AE234
! yellow
*color3:  #C4A000
*color11: #FCE94F
! blue
*color4:  #3465A4
*color12: #729FCF
! purple
*color5:  #75507B
*color13: #AD7FA8
! orange (replaces cyan)
*color6:  #ce5c00
*color14: #fcaf3e
! white
*color7:  #babdb9
*color15: #EEEEEC
FILE ~/.XresourcesLinux colors
! Colors
URxvt*background: #000000
URxvt*foreground: #B2B2B2
! black
URxvt*color0:  #000000
URxvt*color8:  #686868
! red
URxvt*color1:  #B21818
URxvt*color9:  #FF5454
! green
URxvt*color2:  #18B218
URxvt*color10: #54FF54
! yellow
URxvt*color3:  #B26818
URxvt*color11: #FFFF54
! blue
URxvt*color4:  #1818B2
URxvt*color12: #5454FF
! purple
URxvt*color5:  #B218B2
URxvt*color13: #FF54FF
! cyan
URxvt*color6:  #18B2B2
URxvt*color14: #54FFFF
! white
URxvt*color7:  #B2B2B2
URxvt*color15: #FFFFFF

Using urxvt with Powerline fonts

As of v9.30 the default urxvt configuration does not support icon-oriented fonts, such as Powerline or Nerd Fonts. Therefore the icon symbols fail to display correctly unless the unicode3 USE flag is set.

Rendering of a common Powerline symbol (solid triangle separator) can be tested as:

user $echo -e '\xEE\x82\xB0'

Using the standard fonts and enabling media-fonts/powerline-symbols fallback via Fontconfig does not seem to work for urxvt[1]. This forces installing one of the Powerline patched fonts (bearing the for Powerline suffix).

See also rxvt-unicode and the Powerline symbols thread on the urxvt mailing list.

Changing font size on the fly

To be able to use font size changing within running terminal session, first verify urxvt has been build with perl.

Install the x11-misc/urxvt-font-size package:

root #emerge --ask x11-misc/urxvt-font-size

Open the ~/.Xresources file for editing and replace the entry:

FILE ~/.Xresources
!-*- Perl extensions -*-
URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,selection-to-clipboard,pasta,matcher,keyboard-select
...

With following entry, or just add the font-size to the end of the listed extensions:

FILE ~/.Xresources
!-*- Perl extensions -*-
URxvt.perl-ext-common: default,selection-to-clipboard,pasta,matcher,keyboard-select,font-size
...

Configure a keyboard key combination to increase or decrease the font size, add following entries:

FILE ~/.Xresources
...
URxvt.keysym.C-Up:     font-size:increase
URxvt.keysym.C-Down:   font-size:decrease
URxvt.keysym.C-S-Up:   font-size:incglobal
URxvt.keysym.C-S-Down: font-size:decglobal
URxvt.keysym.C-equal:  font-size:reset
URxvt.keysym.C-slash:  font-size:show
...

To increase the font size press Ctrl++, to decrease the font size press Ctrl+-. To reset to the default font size press Ctrl+0.

Troubleshooting

Changes in ~/.Xresources are not applied

1. Check for syntax errors in ~/.Xresources based on X resources article.

2. If you're using ~/.xinitrc add [[ -f ~/.Xresources ]] && xrdb -merge ~/.Xresources to ~/.xinitrc and reboot.

3. Invoking `xrdb -merge -I$HOME ~/.Xresources`might also resolve the issue.

Reporting bugs

Note
This 'Reporting bugs' section is satire.

This section describes the instructions for reporting and fixing urxvt bugs.

  1. Install Arch GNU/Linux.
    1. Test on Arch to see if the bug persists.
      1. If the bug does not persist, then contact the ebuild maintainer Jeroen Roovers (jer) . The ebuild maintainer may be able to make a fix.
  2. Contact upstream developer. Be sure to note testing was performed on Gentoo Linux as Gentoo GNU/Linux or you will be ignored and possibly yelled at.
  3. When all else fails, contact the maintainer Jeroen Roovers (jer) and fix it this way.

These instructions are based on official upstream instructions from the developer.

See also

  • X resources — configuration options for X applications
  • Fonts — a core part of the system and are necessary in order to represent text on a display.

External resources

References

  1. ↑ Request for feedback: Patched fonts may be unnecessary for many users #60, GitHub. Retrieved on March 12, 2022
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