Chuck Nemeth

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======Virtual Terminal Color======
The following notes apply to __virtual terminals__ such as ''%%/dev/tty1%%'', ''%%/dev/tty2%%'', etc. 

You use these terminals when you log in without a display manager (eg. LightDM) or when you use a command such as ''%%<ctrl>%%'' + ''%%<alt>%%'' + ''%%<F2>%%''.

These settings will //not// apply to a terminal emulator such as **urxvt**, **st** or **xterm** etc. They will need to to be configured separately.

----

=====Applying a VT Colorscheme at boot=====
<WRAP announcement blue>The following instructions were created on Debian 10 (buster). 

They //should// work on Ubuntu and other Debian based distributions as well.</WRAP>
====Setting Up====
  * If it's not already installed, install ''%%kbd%%'':<code bash>
sudo apt install kbd
</code>

----

====Modify initramfs====
Add the **setvtrgb** executable to the **initramfs** so that it's available during boot. 

  * Create a shell script in the hooks directory:<code bash>
sudoedit /etc/initramfs-tools/hooks/setvtrgb_hook
</code>

  * And add the contents:<file sh setvtrgb_hook>
#!/bin/sh
PREREQ=""
prereqs()
{
	echo "$PREREQ"
}

case $1 in
prereqs)
	prereqs
	exit 0
	;;
esac

. /usr/share/initramfs-tools/hook-functions

copy_exec /usr/bin/setvtrgb /bin
</file>
  * Set the script to be executable:<code bash>
sudo chmod +x /etc/initramfs-tools/hooks/setvtrgb_hook
</code>

----

====Choose a colorscheme====
<WRAP tip>
Test the colorscheme by running the script then clearing the terminal. This way you can see which one you like ahead of time.
</WRAP>
  * Copy one of the [[#vt-colorschemes|Colorschemes]] from below (or create your own) to:
    * ''%%/etc/initramfs-tools/scripts/init-top/%%''
      * I chose the **init-top** directory because it gets called as early as possible into the boot process. 
      * Refer to **man initramfs-tools** BOOT SCRIPTS section and change it to suit your needs.
  * Set the script to be executable:<code bash>
sudo chmod +x /etc/initramfs-tools/scripts/init-top/my_colorscheme
</code>



----

====Update initramfs====
After completing the above steps, we will generate the new initramfs
  * Update the initramfs:<code bash>
sudo update-initramfs -u
</code>
  * Verify that **setvtrgb** was added:<code bash>
lsinitramfs -l /boot/initrd.img-4.19.0-9-amd64 | grep setvtrgb
</code>
    * //make sure to modify the above command to point to your initrd//
  * Reboot


----

=====Applying a VT Colorscheme after boot=====
If you use Plymouth, a display manager or frankly just don't care if the boot process terminal has custom colors, you can create a systemd service to load the colors after login.

  * Copy or create a [[#vt-colorschemes|colorscheme]] somewhere such as ''%%/etc/custom-vt-colors%%''.
  * Create a systemd service:<code bash>
sudoedit /etc/systemd/system/custom-vt-colors.service
</code>
  * Add the contents:<file sh custom-vt-colors.service> 
[Unit]
Description=Load custom VT color palette

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/setvtrgb /etc/custom-vt-colors

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
</file>
  * Start and enable the service:<code bash>
sudo systemctl enable --now custom-vt-colors.service
</code>

\\

----

=====VT Colorschemes=====
For the colorschemes below (except default), I imported the Xresources of each colorscheme to https://terminal.sexy to convert the hex values to rgb quickly. Then I created the files using those rgb values.

===Default===
  * [[linux:ricing:colorscheme:default#default_vt_colorscheme|Default VT Colorscheme]]

===Dracula===
  * [[linux:ricing:colorscheme:dracula#dracula_vt_colorscheme|Dracula VT Colorscheme]]

===Gruvbox===
  * [[linux:ricing:colorscheme:gruvbox_dark#gruvbox_dark_vt_colorscheme|Gruvbox Dark VT Colorscheme]]
  * [[linux:ricing:colorscheme:gruvbox_light#gruvbox_light_vt_colorscheme|Gruvbox Light VT Colorscheme]]

===Nord===
  * [[linux:ricing:colorscheme:nord#nord_vt_colorscheme|Nord VT Colorscheme]]

===Solarized===
  * [[linux:ricing:colorscheme:solarized_dark#solarized_dark_vt_colorscheme|Solarized Dark Colorscheme]]
  * [[linux:ricing:colorscheme:solarized_light#solarized_light_vt_colorscheme|Solarized Light Colorscheme]]

----

====VT Colorscheme Format====
''%%setvtrgb%%'' requires the input to be formatted properly for it to work. 

Similar to Xresources, there are definable 16 colors ranging from **color0** through **color15**. However, the colors need split into 3 lines with Red being the top line, Green being the middle line and Blue being the bottom line. It should look like this (substituting the RGB values of course):
<code>
Red0,Red1,Red2,Red3,Red4,Red5,Red6,Red7,Red8,Red9,Red10,Red11,Red12,Red13,Rew14,Red15
Green0,Green1,Green2,Green3,Green4,Green5,Green6,Green7,Green8,Green9,Green10,Green11,Green12,Green13,Rew14,Green15
Blue0,Blue1,Blue2,Blue3,Blue4,Blue5,Blue6,Blue7,Blue8,Blue9,Blue10,Blue11,Blue12,Blue13,Rew14,Blue15
</code>

\\

For a working example and/or to make a backup of the current settings:
  * Save/view current vt colors in a **setvtrgb** usable format:<code bash>
cat /sys/module/vt/parameters/default_{red,grn,blu} > ~/consolecolors
</code>

----

===Converting Hex Colors to RGB===
  * Convert hex values to rgb with each of r,g,b being on a newline:<file bash hexrgb.sh>
#!/usr/bin/env bash

hex_regex='^#?([[:xdigit:]]{6})$'

# Check if input is valid hex
if [[ "${1}" =~ ${hex_regex} ]]; then
  hexinput=$(echo "${1}" | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]' | sed 's/#//g' )
else
  printf '%s\n' "[ERROR] ${1} is not a valid hex color code" >&2 && exit 1
fi

# Print RGB output with each on it's own line
printf '%d\n' "0x${hexinput:0:2}" "0x${hexinput:2:2}" "0x${hexinput:4:2}"

# vim: ft=sh ts=2 sts=2 sw=2 sr et
</file>
  * Run it: 
    * ''%%hexrgb.sh ff9900%%'' or ''%%hexrgb.sh \#ff9900%%'' or ''%%hexrgb.sh "#ff9900"%%''
    * Escaping or quoting the hex value starting with a # is necessary else bash will think it's a comment.


----


=====References=====
====Colors====
  * ''%%man initramfs-tools%%''
  * ''%%man setvtrgb%%''
  * https://superuser.com/a/1185870 - VT colors & systemd
  * https://stackoverflow.com/a/7254022 - Convert hex to rgb
  * https://serverfault.com/a/476699 - Adding executable to initramfs

====General====
  * http://blog.startaylor.net/2016/05/30/howto-console/