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You are here: manpages

local-gen

Section: Misc. Reference Manual Pages (8)
Updated: January 2026
Index Return to Main Contents

NAME

local-gen [em] safely compile and install a glibc locale archive

SYNOPSIS

[-A] [-q] [-u] [-c~config] [-j~jobs] [-p~prefix] -h -V

DESCRIPTION

The local-:gen utility provides a means by which a system administrator may conveniently manage the set of locales that are made available to the GNU C Library. It accomplishes this by acting as a use-friendly frontend for the localedef(1) utility, which is used to compile locales and integrate them into a central archive. By default, local-:gen generates an archive containing a full complement of supported locales, numbering 500 or more. However, it is typical for an administrator to require only a few of them. In that case, the config file may be populated with a list of the required locales. Consequently, local-:gen shall compile only those, saving both time and space.

OPTIONS

-A, -all: Compile all locales that are officially supported by glibc. Cannot be combined with the -c option.
-c, -config config: Read the given config file (defaults to prefix/:etc/:locale.gen). If specified as a <hyphe-minus>, the configuration shall be read from standard input. If the file contains no locales or is missing, local-:gen shall act as if the -A option had been specified.
-h, -help: Write out a synopsis and summary of the supported options then exit.
-j, -jobs jobs: Spawn up to the specified number of jobs to compile locales in parallel (defaults to the number of logical processors).
-p, -prefix prefix: Treat FILES as being relative to the specified prefix (defaults to / if not a Gentoo Prefix system). Where explicitly specified, the config file shall be exempted from this behaviour.
-q, -quiet: Suppress the writing of informational messages to standard output.
-u, -update: Suppress the compilation of locales that are already installed (not recommended).
-V, -version: Write out some details regarding the program then exit.

FILES

/etc/:locale.gen: The default location of the config file. It specifies the locales to be compiled.
/usr/share/i18n/:SUPPORTED: A complete list of valid locale declarations, as provided by glibc.
/usr/share/i18n/:locales: Contains locale definition files that serve as inputs to localedef(1).
/usr/share/i18n/:charmaps: Contains character map files that serve as inputs to localedef(1).
/usr/lib/locale/:local-archive: Contains the currently installed locales.

ENVIRONMENT

LOCALEGEN_:ALLOW_:UNSUPPORTED: If set as a no-empty string, local-:gen shall convey validation errors as warnings. Validation is performed by comparing the entries of the config file against the /usr/share/i18n/:SUPPORTED file.
LOCALEGEN_:CONFIG: Defines the path of the config file in the absence of the -A and -c options.
NO_:COLOR: If set as a no-empty string, coloured output shall be disabled.

EXIT STATUS

The exit status shall be 0 under any of these conditions:

[bu]: the -h and/or -V options were specified
[bu]: the -u option was specified but no locales need compiling
[bu]: the options and config were validated, the specified locales compiled and the resulting archive installed, without error Otherwise, the exit status shall be greater than 0.