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I'm trying to find the gnome terminal config file in Ubuntu 16.04, but having no luck whatsoever. I want the cursor not to stop blinking, and there's probably a timeout parameter I can change, but I can't find the file to do it. I know it can be done through dconf-editor, but for some reason that's not working (I think I removed some dependency or other).

Jorge Castro
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Alcuin Arundel
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5 Answers5

22

There is no config file.

The gnome-terminal manages all its settings through dconf (or gconf in old Ubuntu releases) which is comparable to the Windows registry. It's a binary file optimized for quickly reading its values, you can not edit or view it manually like a text document.

If your dconf-editor or whatever tool you're trying to use is not working, you have to correct that error first.

Just for completeness, but probably you already saw those links (which mention only dconf/gconf, of course):
How do I disable the blinking cursor in gnome-terminal?
How to disable blinking cursor in Gnome 3.8?

Community
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Byte Commander
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19

The comments to the original post by eexpress and Fabian Strietel deserve special recognition. Between those two, I have been able to easily copy my preferences (several profiles and other minor stuff) from VM to VM. Many thanks!

Save:

dconf dump /org/gnome/terminal/ > ~/gterminal.preferences

Install:

cat ~/gterminal.preferences | dconf load /org/gnome/terminal/legacy/profiles:/
alan ocallaghan
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ajaym62
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6

Following on ajaym62's answer I could achieve backup and restoration of the properties with the following commands:

dconf dump /org/gnome/terminal/ > ~/dev/help/gnome-terminal.properties
cat ~/dev/help/gnome-terminal.properties | dconf load /org/gnome/terminal/

I had first to install the dconf tool:

sudo apt install dconf-cli
Stephane
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3

NB: you won't have to install any program or remove any file.

To edit your gnome-terminal preferences without actually opening or using gnome-terminal go to

/root/usr/share/applications

Then locate Terminal in the folder.
Then open its properties by right clicking on Terminal.
There you'll see command.
This is actually what happens when you open terminal. So to edit the preferences, change the command to gnome-terminal --preferences.
Voila

After "repairing" the settings. Just close the preferences and then remove --preferences from the command in the properties window. Now just open the terminal as you normally would.

EDIT : If you are in a command line interface, then just use the command gnome-terminal --profile=default

Z3T4 Z00K
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3

I want the cursor not to stop blinking

GNOME Terminal doesn't offer a separate option for this, but it respects GNOME's default which is located in the dconf key /org/gnome/desktop/interface/cursor-blink-timeout (in seconds).

Beef up this to a giant value if you'd prefer the cursor to keep blinking, e.g.

dconf write /org/gnome/desktop/interface/cursor-blink-timeout 86400
egmont
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