Linux locale

This article is going to show you 3 ways to fix SSH locale environment variable error. What is locale environment variable? In Linux, a locale consists of four categories of environment variables:LANGUAGELC_ALLLC_*: LC_TYPE, LC_NUMERIC, LC_TIME…LANGThese environment variables define the system language, monetary format, date and time format etc on your Linux distribution. You can check out your locale environment variables by running the locale command in terminal:localeSample output:LANG=zh_CN.UTF-8LANGUAGE=zh_CNLC_CTYPE="zh_CN.UTF-8"LC_NUMERIC=en_US.UTF-8LC_TIME=en_US.UTF-8LC_COLLATE="zh_CN.UTF-8"LC_MONETARY=en_US.UTF-8LC_MESSAGES="zh_CN.UTF-8"LC_PAPER=en_US.UTF-8LC_NAME=en_US.UTF-8LC_ADDRESS=en_US.UTF-8LC_TELEPHONE=en_US.UTF-8LC_MEASUREMENT=en_US.UTF-8LC_IDENTIFICATION=en_US.UTF-8LC_ALL=You can see that the above output contains all four categories of locale environment variables.On Ubuntu, you can set LANGUAGE, LANG and LC_* variables graphically in system settings > language support.Systemd-based Linux distributions (Debian 8+, Ubuntu 15.04+, Fedora, CentOS7+, Arch Linux) can use the following command to set each locale environment variable.sudo localectl set-locale variable_name=valueFor example, set LANG=en_US.UTF-8.sudo localectl set-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8Locale changes may need re-login or reboot to take effect.SSH Locale Environment Variable ErrorWhen you ssh into a remote Linux server, you might see the following locale related error.Failed to set locale, defaulting to Corperl: warning: Setting locale failed.perl: warning: Please check that your locale settings: LANGUAGE = (unset), LC_ALL = (unset), LC_TIME = "zh_CN.UTF-8", LC_MONETARY = "zh_CN.UTF-8", LC_ADDRESS = "zh_CN.UTF-8", LC_TELEPHONE = "zh_CN.UTF-8", LC_NAME = "zh_CN.UTF-8", LC_MEASUREMENT = "zh_CN.UTF-8", LC_IDENTIFICATION = "zh_CN.UTF-8", LC_NUMERIC = "zh_CN.UTF-8", LC_PAPER = "zh_CN.UTF-8", LANG = "en_US.UTF-8" are supported and installed on your system.perl: warning: Falling back to the standard locale ("C").locale: Cannot set LC_CTYPE to default locale: No such file or directorylocale: Cannot set LC_MESSAGES to default locale: No such file or directorylocale: Cannot set LC_ALL to

Default locale: No such file or directoryWhy does this locale error happen? Well, that’s because your SSH client forwards your locale environment variables from your local computer to the remote Linux server which doesn’t have the needed locale generated.This happens a lot if you are not a native English speaker. Normally you would configure a non-English language on your local computer, but most Linux servers by default only have the C locale (aka POSIX locale) and English locales generated.Now let me show you 3 ways to fix this error.Method 1: Generate Locales on the ServerTo fix this error, you can generate the needed locales on the Linux server. First open the /etc/locale.gen file on your server.sudo nano /etc/locale.genFind the needed locale and remove the # sign to uncomment. For example, to generate zh_CN.UTF-8 locale, find this line:#zh_CN.UTF-8 UTF-8Remove and # sign. Save and close the file. Then run the following command to generate it.sudo locale-genlocale-gen reads /etc/locale.gen file to know what locales to generate. You can also generate multiple locales by uncommenting multiple lines in that file.Method 2: Refuse Client Locale Environment VariableYou can tell your SSH server to refuse client locale environment variable. Open the SSH server configuration file on your Linux server.sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_configFind the following line.AcceptEnv LANG LC_*Change it toAcceptEnv noSave and close the file. Then restart SSH daemon.sudo systemctl restart sshOn RHEL, CentOS, Fedora, you need to runsudo systemctl restart sshdOn Fedora/CentOS server, then are multiple locale-related SSH settings.AcceptEnv LANG LC_CTYPE LC_NUMERIC LC_TIME LC_COLLATE LC_MONETARY LC_MESSAGESAcceptEnv

What is UTF-8?UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format) is an 8-bit Unicode conversion format. It is used to encode Unicode characters in groups of 8-bit variable byte numbers. Character encoding is a way of telling a computer how to interpret raw zeros and ones into real characters. When we write text to a file, the words and sentences we create are made up of different characters, and the characters are arranged in a character set. Or the codes written in a programming language are converted into this format by the system and presented to the user.For example, in the Mousepad application, UTF-8 is defined as the default encoding:If you are working on Linux operating system, you should use these converters. If you have received a warning/error regarding UTF-8, read this post. In this article, we will explain the steps to enable UTF-8 on Linux operating systems.Let's enable UTF-8 for systems based on major distributions that are used by most users on Linux.How to enable UTF-8 Redhat Based OSThe following steps can be applied in linux distributions based on Redhat operating system such as Centos, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux, Fedora, etc.Step-1: Show current UTF-8 settingsFirst view the settings current in the system:[foc@rocky9 ~]$ localeLANG=en_GB.UTF-8LC_CTYPE="en_GB.UTF-8"LC_NUMERIC="en_GB.UTF-8"LC_TIME="en_GB.UTF-8"...or[foc@rocky9 ~]$ localectl System Locale: LANG=en_GB.UTF-8 VC Keymap: us X11 Layout: usThe language you used and the UTF format are also displayed.Step-2: Show the list of available localesUse the following command to list available languages and UTF formats:[foc@rocky9 ~]$ localectl list-locales...en_SC.UTF-8en_SG.UTF-8en_US.UTF-8...After this command, you will see a long list.Step-3: Change UTF-8 settingTo change the UTF settings, you can do it by giving the set-locale and LANG parameters to the localectl command. For example:[foc@rocky9 ~]$ sudo localectl set-locale LANG=en_US.UTF-8or you can manually edit the /etc/locale.conf file:[foc@rocky9 ~]$ sudo vi /etc/locale.confChange en_GB.UTF-8 to en_US.UTF-8. Then check system locale settings:[foc@rocky9 ~]$ cat /etc/locale.conf LANG=en_GB.UTF-8How to enable UTF-8 Debian Based OSIn this step, let's explain how to make UFT settings in distributions such as Debian based systems, Pardus, Ubuntu, Mint.Step-1: Show current UTF-8 settingsYou can view the UTF settings with the locale command:foc@ubuntu22:~$ localeLANG=en_US.UTF-8LANGUAGE=LC_CTYPE="en_US.UTF-8"...Step-2: Show the list of available localesReconfigure the locales package to show the list of available locales:foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure localesStep-3: Change UTF-8 settingRun the locales package with root user or sudo:Select UTF and language from the list. Determine which of the selected settings will be default:Press OK:foc@ubuntu22:~$ sudo dpkg-reconfigure localesGenerating locales (this might take a while)... en_GB.UTF-8... done en_US.UTF-8... done tr_TR.UTF-8... doneGeneration complete.The settings have been applied successfully.Referencesunix.stackexchange.com - How can I enable UTF-8 support in the Linux console? Can't find what you're searching for? Let us assist you. Enter your query below, and we'll provide instant results tailored to your needs.