BlackArch Linux is a great security distro but I’ve always been annoyed by the small terminal windows and could never find a way to resize them. I just used PuTTY on Windows or an xterm from another host/VM to get an easily adjustable xterm window. I found this obscure but simple method to resize the terminal and add a scrollbar. Hope you find this as helpful as I did.

1) Login to BlachArch as root. Right-click the desktop > select Terminal > and pick any terminal color you like.

2) Example resizing commands are listed below. Depending on your monitor size, you can play with the numbers to get your perfect terminal window. The set of numbers after the 8; sets the height and the last set with a “t” sets the width. The commands are dynamic and will change the terminal immediately. If you don’t like your choice, simply up-arrow and enter a new number.

[blackarch ~]# printf ‘\e[8;20;90t’
[blackarch ~]# printf ‘\e[8;30;90t’
[blackarch ~]# printf ‘\e[8;40;90t’
[blackarch ~]# printf ‘\e[8;50;95t’
[blackarch ~]# printf ‘\e[8;40;100t’

3) In your home directory check your .Xresources file.

> cat .Xresources | grep scroll

urxvt.scrollBar: false
urxvt.scrollTtyKeypress: true
urxvt.scrollTtyOutput: false
urxvt.scrollWithBuffer: false
urxvt.scrollstyle: plain

4) Change urxvt.scrollBar from false to true, add its position and merge the change.

> vi .Xresources
– set urxvt.scrollBar to true
– add urxvt.leftScrollBar: true
– save and quit vi
> xrdb -merge .Xresources

5) Close your existing xterm and you should have a scroll bar on the left. Run a few commands (like ls -lsa) to generate a lot of output and then you can scroll back.