Num Lock

>        This question really has two answers. One applies to consoles and the
> other to the X Window System.

>        For console ttys: add the following to the end of your startup script
> '/etc/rc.d/rc.local' :

>        INITTTY=/dev/tty[1-12]
>        for tty in $INITTTY; do
>        setleds -D +num <$tty
>        done

>        (Note that this is straight from the man page for setleds.)

>        For X, you need to edit the file '/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xkb/types/basic'.
> The last section of the file is the "KEYPAD" section and looks like:

>        type "KEYPAD" {
>        modifiers = Shift+NumLock;
>        map[None] = Level1;
>        map[Shift] = Level2;
>        map[NumLock] = Level2;
>        map[Shift+NumLock] = Level1;
>        level_name[Level1] = "Base";
>        level_name[Level2] = "Number";

>        To set NUMLOCK on by default, simply change every occurrence of "Level1"
> to "Level2" and change every occurrence of "Level2" to "Level1" (without the
> quotes). Then restart X. Note that the behavior of the NUMLOCK light will change
> as well (i.e. the light will be lit when NUMLOCK is OFF and will be dark when
> NUMLOCK is ON).