LXDM - ArchWiki

Jump to content
Toggle the table of contents

# LXDM

5 languages

- Deutsch
- Français
- 日本語
- Русский
- 中文（简体）

From ArchWiki

Related articles

- LXDE
- Display manager

LXDM is a lightweight display manager for the LXDE desktop environment.

LXDM does not support the XDMCP protocol. An alternative that does is LightDM.

## Installation

Install the lxdm package, or lxdm-gtk3 for the GTK3 version.

Enable the provided `lxdm.service` unit to start LXDM at boot.

## Configuration

The configuration files for LXDM are all located in `/etc/lxdm/`. The main configuration file is `lxdm.conf`. Its format is documented in its comments. Another file, `Xsession`, is the systemwide x session configuration file and should generally not be edited. All other files in this directory are shell scripts, which are run when certain events happen in LXDM.

These are:

1. `LoginReady` is executed with root privileges when LXDM is ready to show the login window.
2. `PreLogin` is run as root before logging a user in.
3. `PostLogin` is run as the logged-in user right after they have logged in.
4. `PostLogout` is run as the logged-in user right after they have logged out.
5. `PreReboot` is run as root before rebooting with LXDM.
6. `PreShutdown` is run as root before poweroff with LXDM.

### Default session

The default session can be set globally, as well as set at an individual-user level. Individual user preferences take precedence over globally set preferences for the user in question.

#### Globally

Edit `/etc/lxdm/lxdm.conf` and change the session line to whatever session or DE is desired:

    session=/usr/bin/startlxde

Example using Xfce:

    session=/usr/bin/startxfce4

Example using Openbox:

    session=/usr/bin/openbox-session

Example using GNOME:

    session=/usr/bin/gnome-session

This is useful for themes that have no visible session selection box, and if experiencing trouble using autologin.

#### Per user

To define an individual user's preferred session, simply edit their respective `~/.dmrc` to define the selection.

Example: user1 wants Xfce4, user2 wants Cinnamon, and user3 wants GNOME:

For user1:

    [Desktop]
    Session=xfce

For user2:

    [Desktop]
    Session=cinnamon

For user3:

    [Desktop]
    Session=gnome

The list of installed sessions can be displayed by using command:

    $ ls /usr/share/xsessions/

### Autologin

To log in to one account automatically on startup, without providing a password, find the line in `/etc/lxdm/lxdm.conf` that looks like this:

    #autologin=dgod

Uncomment it, substituting the target user instead of dgod.

### Last used options

Previously used LXDM options can be found in:

    /var/lib/lxdm/lxdm.conf

    [base]
    last_session=/usr/share/xsessions/LXDE.desktop
    last_lang=sv_SE.UTF-8
    last_langs=sv_SE.UTF-8 fa_IR.UTF-8 en_US.UTF-8

Note: This file is not automatically removed when uninstalling LXDM. It must be removed manually if you want to remove all traces of LXDM options.

## Tips and tricks

### Adding face icons

A 96x96 px image (jpg or png) can optionally be displayed on a per-user basis, replacing the stock icon. Copy or symlink the target image to `$HOME/.face`. The gnome-control-center package supplies some default icons suitable for the lxdm screen. Look under `/usr/share/pixmaps/faces` after installing that package.

Note:

- Users need not keep gnome-control-center installed to use face icons. Install it, copy the images elsewhere, and remove it.
- The user home directory must have r-x permissions for others and the .face file must have r-- permissions for others. This may be undesirable from a security and access perspective if your system has other users: it means anyone else can browse your home directory.
- A graphical tool `lxdm-config` shipped with lxdm can be used to place a `.face` file in the home directory, along with other configuration.

### Simultaneous users and switching users

LXDM allows multiple users to be logged into different TTYs simultaneously. The following command is used to allow another user to log in without logging out the current user:

    $ lxdm -c USER_SWITCH

Note: When the new user logs in, their session is now on the NEXT TTY from tty7. For example, user1 logs in and issues the USER_SWITCH command. Now user2 logs in. User2 will be on tty7 while user1 will be on tty1.

### Themes

The LXDM themes are located in `/usr/share/lxdm/themes`.

There is only one theme provided with LXDM: Industrial. To display the background file `wave.svg` which is part of this theme, install librsvg.

lxdm-themesAUR provides 6 extra themes: Archlinux, ArchlinuxFull, ArchlinuxTop, Arch-Dark, Arch-Stripes, and IndustrialArch.

Choice of theme is configurable in `/etc/lxdm/lxdm.conf`:

    ## the theme of greeter
    theme=theme_name

You can also configure LXDM to use a GTK theme (stored in `/usr/share/themes`) in `/etc/lxdm/lxdm.conf`:

    ## GTK theme
    gtk_theme=gtk_theme_name

### Advanced Session Configuration

After a user logs on, LXDM sources all of the following files, in the below order:

1. `/etc/profile`
2. `~/.profile`
3. `/etc/xprofile`
4. `~/.xprofile`

These files can be used to set session environment variables and to start services which must set certain environment variables in order for clients in the session to be able to use the service, like ssh-agent. See Xprofile for details.

Note that LXDM does not source `~/.xinitrc`, so those migrating from a DM that does use this file, like SLiM, will have to move their settings elsewhere — probably `~/.xprofile`. Also note LXDM does not source `~/.bash_profile`.

If you still want to use your `~/.xinitrc` file, you can add a line to the `/etc/lxdm/PostLogin` event file:

    source ~/.xinitrc

LXDM also makes use of .Xresources, .Xkbmap, and .Xmodmap. See `/etc/lxdm/Xsession` for details on how LXDM uses system-wide and per-user configuration files to configure the session.[1]

## Troubleshooting

### White flash

When using the default LXDM `theme=Industrial` and a dark background image (e.g. `bg=/usr/share/backgrounds/img.png`) there may be a short bright flash before LXDM starts. This is caused by the `bg_color:` property of the selected GTK theme. To avoid this change `gtk_theme=Adwaita` to `gtk_theme=Adwaita-dark` or to another dark theme.

### Logout Issue

If you had trouble logging out when using lxdm (e.g. stuck, display freeze, etc..) try uncomment the `reset=1` option in `/etc/lxdm/lxdm.conf` to refresh xserver on every logout.

Categories:

- Display managers
- LXDE