SLiM
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SLiM is an acronym for Simple Login Manager. Lightweight and easily configurable, SLiM requires minimal dependencies, and none from the GNOME or KDE desktop environments. It therefore contributes towards a lightweight system for users that also like to use lightweight desktops such as Xfce, Openbox, and Fluxbox.
Contents
- 1 Installation
- 2 Configuration
- 3 Other options
- 3.1 Changing the cursor
- 3.2 Match SLiM and Desktop Wallpaper
- 3.3 Shutdown, reboot, suspend, exit, launch terminal from SLiM
- 3.4 Power-off error with Splashy
- 3.5 Power-off tray icon fails
- 3.6 Login information with SLiM
- 3.7 Custom SLiM Login Commands
- 3.8 SLiM and Gnome Keyring
- 3.9 Setting DPI with SLiM
- 3.10 Use a random theme
- 3.11 Move the whole session to another VT
- 3.12 Automatically mount your encrypted /home on login
- 3.13 Change Keyboard Layout
- 4 All Slim Options
- 5 Uninstallation
- 6 Known issues
- 7 See also
Installation
Install slim from the official repositories.
Configuration
As of version 1.3.6-2, SLiM can automatically detect installed desktop environments and window managers. This is achieved through the use of /usr/share/xsessions/ in /etc/slim.conf. It will therefore be necessary for those who installed an earlier version of SLiM to amend /etc/slim.conf and ~/.xinitrc, accordingly.
.xinirc file
If you do not have a ~/.xinitrc file, then either create one in your Home folder using nano or an appropriate text editor (e.g. Leafpad or Geany). Alternatively, you may be able use a skeleton file as a template to work with:
$ cp /etc/skel/.xinitrc ~
Remember to make the ~/.xinitrc file executable:
chmod +x ~/.xinitrc
Enabling SLiM
Enter the following command to enable the SLiM daemon: systemctl enable slim.service. This is assuming that a previously installed and enabled display manager had been disabled first. Otherwise, enter systemctl enable slim.service -f to simultaneously disable the existing display manager and activate SLiM in its place.
Single environments
To configure SLiM 1.3.6-2 (or later) to load a particular environment, it will be necessary to edit both /etc/slim.conf and ~/.xinitrc.
First, edit /etc/slim.conf in order to hash out /usr/share/xsessions/. This will consequently disable automatic detection of installed environments:
# Set directory that contains the xsessions. # slim reads xsesion from this directory, and be able to select. # sessiondir /usr/share/xsessions/
Second, edit your ~/.xinitrc to set the preferred session:
#!/bin/sh # # ~/.xinitrc # # Executed by startx (run your window manager from here) # exec <session-command>
Replace <session-command> with the desired session command. Some examples have been provided below:
exec awesome exec dwm exec startfluxbox exec fvwm2 exec gnome-session exec openbox-session exec startkde exec startlxde exec startxfce4 exec enlightenment_start
For detailed instructions on how to start any desktop environments or window managers not listed above, refer to their wiki articles.
Multiple environments
To be able to choose from multiple desktop environments. It will therefore be necessary to amend /etc/slim.conf and ~/.xinitrc. This process will also cover SLiM installations prior to 1.3.6-2.
First, edit /etc/slim.conf in order to ensure that /usr/share/xsessions/ is present and unhashed:
# Set directory that contains the xsessions. # slim reads xsesion from this directory, and be able to select. # sessiondir /usr/share/xsessions/
Users who installed a prior version of SLiM will have to replace sessions with the new command.
Second, edit ~/.xinitrc so that a selected session is run:
exec $1
Users who installed a prior version of SLiM will have to replace case $1 in [...] esac, where used. To clarify, below is an example of the depreceated method to select multiple sessions. The entire code provided below would simply be replaced with exec $1:
DEFAULTSESSION=openbox-session
case "$1" in
openbox) exec openbox-session ;;
xfce) exec xfce4-session ;;
gnome3) exec gnome-session ;;
kde) exec startkde ;;
cinnamon) exec gnome-session-cinnamon ;;
razor-qt) exec razor-session ;;
lxde) exec lxsession ;;
mate) exec mate-session ;;
*) exec $DEFAULTSESSION ;;
esac
Set a default username
SLiM can be configured to automatically set a desired username, which will therefore aleady be completed. The password field will also already be focused by default. Change the following line in /etc/slim.conf:
# default_user simone
Uncomment this line, and change "simone" to the username of choice:
default_user <your username>
Enable Autologin
Again edit /etc/slim.conf to uncomment the auto_login command and replace no with yes:
auto_login yes
Theming
Install the slim-themes package:
# pacman -S slim-themes archlinux-themes-slim
The archlinux-themes-slim packages contains several different themes (slimthemes.png). Look in the directory of /usr/share/slim/themes to see the themes available. Enter the theme name on the current_theme line in /etc/slim.conf:
#current_theme default current_theme archlinux-simplyblack
To preview a theme run while an instance of the Xorg server is running by:
$ slim -p /usr/share/slim/themes/<theme name>
To close, type "exit" in the Login line and press Enter.
Additional theme packages can be found in the AUR.
Dual screen setup
You can customize the slim theme in /usr/share/slim/themes/<your-theme>/slim.theme to turn these percents values. The box itself is 450 pixels by 250 pixels:
input_panel_x 50% input_panel_y 50%
into pixels values:
# These settings set the "archlinux-simplyblack" panel in the center of a 1440x900 screen input_panel_x 495 input_panel_y 325
# These settings set the "archlinux-retro" panel in the center of a 1680x1050 screen input_panel_x 615 input_panel_y 400
If your theme has a background picture you should use the background_style setting ('stretch', 'tile', 'center' or 'color') to get it correctly displayed. Have a look at the very simple and clear official documentation about slim themes for further details.
Other options
Changing the cursor
After installing, edit /etc/slim.conf and uncomment the line:
cursor left_ptr
This will give you a normal arrow instead. This setting is forwarded to xsetroot -cursor_name. You can look up the possible cursor names here or in /usr/share/icons/<your-cursor-theme>/cursors/.
To change the cursor theme being used at the login screen, make a file named /usr/share/icons/default/index.theme with this content:
[Icon Theme] Inherits=<your-cursor-theme>
Replace <your-cursor-theme> with the name of the cursor theme you want to use (e.g. whiteglass).
Match SLiM and Desktop Wallpaper
To share a wallpaper between SLiM and your desktop, rename the used theme background, then create a link from your desktop wallpaper file to the default SLiM theme:
# mv /usr/share/slim/themes/default/background.jpg{,.bck}
# ln -s /path/to/mywallpaper.jpg /usr/share/slim/themes/default/background.jpg
Shutdown, reboot, suspend, exit, launch terminal from SLiM
You may shutdown, reboot, suspend, exit or even launch a terminal from the SLiM login screen. To do so, use the values in the username field, and the root password in the password field:
- To launch a terminal, enter console as the username (defaults to xterm which must be installed separately... edit
/etc/slim.confto change terminal preference) - For shutdown, enter halt as the username
- For reboot, enter reboot as the username
- To exit to bash, enter exit as the username
- For suspend, enter suspend as the username (suspend is disabled by default, edit
/etc/slim.confas root to uncomment thesuspend_cmdline and, if necessary modify the suspend command itself (e.g. change/usr/sbin/suspendtosudo /usr/sbin/pm-suspend))
Power-off error with Splashy
If you use Splashy and SLiM, sometimes you can't power-off or reboot from menu in GNOME, Xfce, LXDE or others. Check your /etc/slim.conf and /etc/splash.conf; set the DEFAULT_TTY=7 same as xserver_arguments vt07.
Power-off tray icon fails
If your power off tray icon fails, it could be due to not having root privileges. To start a tray icon with root privileges, be sure to have SLiM start the program. Edit /etc/slim.conf as follows:
sessionstart_cmd /path/to/tray/icon/program &
Login information with SLiM
By default, SLiM fails to log logins to utmp and wtmp which causes who, last, etc. to misreport login information. To fix this edit your slim.conf as follows:
sessionstart_cmd /usr/bin/sessreg -a -l $DISPLAY %user sessionstop_cmd /usr/bin/sessreg -d -l $DISPLAY %user
Custom SLiM Login Commands
You can also use the sessionstart_cmd/sessionstop_cmd in /etc/slim.conf to log specific infomation, such as the session, user, or theme used by slim:
sessionstop_cmd /usr/bin/logger -i -t ASKAPACHE "(sessionstop_cmd: u:%user s:%session t:%theme)" sessionstart_cmd /usr/bin/logger -i -t ASKAPACHE "(sessionstart_cmd: u:%user s:%session t:%theme)"
Or if you want to play a song when slim loads (and you have the beep program installed)
sessionstart_cmd /usr/bin/beep -f 659 -l 460 -n -f 784 -l 340 -n -f 659 -l 230 -n -f 659 -l 110
SLiM and Gnome Keyring
If you are using SLiM to launch a Gnome session and have trouble accessing your keyring, for example not being automatically authenticated on login, add the following lines to /etc/pam.d/slim (as discussed here).
auth optional pam_gnome_keyring.so session optional pam_gnome_keyring.so auto_start
You also have to add to /etc/pam.d/passwd:
password optional pam_gnome_keyring.so
If you use a screensaver you also have to add
auth optional pam_gnome_keyring.so
to /etc/pam.d/gnome-screensaver for example (replace gnome-screensaver with slimlock, slock, whatever you use). If you don't do that, your keyring is locked when screen is locked by your screensaver and not unlocked again after logging back in.
However, this fix alone no longer works since Gnome 2.30. Further changes are necessary as described here. Modifying the login_cmd line in /etc/slim.conf:
login_cmd exec dbus-launch /bin/bash -login ~/.xinitrc %session >~/.xsession-errors 2>&1
As of GNOME 3.4, you need to edit /etc/pam.d/{slim,passwd} as mentioned above, so that /etc/pam.d/slim looks like:
#%PAM-1.0 auth requisite pam_nologin.so auth required pam_env.so auth required pam_unix.so auth optional pam_gnome_keyring.so account required pam_unix.so session required pam_limits.so session required pam_unix.so session optional pam_gnome_keyring.so auto_start password required pam_unix.so
and /etc/pam.d/passwd
#%PAM-1.0 password required pam_unix.so sha512 shadow nullok password optional pam_gnome_keyring.so
As of 2012-10-13, /etc/pam.d/gnome-screensaver already contains the pam_gnome_keyring.so instruction.
The correct positioning of the pam_gnome_keyring.so instructions were taken from here.
After editing the above files, you need to edit /etc/inittab.
The solutions mentioned here and also further information are found here.
If you have problems keeping the keyring unlocked for longer sessions, there is another thing that Gnome does:
Look at /etc/xdg/autostart/{gnome-keyring-gpg.desktop, gnome-keyring-pkcs11.desktop, gnome-keyring-secrets.desktop, gnome-keyring-ssh.desktop}.
Append the following lines to .xinitrc just before you start your wm (example here is awesome wm):
/usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=gpg /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=pkcs11 /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=secrets /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=ssh /usr/bin/awesome
After login check if there is only one gnome-keyring-daemon instance running (ps -A ). If those lines are executed too early then you have 4 instances running which is not good.
You also should notice that seahorse for example does not show any pkcs11 errors anymore and that your keyring is unlocked all the time and does not lock itself anymore. Finally gnome-keyring is fully functional like in Gnome. See also here.
Setting DPI with SLiM
The Xorg server generally picks up the DPI but if it doesn't you can specify it to SLiM. If you set the DPI with the argument -dpi 96 in /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc it will not work with SLiM. To fix this change your slim.conf from:
xserver_arguments -nolisten tcp vt07
to
xserver_arguments -nolisten tcp vt07 -dpi 96
Use a random theme
Use the current_theme variable as a comma separated list to specify a set from which to choose. Selection is random.
Move the whole session to another VT
Lets say you have commented out tty terminals 3-6 as you may not use them. (You may use screen and therefore only need one terminal)
So, to move the X-Server you need to change one number in the /etc/slim.conf file. Just a few lines down you should see:
xserver_arguments -nolisten tcp vt07
Simply change the vt07 to lets say vt03 as there is no agetty started there.
Automatically mount your encrypted /home on login
You can use pam_mount.
Change Keyboard Layout
Edit /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-evdev.conf, find the following section, add the two bolded lines, and replace dvorak with your preferred keymap:
Section "InputClass"
Identifier "evdev keyboard catchall"
MatchIsKeyboard "on"
MatchDevicePath "/dev/input/event*"
Driver "evdev"
# Keyboard layouts
Option "XkbLayout" "dvorak"
EndSection
All Slim Options
Here is a list of all the slim configuration options and their default values.
sessionstart_cmd allows %user (execd right before login_cmd) and it is also allowed in sessionstop_cmd
login_cmd allows %session and %theme
| Option Name | Default Value |
|---|---|
| default_path | /bin:/usr/bin:/usr/local/bin
|
| default_xserver | /usr/bin/X
|
| xserver_arguments | vt07 -auth /var/run/slim.auth
|
| numlock | |
| daemon | yes
|
| xauth_path | /usr/bin/xauth
|
| login_cmd | exec /bin/bash -login ~/.xinitrc %session
|
| halt_cmd | /sbin/shutdown -h now
|
| reboot_cmd | /sbin/shutdown -r now
|
| suspend_cmd | |
| sessionstart_cmd | |
| sessionstop_cmd | |
| console_cmd | /usr/bin/xterm -C -fg white -bg black +sb -g %dx%d+%d+%d -fn %dx%d -T
|
| screenshot_cmd | import -window root /slim.png
|
| welcome_msg | Welcome to %host
|
| session_msg | Session:
|
| default_user | |
| focus_password | no
|
| auto_login | no
|
| current_theme | default
|
| lockfile | /var/run/slim.lock
|
| logfile | /var/log/slim.log
|
| authfile | /var/run/slim.auth
|
| shutdown_msg | The system is halting...
|
| reboot_msg | The system is rebooting...
|
| sessions | wmaker,blackbox,icewm
|
| sessiondir | |
| hidecursor | false
|
| input_panel_x | 50%
|
| input_panel_y | 40%
|
| input_name_x | 200
|
| input_name_y | 154
|
| input_pass_x | -1
|
| input_pass_y | -1
|
| input_font | Verdana:size=11
|
| input_color | #000000
|
| input_cursor_height | 20
|
| input_maxlength_name | 20
|
| input_maxlength_passwd | 20
|
| input_shadow_xoffset | 0
|
| input_shadow_yoffset | 0
|
| input_shadow_color | #FFFFFF
|
| welcome_font | Verdana:size=14
|
| welcome_color | #FFFFFF
|
| welcome_x | -1
|
| welcome_y | -1
|
| welcome_shadow_xoffset | 0
|
| welcome_shadow_yoffset | 0
|
| welcome_shadow_color | #FFFFFF
|
| intro_msg | |
| intro_font | Verdana:size=14
|
| intro_color | #FFFFFF
|
| intro_x | -1
|
| intro_y | -1
|
| background_style | stretch
|
| background_color | #CCCCCC
|
| username_font | Verdana:size=12
|
| username_color | #FFFFFF
|
| username_x | -1
|
| username_y | -1
|
| username_msg | Please enter your username
|
| username_shadow_xoffset | 0
|
| username_shadow_yoffset | 0
|
| username_shadow_color | #FFFFFF
|
| password_x | -1
|
| password_y | -1
|
| password_msg | Please enter your password
|
| msg_color | #FFFFFF
|
| msg_font | Verdana:size=16:bold
|
| msg_x | 40
|
| msg_y | 40
|
| msg_shadow_xoffset | 0
|
| msg_shadow_yoffset | 0
|
| msg_shadow_color | #FFFFFF
|
| session_color | #FFFFFF
|
| session_font | Verdana:size=16:bold
|
| session_x | 50%
|
| session_y | 90%
|
| session_shadow_xoffset | 0
|
| session_shadow_yoffset | 0
|
| session_shadow_color | #FFFFFF
|
Uninstallation
To completely remove SLiM:
# pacman -Rns slim # rm /etc/systemd/system/display-manager.service
Known issues
Incompatibility with systemd
As of November 2013, SLiM is not fully compatible with systemd, because it reuses the PAM session process. It causes various problems on second login, e.g.:
- NetworkManager applet does not work,
- PulseAudio volume cannot be adjusted,
- login failed into GNOME with another user.
However, functionality can be restored by manually editing /etc/pam.d/slim, and adding the following at the end of the configuration file:
session required pam_systemd.so
See the following bugtacker reports for more details: [1] [2]