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# GDM

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- GNOME
- Display manager

From GDM - GNOME Display Manager: "The GNOME Display Manager (GDM) is a program that manages graphical display servers and handles graphical user logins."

Display managers provide X Window System and Wayland users with a graphical login prompt.

## Installation

GDM can be installed with the gdm package, and is installed as part of the gnome group.

## Starting

To start GDM at boot time, enable `gdm.service`.

### Autostarting applications

To automatically start applications after logging in, follow the instructions in Autostarting#On desktop environment startup that pertain to your desktop environment.

## Configuration

Note Most of the configuration options listed below can be easily set using the gdm-settingsAUR GUI application.

### Login screen background image

The factual accuracy of this article or section is disputed.

Reason: Configuration is not persistent and changes will be undone after an update of GNOME Shell. 20250224: Updating for Gnome 47. (Discuss in Talk:GDM)
Note

- Since GNOME 3.16, GNOME Shell themes are now stored as binary files (gresource).
- This change will be overwritten on subsequent updates of gnome-shell.

Firstly, you need to extract the existing GNOME Shell theme to a directory in your home directory. You can do this using the following script:

    extractgst.sh

    #!/bin/sh
    gst=/usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme.gresource
    workdir=${HOME}/shell-theme

    for r in `gresource list $gst`; do
    	r=${r#\/org\/gnome\/shell/}
    	if [ ! -d $workdir/${r%/*} ]; then
    	  mkdir -p $workdir/${r%/*}
    	fi
    done

    for r in `gresource list $gst`; do
            gresource extract $gst $r >$workdir/${r#\/org\/gnome\/shell/}
    done

Navigate to the created directory. You should find that the theme files have been extracted to it (under a theme subfolder). Now copy your preferred background image to this directory.

Next, you need to create a file under the theme directory with the following content (the list below is for Gnome 47, just in case verify that the contents of the theme subfolder match the list here, including the background image):

    gnome-shell-theme.gresource.xml

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <gresources>
      <gresource prefix="/org/gnome/shell/theme">
        <file>calendar-today.svg</file>
        <file>calendar-today-light.svg</file>
        <file>gnome-shell-dark.css</file>
        <file>gnome-shell-light.css</file>
        <file>gnome-shell-high-contrast.css</file>
        <file>gnome-shell-start.svg</file>
        <file>pad-osd.css</file>
        <file>process-working-dark.svg</file>
        <file>process-working-light.svg</file>
        <file>workspace-placeholder.svg</file>
        <file>filename</file>
      </gresource>
    </gresources>

Replace filename with the filename of your background image or remove the line to use a hex color value instead.

Now, open the `gnome-shell-light.css` and `gnome-shell-dark.css` files and change the `#lockDialogGroup` definition as follows:

    #lockDialogGroup {
      background: url("filename");
      background-size: widthpx heightpx;
      background-repeat: no-repeat;
    }

Set `background-size` to the resolution that GDM uses; this might not necessarily be the resolution of the image. For a list of display resolutions, see Display resolution.

Again, set filename to be the name of the background image, filename should be within quotes in the CSS. background-size can also be set to auto if you want the image scaled to fill.

If using multiple monitors, the image ends up spanning across the monitors, so it might be better to use an SVG file for the background.

If you only want to change the background color, adjust the `#lockDialogGroup` definition as follows:

    #lockDialogGroup {
      background-color: #color;
    }

where color is the new hex-encoded background color.

Next, compile the theme using the following command:

    $ glib-compile-resources gnome-shell-theme.gresource.xml

Then, copy the resulting `gnome-shell-theme.gresource` file to the `/usr/share/gnome-shell` directory (keep a backup of the original).

    $ sudo cp /usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme.gresource /usr/share/gnome-shell/gnome-shell-theme-original.gresource
    $ sudo cp ./gnome-shell-theme.gresource /usr/share/gnome-shell

Finally, logout and you should find that gdm is using your preferred background image (you might need to restart gdm if the changes aren't applied immediately).

If a subsequent update resets the gnome-shell-theme.gresource file, simply repeat the above steps, verifying that the contents of the XML match the extracted file list.

For more information, please see the following forum thread. A shell script to automate the above steps is available on DimaZirix's github repository.

### dconf configuration

Some GDM settings are stored in a dconf database. They can be configured either by adding keyfiles to the `/etc/dconf/db/gdm.d` directory and then recompiling the GDM database by running `dconf update` as root or by logging into the GDM user on the system and changing the setting directly using the gsettings command line tool. Note that for the former approach, a GDM profile file is required—this must be created manually as it is no longer shipped upstream, see below:

    /etc/dconf/profile/gdm

    user-db:user
    system-db:gdm
    file-db:/usr/share/gdm/greeter-dconf-defaults

For the latter approach, you can log into the GDM user with the command below:

    # machinectl shell gdm@ /bin/bash

#### Login screen logo

Create the following keyfile:

    /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d/02-logo

    [org/gnome/login-screen]
    logo='/path/to/logo.png'

Then recompile the GDM database.

Alternatively, execute the following as the GDM user to change the logo:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.login-screen logo '/path/to/logo.png'

To disable the logo, you can set the value to an empty string:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.login-screen logo ''

#### Changing the cursor theme

GDM disregards GNOME cursor theme settings and it also ignores the cursor theme set according to the XDG specification. To change the cursor theme used in GDM, create the following keyfile:

    /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d/10-cursor-settings

    [org/gnome/desktop/interface]
    cursor-theme='theme-name'

Then recompile the GDM database. Alternatively, execute the following as the GDM user temporarily and change the cursor theme:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface cursor-theme 'theme-name'

#### Changing the icon theme

The same methods can be used to change the icon theme. Create the following keyfile:

    /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d/11-icon-settings

    [org/gnome/desktop/interface]
    icon-theme='theme-name'

Then, recompile the GDM database. Alternatively, execute the following as the GDM user temporarily and change the icon theme:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface icon-theme 'theme-name'

#### Larger font for log-in screen

Click on the accessibility icon at the top right of the screen (a white circle with the silhouette of a person in the centre) and check the Large Text option.

To set a specific scaling factor, create the following keyfile:

    /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d/03-scaling

    [org/gnome/desktop/interface]
    text-scaling-factor=1.25

Then recompile the GDM database. Alternatively, execute the following as the GDM user temporarily and change the font:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface text-scaling-factor 1.25

#### Turning off the sound

This tweak disables the audible feedback heard when the system volume is adjusted (via keyboard) on the login screen.

Create the following keyfile:

    /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d/04-sound

    [org/gnome/desktop/sound]
    event-sounds=false

Then recompile the GDM database. Alternatively execute the following as the GDM user temporarily and turn off the sound:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.sound event-sounds 'false'

#### Configure power button behavior

Note

- The logind settings for the power button are overriden by GNOME Settings Daemon. [1]
- As of GDM 3.18, the power button cannot be set to interactive. [2]
- In some cases, this setting will be ignored and hardcoded defaults will be used. [3]

Warning Please note that the acpid daemon also handles the "power button" and "hibernate button" events. Running both systems at the same time may lead to unexpected behaviour.

Create the following keyfile:

    /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d/05-power

    [org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power]
    power-button-action='action'

Then recompile the GDM database. Alternatively, execute the following as the GDM user temporarily and configure the behavior:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power power-button-action 'action'

where action can be one of `nothing`, `suspend` or `hibernate`.

#### Enabling tap-to-click

Tap-to-click is disabled in GDM (and GNOME) by default, but you can easily enable it with a dconf setting.

Note If you want to do this under X, you have to first set up correct X server access permissions—see #Configure X server access permission.

To enable tap-to-click, create the following keyfile:

    /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d/06-tap-to-click

    [org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/touchpad]
    tap-to-click=true

Then recompile the GDM database. Alternatively, execute the following as the GDM user temporarily and enable the action:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.peripherals.touchpad tap-to-click 'true'

#### Disable/Enable Accessibility Menu

This article or section is out of date.

Reason: As of GDM 43, the configuration key below does not work (yet, the docs still reference it [4].) Instead, use the key `org.gnome.desktop.a11y.applications screen-keyboard-enabled true`. (Discuss in Talk:GDM)

To disable or enable the Accessibility Menu, create the following keyfile:

    /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d/07-accessibility

    [org/gnome/desktop/interface]
    toolkit-accessibility='boolean'

Then recompile the GDM database. Alternatively, execute the following as the GDM user temporarily and change the status:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface toolkit-accessibility 'boolean'

The menu is disabled when the key is `false`, enabled when it is `true`.

#### Enable Night Light on GDM

To enable Night Light on GDM, run

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.color night-light-enabled true

### Keyboard layout

GDM requires the `XKBLAYOUT` parameter to be set in `/etc/vconsole.conf`; without it it defaults to a standard `us` (qwerty) layout, i.e it will not honor the value set in `KEYMAP`.

One generally applicable way to do so is to use `localectl --no-convert set-x11-keymap [keymap]`: see Keyboard configuration in Xorg#Setting keyboard layout for details.

Warning Using `localectl set-x11-keymap` without `--no-convert` will also change the value of `KEYMAP=`, which may result in an unbootable system if encrypting an entire system with a passphrase containing accented characters. See systemd issue #34967.

### Change the language

The system language will be applied to GDM. If a system has multiple users, it is possible to set a language for GDM different to the system language. In this case, firstly ensure that gnome-control-center is installed. Then, start gnome-control-center and choose Region & Language. In the header bar, check the Login Screen toggle button. Finally, click on Language and choose your language from the list. You will be prompted for your root password. Note that the Login Screen button will not be visible in the header bar unless multiple users are present on the system [5].

Tip By adding 2 different input languages, logging out then selecting your default language GDM will remember your choice once the second option is removed.

### Users and login

#### Automatic login

Warning Do not attempt to do this for users managed by systemd-homed. This is currently not implemented and will crash GDM.

To enable automatic login with GDM, add the following to `/etc/gdm/custom.conf` (replace `username` with your own):

    /etc/gdm/custom.conf

    # Enable automatic login for user
    [daemon]
    AutomaticLogin=username
    AutomaticLoginEnable=True

Tip If GDM fails after adding these lines, comment them out from a TTY.

or for an automatic login with a delay:

    /etc/gdm/custom.conf

    [daemon]
    TimedLoginEnable=true
    TimedLogin=username
    TimedLoginDelay=1

You can set the session used for automatic login (replace `gnome-xorg` with desired session):

    /var/lib/AccountsService/users/username

    [User]
    XSession=gnome-xorg

#### Passwordless login

If you want to bypass the password prompt in GDM then simply add the following line on the first line of `/etc/pam.d/gdm-password`:

    auth sufficient pam_succeed_if.so user ingroup nopasswdlogin

Then, add the group `nopasswdlogin` to your system. See User group for group descriptions and group management commands.

Now, add your user to the `nopasswdlogin` group and you will only have to click on your username to login.

Warning

- Do not do this for a root account.
- You will not be able to change your session type at login with GDM anymore. If you want to change your default session type, you will first need to remove your user from the `nopasswdlogin` group.

#### Disable fingerprint login

When using a fingerprint to login, it will not unlock the keychain, so you will still be prompted for the keychain password. You might want to disallow login and keep the fingerprint to unlock your session. To do this, just disable fingerprint for the GDM user.

Execute the following as the GDM user temporarily and change this setting:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.login-screen enable-fingerprint-authentication false

#### Passwordless shutdown for multiple sessions

GDM uses polkit and logind to gain permissions for shutdown. You can shutdown the system when multiple users are logged in by setting:

    /etc/polkit-1/localauthority.conf.d/org.freedesktop.logind.policy

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
    <!DOCTYPE policyconfig PUBLIC
     "-//freedesktop//DTD PolicyKit Policy Configuration 1.0//EN"
     "http://www.freedesktop.org/software/polkit/policyconfig-1.dtd">

    <!--
    Policy definitions for logind
     -->

    <policyconfig>

      <action id="org.freedesktop.login1.power-off-multiple-sessions">
        <description>Shutdown the system when multiple users are logged in</description>
        <message>System policy prevents shutting down the system when other users are logged in</message>
        <defaults>
          <allow_inactive>yes</allow_inactive>
          <allow_active>yes</allow_active>
        </defaults>
      </action>

    </policyconfig>

You can find all available logind options (e.g. reboot-multiple-sessions) in org.freedesktop.login1(5).

#### Enable root login in GDM

It is not advised to login as root, but if necessary you can edit `/etc/pam.d/gdm-password` and add the following line before the line `auth required pam_deny.so`:

    /etc/pam.d/gdm-password

    auth            sufficient      pam_succeed_if.so uid eq 0 quiet

The file should look something like this:

    /etc/pam.d/gdm-password

    ...
    auth            sufficient      pam_succeed_if.so uid eq 0 quiet
    auth            sufficient      pam_succeed_if.so uid >= 1000 quiet
    auth            required        pam_deny.so
    ...

You should be able to login as root after restarting GDM.

#### Hide user from login list

The users for the gdm user list are gathered by AccountsService. It will automatically hide system users (UID < 1000). To hide ordinary users from the login list create or edit a file named after the user to hide in `/var/lib/AccountsService/users/` to contain at least:

    /var/lib/AccountsService/users/username

    [User]
    SystemAccount=true

#### Remote login via RDP

Note Currently, only headless sessions can be created remotely.
Note Only one graphical session can exist at a time. Attempting to create a new session will prompt to kill the other one, if it exists.

##### Via Graphical Interface

Remote login can be configured via graphical interface by navigating to System > Remote Desktop > Remote Login in Gnome Settings app.

##### Via CLI

Note To function, Gnome Remote Desktop requires both TLS certificates and credentials. Unless they were set before, both will be missing and need to be set manually.

To display current status and credentials, the following command can be used:

    # grdctl --system status --show-credentials

To set credentials:

    # grdctl --system rdp set-credentials rdp_login rdp_password

To generate new TLS key and certificate:

    # winpr-makecert3 -rdp -path /etc/gnome-remote-desktop -n rdp-tls

If `-n rdp-tls` part is omitted, hostname will be used as the name instead.

To set TLS key and certificate:

    # grdctl --system rdp set-tls-key /etc/gnome-remote-desktop/rdp-tls.key
    # grdctl --system rdp set-tls-cert /etc/gnome-remote-desktop/rdp-tls.crt

Finally, to enable Remote Login:

    # grdctl --system rdp enable

### Setup default monitor settings

Some desktop environments store display settings in `~/.config/monitors.xml`, based on which xrandr commands are generated. GDM has a file serving a similar purpose located at `/etc/xdg/monitors.xml` (This is the global mutter configuration and will impact new GNOME session too).

Note `/var/lib/gdm/.config/monitors.xml` − legacy.

If you have your monitors setup as you like (resolution, refresh rate, orientation, scaling, primary and so on) in `~/.config/monitors.xml` and want GDM to honor those settings:

    # cp /home/user/.config/monitors.xml /etc/xdg/monitors.xml

To automatically re-configure the monitor setup on each boot, use a drop-in file for `gdm.service`:

    /etc/systemd/system/gdm.service.d/override.conf

    [Service]
    ExecStartPre=/bin/cp /home/user/.config/monitors.xml /etc/xdg/monitors.xml

The relevant parts of `monitors.xml` for screen rotation and scaling are:

    <monitors version="2">
      <configuration>
        <logicalmonitor>
          ...
          <scale>2</scale>
          ...
          <transform>
            <rotation>right</rotation>
            <flipped>no</flipped>
          </transform>
          ...
        </logicalmonitor>
      </configuration>
    </monitors>

Changes will take effect on logout. This is necessary because GDM does not respect `xorg.conf`.

Note

If you have modified Mutter's experimental-features setting (usual done for fractional scaling or Variable), make sure the dconf setup is done globally not just to you user, see fractional scaling. This due to these setting can make the monitors.xml incompatible, see GDM bug 1028. i

### Configure X server access permission

You can use the `xhost` command to configure X server access permissions.

For instance, to grant GDM the right to access the X server, use the following command:

    # xhost +SI:localuser:gdm

## Troubleshooting

### Wayland and the proprietary NVIDIA driver

To use Wayland in GDM with the NVIDIA driver, you must fulfill the three following conditions:

- enable DRM KMS,
- configure Wayland,
- follow NVIDIA/Tips and tricks#Preserve video memory after suspend.

If, instead of GDM, a black screen appears, try disabling integrated graphics in your computer's BIOS settings.

In some cases, GNOME fails to start and transfers control back to GDM, which in turn causes the login screen to reappear. You may try setting the following environment variable as suggested in BBS#2126478:

    /etc/environment

    MUTTER_DEBUG_KMS_THREAD_TYPE=user

### Failure on logout

If GDM starts up properly on boot, but fails after repeated attempts on logout, try adding this line to the daemon section of `/etc/gdm/custom.conf`:

    GdmXserverTimeout=60

### Rootless Xorg

See Xorg#Rootless Xorg.

### Use Xorg backend

The Wayland backend is used by default, and the Xorg backend is used only if the Wayland backend cannot be started. You may wish to use the Xorg backend instead if, for example:

- GDM crashes

To use the Xorg backend by default, uncomment the following line in `/etc/gdm/custom.conf`:

    #WaylandEnable=false

### Incomplete removal of gdm

After removing gdm, systemd may report the following:

    user 'gdm': directory '/var/lib/gdm' does not exist

To remove this warning, login as root and delete the primary user `gdm` and then delete the group `gdm`:

Verify that `gdm` is successfully removed via `pwck` and `grpck` with root privileges. To round it off, you may want to double-check no unowned files for gdm remain.

### GDM auto-suspend (GNOME 3.28)

GDM uses a separate dconf database to control power management. To apply your user's power settings, copy them to GDM's dconf database:

    $ IFS=$'\n'; for x in $(sudo -u username gsettings list-recursively org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power); do eval "sudo -u gdm dbus-launch gsettings set $x"; done; unset IFS

where `username` is your username.

To only disable auto-suspend on AC, run:

    [gdm]$ dbus-launch gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power sleep-inactive-ac-type 'nothing'

(To also disable auto-suspend on battery, run the command with `battery` instead of `ac`.)

Restart GDM to activate your changes.

For newer versions of GNOME (Tested on 49.1):

    # Create following files and any directories if they don't exist.
    $ cat /etc/dconf/profile/gdm
    user-db:user
    system-db:gdm
    file-db:/usr/share/gdm/greeter-dconf-defaults

    $ cat /etc/dconf/db/gdm.d/00-disable-suspend
    [org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power]
    sleep-inactive-ac-type='nothing'
    sleep-inactive-ac-timeout=0

    sudo dconf update
    sudo reboot

Supplementary forum links:

1. https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=309828
2. https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/746767

### GDM ignores Wayland and uses X.Org by default

Wayland requires Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) running in order to work, and on some machines the GDM process start earlier than KMS, resulting in GDM unable to see Wayland and working only with X.Org. This might result in messages like the following showing up in your log:

    gnome-shell[569]: Failed to open gpu '/dev/dri/card0': GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.AccessDenied: Operation not permitted
    gnome-shell[569]: Failed to create backend: No GPUs found
    systemd[505]: org.gnome.Shell@wayland.service: Failed with result 'protocol'.
    systemd[505]: Failed to start GNOME Shell on Wayland.

Alternatively, the same issue may lead to GDM not appearing or monitor only displaying the TTY output.

You can solve this problem by starting KMS earlier. You may also wish to just verify that Wayland is enabled in the GDM config (see above).

### Black screen on AMD or Intel GPUs when an NVIDIA (e)GPU is present

At first, without an NVIDIA device, GDM starts and works normally on Wayland, but stops working once an NVIDIA eGPU is plugged in (or the `nvidia` module is loaded for other reasons). A typical symptom of the problem is a black screen with a blinking cursor upon logouts and GDM restarts and the following message in GDM's logs (accessed by running `journalctl -u gdm -b` as root):

    Gdm: Child process -<some PID> was already dead.

The solution is the same as #GDM ignores Wayland and uses X.Org by default: Prevent `/usr/lib/gdm-disable-wayland` from running upon `nvidia` module loading.

Notice that GDM on Wayland will no longer work once `/usr/lib/gdm-disable-wayland` has run. This is because `WaylandEnable=false` has been written into `/run/gdm/custom.conf`, which overrides `/etc/gdm/custom.conf`. To fix the situation without a reboot, remove `/run/gdm/custom.conf` and then restart GDM.

### GDM cannot be enabled

See systemd/FAQ#Failure to enable unit due to preexisting symlink.

## See also

- GDM Reference Manual

Categories:

- Display managers
- GNOME

Hidden categories:

- Pages or sections flagged with Template:Accuracy
- Pages or sections flagged with Template:Out of date

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