SLiM Configuration

Overview

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Since version 1.6.2, SLiM will automatically find installed desktop environments and window managers.

File:Slim.png

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SLiM - the Simple Login Manager - is currently the default Display Manager for the Manjaro Openbox (ManjaroBox) flavour.

SLiM is highly configurable with an abundance of extra themes available. Since version 1.6.2, it is suitable for less experienced users as it can now automatically detect any installed desktop environments and window managers. However, users installing SLiM manually will still need to make an amendment to the '.xinitrc configuration file for it to work properly.

Configuring SLiM to Start Desktop Environments

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It is not necessary to take any action for Manjaro Openbox (ManjaroBox) release 0.8.8 and onwards.

Users who have installed an earlier version of SLiM (e.g. provided with Manjaro Openbox 0.8.7.1 and earlier) will need to manually edit both the SLiM configuration file (slim.conf) and the X-Windows initialisation file (.xinitrc) in order to enable the new auto-detect feature. Users who have manually installed the latest version of SLiM will only need to manually edit the .xinitrc file. The amendments required are themselves very quick and easy to implement.

Edit the SLiM Configuration File

The purpose of checking and/or editing this file is to ensure that SLiM will automatically detect installed desktop environments and window managers. You will need to first open your terminal in order to edit the SLiM configuration file. The syntax of the command to do this is:

sudo [text editor] /etc/slim.conf

For example, if you wish to edit the file using Geany (provided with the Openbox flavour) then enter:

gksu geany /etc/slim.conf

Otherwise, if you wish to edit the file using Gedit (provided with the XFCE flavour) then enter:

sudo gedit /etc/slim.conf

Ensure SLiM Automatically Detects Installed Environments

Once the SLiM configuration file has been opened, it will be necessary to ensure that the following line is present:

sessiondir /usr/share/xsessions/

Users who had a previous version of SLiM installed must replace the sessions command with the above sessiondir command. For example, users who installed Manjaro Openbox 0.8.7.1 or earlier should first find the following section:

# Available sessions (first one is the default).
# The current chosen session name is replaced in the login_cmd
# above, so your login command can handle different sessions.
# see the xinitrc.sample file shipped with slim sources
sessions            xfce,gnome3,kde,cinnamon,razor-qt,openbox,lxde,mate 

And make the necessary amendment so that it now looks like this:

# Available sessions (first one is the default).
# The current chosen session name is replaced in the login_cmd
# above, so your login command can handle different sessions.
# see the xinitrc.sample file shipped with slim sources
sessiondir /usr/share/xsessions/

Once satisfied that the sessiondir command is present and/or has replaced the old sessions command, save and close the file. The next - and final - step necessary is to edit and configure the X-Windows Initialisation File.

Open the X-Windows Initialisation File

The .xinitrc is responsible for actually starting your installed desktop environment(s). In essence, the .xinitrc file will take the name of your chosen (or only) desktop environment from SLiM, and then use that to determine which command to use to actually start it. You will need to first open your terminal in order to edit the X-Windows initialisation file. The syntax of the command to do this is:

sudo [text editor] ~/.xinitrc

Don't forget the dot. For example, if you wish to edit the file within the terminal using nano, then enter:

sudo nano ~/.xinitrc

Otherwise you could use the gedit text editor instead, by entering the command:

sudo gedit ~/.xinitrc

Add Desktop Environments to the X-Windows Initialisation File

Again, the purpose of editing this file is to:

• list the name(s) (or labels) of your installed desktop environment(s) from the SLiM configuration file, and
• match those name(s) with the command(s) necessary to actually start the desktop environment(s)

The key point to keep in mind is that the name(s) of the desktop(s) listed in the SLiM configuration file must be matched with those listed in the X-Windows Initialisation file. As such, it is therefore vitally important that the name of any given desktop environment is listed EXACTLY the same way in both files. This includes the use of captial and lower-case letters. Should there by any difference at all, then there will not be a match, and your chosen desktop environment will not be started. The names and commands themselves must be added after the DEFAULTSESSION= command. All the names used in the SLiM configuration file above have been listed exactly the same way here, and have been colured in green for illustrative purposes.

#!/bin/sh

#
# ~/.xinitrc
#
# Executed by startx (run your window manager from here)
#

export GTK2_RC_FILES="$HOME/.gtkrc-2.0"

DEFAULTSESSION=xfce4-session

case "$1" in
     xfce) exec xfce4-session ;;
     gnome3) exec gnome-session ;;
     kde) exec startkde ;;
     cinnamon) exec gnome-session-cinnamon ;;
     razor-qt) exec razor-session ;;
     openbox) exec openbox-session ;;
     lxde) exec lxsession ;;
     mate) exec mate-session ;;
     *) exec $DEFAULTSESSION ;;
esac

The default session has been set to xfce4 in this instance as the author's Manjaro installation came with that desktop environment pre-installed. Yours may be different, and you are entirely free to change it if you wish. Note that each line starting with green text:

1. starts with the name of the desktop environment

2. uses the command exec which means execute (i.e. start), and

3. ends with the actual command necessary to start a desktop environment appropriate to the name

The exception is the last line which begins with an asterisk ('*' - a wildcard). This is to ensure that if a match is not found, then the default session will be started instead - which in this instance, is xfce4. Again, if the name of a desktop environment listed in this file does not exactly match a name passed to it by the SLiM configuration file, then the actual command to start that desktop cannot be executed.

If you wish, you are free to use the entire example provided in your own .xinitrc file, even if you do not have all of these desktop environments installed. Doing so will not cause any problems, and can make life much easier if you decide to install any new desktops at a future point (i.e. it will only be necessary to edit the SLiM configuration file). Otherwise you may just delete the lines for any desktop environments that you do not have installed.

Once your amendments have been completed, save your changes and close the configuration file by:

• nano: Press CTRL and 'x' to exit, 'y' to save, and <enter> to finish, or
• gedit: Select the 'save' option and then close the window.

Now reboot the system for the changes to take effect.

Selecting Multiple Desktop Environments

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The desktop environments shown will be listed in both the order and manner they were listed in the SLiM configuration file.

Where two or more desktop environments have be installed - and consequently enabled by editing the above files - then they can be cycled and selected by pressing the F1 key on the SLiM login screen.

Enabling Auto Login

It is possible to bypass the login screen completely and go straight into your chosen desktop environment upon booting up Manjaro. Of course, it will be necessary to have already configured SLiM to manually launch your installed desktop environment in order to use this feature.

Open the Slim Configuration File

You will need to first open your terminal in order to edit the SLiM configuration file. The syntax of the command to do this is:

sudo [text editor] /etc/slim.conf

For example, if you wish to edit the file within the terminal using nano (a standard terminal-based text editor) then enter:

sudo nano /etc/slim.conf

Otherwise - if you have installed the full version of Manjaro (i.e. not the NET-Edition) - you may find it easier to use the pre-installed gedit text editor instead. This will open the configuration file up as a document, making it easier to read and edit. To use gedit instead, the command is:

sudo gedit /etc/slim.conf

Step 1: Set the Default User

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There must not be any spaces before the default_user command, otherwise it will not work.

The first step is to set your personal account to be automatically logged in. This is undertaken in the following section, located near the bottom of the SLiM configuration file:

# default user, leave blank or remove this line
# for avoid pre-loading the username.
# default_user        simone

1. Remove the hash ('#') from the beginning of the default_user command to activate it, ensuring that there are no spaces remaining at the beginning of the line.

2. Replace the existing name (i.e. simone) after the default_user command with the name of your personal user account

As an example, SLiM has been configured below to enable a personal user account named 'carl' to be logged in automatically:

# default user, leave blank or remove this line
# for avoid pre-loading the username.
default_user        carl

Once complete, the second and step is to enable the autologin feature itself.

Step 2: Enable Auto Login

Warning

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There must not be any spaces before the auto_login command, otherwise it will not work.

Enabling the automatic login is undertaken in the following section, also located near the bottom of the SLiM configuration file:

# Automatically login the default user (without entering
# the password. Set to "yes" to enable this feature
# auto_login          no

1. Remove the hash ('#') from the beginning of the auto_login command to activate it, ensuring that there are no spaces remaining at the beginning of the line.

2. Replace the 'no' after the auto_login command with yes

As an example, SLiM has been configured below to enable the automatic login feature:

# Automatically login the default user (without entering
# the password. Set to "yes" to enable this feature
auto_login          yes

Once your amendments have been completed, you can save your changes and close the configuration file by:

• nano: Press CTRL and 'x' to exit, 'y' to save, and <enter> to finish, or
• gedit: Select the 'save' option and then close the window.

Reboot your system for the changes to take effect.

Previewing Installed Themes

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It is apparently not possible to preview themes where the auto login feature has been enabled.

Thankfully, it is not necessary to repeatedly edit the SLiM configuration file and re-boot your system in order to see what the installed themes look like. More conveniently, they can instead be previewed in the terminal. To do so, once the themes have of course been installed:

1. Change to the directory that contains the themes by entering the following command:

cd /usr/share/slim/themes/

2. List the installed themes available by entering the following command:

ls

3. Preview any and all installed themes listed. The syntax of the command to do so is:

slim -p [name of theme]

For example, to preview a listed theme called mindlock, the following command would be entered

slim -p mindlock

To exit from a theme currently being previewed, simply type exit into the user name field and then press <enter>

Changing Themes

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There may be even more themes available from the Arch User Repository.

A particularly strong feature of SLiM that has attracted many users is the abundance of varied and wide-ranging themes available for it. Moreover, these themes are very easy to set. To install all available themes for SLiM from the official Manjaro repositories, enter the following command in the terminal:

sudo pacman -S slim-themes archlinux-themes-slim

Open the SLiM Configuration File

You will need to first open your terminal in order to edit the SLiM configuration file. The syntax of the command to do this is:

sudo [text editor] /etc/slim.conf

For example, if you wish to edit the file within the terminal using nano (a standard terminal-based text editor) then enter:

sudo nano /etc/slim.conf

Otherwise - if you have installed the full version of Manjaro (i.e. not the NET-Edition) - you may find it easier to use the pre-installed gedit text editor instead. This will open the configuration file up as a document, making it easier to read and edit. To use gedit instead, the command is:

sudo gedit /etc/slim.conf

Set the Desired Theme

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Make sure that you list the name of the desired theme correctly.

Enabling the automatic login is undertaken in the following section, located near the bottom of the SLiM configuration file:

# current theme, use comma separated list to specify a set to 
# randomly choose from
current_theme       default

To change the theme, simply replace the name of the current theme listed after the current_theme command (e.g. default) with the name of the desired theme to set. As an example, SliM has been configured to use the mindlock theme:

# current theme, use comma separated list to specify a set to 
# randomly choose from
current_theme       mindlock

Once your amendments have been completed, you can save your changes and close the configuration file by:

• nano: Press CTRL and 'x' to exit, 'y' to save, and <enter> to finish, or
• gedit: Select the 'save' option and then close the window.

SLiM Login Commands

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This section may prove especially useful if SLiM has been misconfigured in some way!

SLiM also provides a number of basic functions in addition to logging into a desktop environment. To use these features, simply enter the following commands into the user name field:

• exit - Return to the command line
• halt - Shutdown the system
• reboot - Reboot the system
• console - Launch the terminal