GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 589544
The new gdm doesn't give an option to use .xsession
Last modified: 2009-10-29 20:51:59 UTC
The bug has been opened on https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/398300 "However, I've been running Ubuntu since breezy and have always set the window manager in the $HOME/.xession file. Previous versions of gdm would allow whatever session was set up in gdm to be overrridden by the contents of $HOME/.xession. At various times I have run fluxbox, openbox, enlightenment 17 and xmonad in this way. The $HOME/.xession file also allows the running of tools like xmodmap, xrdb and xset. This no longer works with the Karmic version of gdm."
*** Bug 589543 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
I currently see this problem. I have an auto-login and custom .xsession on my media center to do a minimal launch of mythtv, but it ignores the .xsession file and does not give me an option at the login prompt to run my .xsession (Sessions menu contains Failsafe GNOME, /GNOME/, XBMC, xterm) I am running Karmic Koala alpha, up-to-date today. (2.28.0)
Same here. Is there any workaround I can use to make GDM to use my .xsession script?
What I wound up doing is creating a script in /usr/share/xsessions/ to create a new entry in the menu, and then selecting that.
That's the recommended thing to do. Fedora ships a package called xorg-x11-xinit-session for instance that contains that file (not installed by default).
The problem with the exclusively /usr/share/xsessions approach is that users can't manage their individual session without having root access and creating a globally visible configuration. Am I missing something?
The sysadmin has to "turn on" ~/.xsession support if they want their users to be able to use custom sessions via ~/.xsession files. To turn it on they need to install whatever distro package provides the desktop file in /usr/share/xsession. The exact contents of the file will vary from distro to distro. On Fedora it is: [Desktop Entry] Name=User script Comment=This session runs ~/.xsession or ~/.Xclients if available Exec=sh -c "exec ~/.xsession || exec ~/.Xclients || exec /etc/X11/xinit/Xclients" If the sysadmin leaves .xsession support disabled by not installing the file, then the session choices will be locked down.
Hi Ray, I've attempted to use a variant of the desktop file for Ubuntu Karmic: [Desktop Entry] Name=Xsession Comment=This runs ~/.xsession Exec=sh -c "exec ~/.xsession" But I've been unable to get it to work: gdm will display Xsession as an entry and let me select it, but it boots me into normal Gnome. My .xsession file looks like: gnome-power-manager & gnome-settings-daemon & eval `gpg-agent --daemon` ssh-add /home/ezyang/.ssh/ezyang.mit.edu xcompmgr & eval `cat /home/ezyang/.fehbg` exec xmonad
Never mind: the correct Exec line is Exec=/etc/X11/Xsession on Ubuntu Karmic.