gdm-tools

This is a set of tools for Gnome's Display/Login Manager (GDM).

Currently, it includes only 'set-gdm-theme' tool and 'gnomeconf2gdm'.

Caution!!! ⚠️

gdm-tools is not being actively maintained anymore. There may be small bug fixes and other changes here and there but don't expect any new features or even bug fixes if they require too much fiddling around in the code.

GDM Settings app is a GUI alternative to gdm-tools. It is being actively maintained and has much more settings and customization options.

gnomeconf2gdm

A script that gets Settings from Gnome Desktop and applies them to GDM

set-gdm-theme

This is a command-line program which provides a nice interface to set GDM theme and background image.

Features:

• Set GDM theme and background
• Manage backup of the default GDM theme
• Extract default theme to be able to use it in weird gnome sessions such as Ubuntu
• Reset everything to its original form

Installation

Arch Linux and Arch-Based distros

This program is available as gdm-tools and gdm-tools-git in the AUR. Use your favourite AUR helper to install it.

Example:

yay -S gdm-tools

Others

Before installing this program, make sure you have installed all the dependencies stated below in Dependencies section.

Method 1:

1. Download the zip file (or tar.gz file)
2. Extract it somewhere on your system
3. Open the extracted folder in terminal
4. Type ./install and press Enter
5. Now type your password and press Enter.

Method 2:

First, make sure you have installed git. On Debian-like systems that can be done by running the command sudo apt install git in terminal.

Then, run following commands in terminal.

git clone --depth=1 --single-branch https://github.com/realmazharhussain/gdm-tools.git
cd gdm-tools
./install.sh

Dependencies

set-gdm-tools depends on following package:

1. GLib 2.0 (Developer Edition)

   it has different package names in different distros
   Debian/Ubuntu: libglib2.0-dev
   Arch/Manjaro: glib2
   Fedora/CentOS: glib2-devel

2. DConf (Command-Line Version)

   it has different package names in different distros
   Debian/Ubuntu: dconf-cli
   Arch/Manjaro: dconf
   Fedora/CentOS: dconf

You can install these dependencies using package manager on terminal.

For example, on Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives, you will need to run the following command in order to install the dependencies

sudo apt install libglib2.0-dev dconf-cli

On Arch/Manjaro

sudo pacman -S glib2 dconf 

Usage

gnomeconf2gdm

gnomeconf2gdm can be used as follows:

gnomeconf2gdm [option]

where option is one of the following:

Option	Function
{no option}	Apply settings to GDM
-r, reset	Reset GDM settings to default
-h, help, --help	Show help message

set-gdm-theme

You can use set-gdm-theme as follows:

set-gdm-theme {Option} [theme] [image]

where option is one of the following:

Option	Function
-l, list	List all available valid GDM themes
-s, set	Set a specific theme and/or background
-r, reset	Reset everything to the original state
-b, backup	Manage backup of the default GDM theme
-x, extract	Extract default GDM theme for use inside gnome
-h, help, --help	Display a short help message
-e, examples	Explain the commands with examples

Examples:

set-gdm-theme list
set-gdm-theme set
set-gdm-theme -s default ~/cat.jpg
set-gdm-theme set Yaru-dark
set-gdm-theme reset
set-gdm-theme -b update
set-gdm-theme backup restore
set-gdm-theme extract

FAQ:

1. Why can't I apply/set GDM themes downloaded from gnome-look.org or other pling.com like websites?

   Ans: Themes available in GDM Themes section of those websites are for old versions of GDM and current versions of GDM don't use that kind of themes. Newer versions of GDM use a compiled gnome-shell theme as their theme. Download and install (system-wide) themes available in Gnome Shell Themes section of those websites. They will work on newer versions of GDM and are supported by set-gdm-theme command.

2. When I try to set default GDM theme using set-gdm-theme tool, it sets some other theme instead of the default theme. What should I do?

   Ans: You should reinstall the package gnome-shell-common (if that's not available, then gome-shell) and then run the command set-gdm-theme set --background; set-gdm-theme backup update. This should fix the issue.

3. Why does that happen?

   Ans: That could happen if you use some other program to set GDM theme before using set-gdm-theme tool. More information is available in WARNING section of set-gdm-theme(1) man page. To read it, install gdm-tools and then run the command man 1 set-gdm-theme on the terminal. When man page shows up, type /warning and press enter. This will take you straight to the warning section of man page.

Contribute

If you like the project and want to contribute, you can do so by providing feedback or directly contributing code to it. To provide feedback, you can open an issue on github. If you don't know how to do that you can email me directly at [email protected].

You can also contribute on Patreon.