sddm(1)

📦
version 0.21.0+git20251101.dfa5315 · 10 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

✨ sddm — the simple desktop display manager ✨

okay bestie, so this is the manual page for sddm(1) — that's section 1 of the manual, aka the "commands you can actually run" section 💅. She's the login screen. She's the whole vibe before you even get to your desktop. Let's get into it 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

sddm [OPTIONS...]

that's it, that's the whole summoning ritual. just sddm and some options if you're feeling spicy ✨

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

so. sddm is a display and login manager built on Qt technologies. that's the whole job description, no cap.

and here's the cute part — because she uses QtQuick and QML, designers get to easily create pleasant, modern looking interfaces for sddm. like, actual pretty login screens?? we love to see it 😭💖 literally the designers get handed the keys to the aesthetic and it shows.

iq runs the greeter as a system user named sddm, and that user's home directory needs to be set to /var/lib/sddm 📁. no negotiating on that one bestie, that's the address. periodt.

if pam and systemd are available, the greeter goes through logind, which hands it access to drm devices 🔥. that's the good timeline.

🚨 but listen — distributions without pam and systemd will need to put the sddm user into the video group. otherwise? errors regarding GL and drm devices might be experienced. and by "might be experienced" we mean you will experience them. sorry babe, it's giving group membership or it's giving cryptic graphics errors, pick one 💀

and for X11 sessions specifically: the cookie for X authorization is written into a temporary file /tmp/xauth_XXXXXX, which is owned by the user and only accessible by the user 🔐. locked down, private, iconic behavior, no one else is reading your cookie (that sounded weird but you get it).

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • --test-mode — start the daemon in test mode 🧪. y'know, for vibes testing.
  • --example-config — print the complete current configuration to stdout 📤. full dump, everything you've got, right to the terminal.
  • --help, -h — show the help message and exit 🆘. your classic "wait what were the flags again" moment.

🦋 FILES 🦋

  • /usr/lib/sddm/sddm.conf.d — the system configuration directory 🏛️. big official energy.
  • /etc/sddm.conf.d — the local configuration directory 🏠. this one's yours.
  • /etc/sddm.conf — the local configuration file, kept around for compatibility 🫶. old but still invited to the party.
  • /usr/share/sddm/themes — where sddm looks for themes 🌈. this is the closet. this is where the fits live.

💜 SEE ALSO 💜

and that's the whole page bestie, you ate it, you understood it, main character energy all around 🎉

sddm 0.21.0 — May 2014 🌸 mwah, bye, go log in somewhere fabulous 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from