sddm.conf(5)

📦
version 0.21.0+git20251101.dfa5315 · 16 versions
, in ubuntu stonking

✨ NAME ✨

sddm.conf — the sddm display manager configuration 💅 (yes bestie, this is the file that tells sddm how to run your login screen)

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

okay so the way config loading works: it loads all the files in the configuration directories, and then the configuration file, in the order listed below — and the later one wins ("latter having highest precedence", periodt). so like, if two of them say different things, the one further down this list wins. 👑

/usr/lib/sddm/sddm.conf.d
       System configuration directory

/etc/sddm.conf.d
       Local configuration directory

/etc/sddm.conf
       Local configuration file for compatibility

🎀 and listen — changes should be made to the local configurations. don't go messing with the system one, that's not your main character moment.

  • /usr/lib/sddm/sddm.conf.d — System configuration directory 🏠
  • /etc/sddm.conf.d — Local configuration directory 🫶
  • /etc/sddm.conf — Local configuration file for compatibility (iykyk, it's the old-school one, still hangin' around) 💜

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

This file configures various parameters of the sddm display manager sddm(1). If this file is not available, default values are used. no file? no problem, defaults got you 💖

💅 OPTIONS 💅

🌈 [General] section

  • DisplayServer= — picks the display server the greeter runs on. valid values are:
    • x11: an X server running as root 👑
    • x11-user: an X server running as an unprivileged user 🙈
    • wayland: a Wayland compositor as an unprivileged user. (Experimental) 🧪

Default value is "x11". Also, for x11-user you might need to configure Xorg.wrap(1). noted, bestie.

  • HaltCommand= — the halt command. Default value is "/bin/systemctl poweroff". 🔌
  • RebootCommand= — the reboot command. Default value is "/bin/systemctl reboot". 🔄
  • Numlock= — changes the numlock state when sddm-greeter starts. Valid values are on, off or none. If the property is set to none, numlock won't be changed. Default value is "none". 🔢
  • InputMethod= — sets the Qt input method for the greeter. Tablet girlies with Qt Virtual Keyboard installed can set this to "qtvirtualkeyboard" for the on-screen keyboard. Other known values are "ibus" for the Intelligent Input Bus, or "compose" for dead keys support. Leave this empty if unsure. ⌨️
  • Namespaces= — a comma-separated list of paths bound to Linux namespaces to enter with setns() before starting the user session. For example, to enter network namespace mynet created with ip netns add mynet, the value might be /run/netns/mynet. Default value is empty. (The value is ignored if the operating system is not Linux.) 🐧

🎀 [Theme] section

  • ThemeDir= — path of the directory containing theme files. Default value is "/usr/share/sddm/themes". ✨
  • Current= — name of the current theme. By default this setting is empty, meaning the embedded theme will be used. 🫧
  • FacesDir= — path of the directory containing face files; face files should be in username.face.icon format. Default value is "/usr/share/sddm/faces". 🥰
  • CursorTheme= — name of the cursor theme to be set before starting the display server. 🖱️
  • CursorSize= — cursor size to be set before starting the display server. 📏
  • Font= — name of the font to be set before starting the display server. Please note that the theme can still override this option. 🔤
  • EnableAvatars= — when enabled, home directories are searched for ".face.icon" images to display as their avatars. This can be slow on some file systems ⚠️. When disabled, all avatars will be default. Themes may choose to hide them altogether. Default value is true. 🙈

👑 [X11] section

  • ServerPath= — path of the X server. Default value is "/usr/bin/X". 🖥️
  • ServerArguments= — arguments to the X server. Default value is "-nolisten tcp". 🗣️
  • XephyrPath= — path of the Xephyr. Default value is "/usr/bin/Xephyr". 🧚
  • SessionDir= — comma-separated list of directories containing session files. Default value is "/usr/local/share/xsessions,/usr/share/xsessions". 📂
  • SessionCommand= — path of script to execute when starting the user session. This script receives the value of the "Exec" setting in the ".desktop" file of the selected session and runs it. Default value is "/etc/sddm/Xsession". 🏃
  • SessionLogFile= — path to the user session log file, relative to the home directory. Default value is ".local/share/sddm/xorg-session.log". 📝
  • DisplayCommand= — path of script to execute when starting the display server. The script will be executed as root when General.DisplayServer is "x11", otherwise as the sddm user. Default value is "/usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup". 🚀
  • DisplayStopCommand= — path of script to execute when stopping the display server. The script will be executed as root when General.DisplayServer is "x11", otherwise as the sddm user. Default value is "/usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xstop". 🛑
  • MinimumVT= — the minimum virtual terminal number that will be used by the first display. The virtual terminal number will increase as new displays are added. ⚠️ This setting is no longer available since SDDM v0.20. 💀
  • EnableHiDPI= — enables Qt's automatic HiDPI scaling. Can be either "true" or "false". Default value is "true". 🔍
🫶 heads up bestie: the XauthPath= option is no longer necessary — libxau is used instead.
💀 and the UserAuthFile= option was removed; the file is always created as /tmp/xauth_XXXXX. This is necessary for the use of FamilyWild entries.

🌈 [Wayland] section

  • CompositorCommand= — path of the compositor to execute when starting the greeter. Default value is "weston --shell=kiosk". 🌊
  • SessionDir= — comma-separated list of directories containing session files. Default value is "/usr/local/share/wayland-sessions,/usr/share/wayland-sessions". 📂
  • SessionCommand= — path of script to execute when starting the user session. This script receives the value of the "Exec" setting in the ".desktop" file of the selected session and runs it. Default value is "/etc/sddm/wayland-session". 🏃
  • SessionLogFile= — path to the user session log file, relative to the home directory. Default value is ".local/share/sddm/wayland-session.log". 📝
  • EnableHiDPI= — enables Qt's automatic HiDPI scaling. Can be either "true" or "false". Default value is "true". 🔍

🫶 [Users] section

  • DefaultPath= — default path to set after successfully logging in. This is also where SDDM looks for programs. Default value is "/bin:/usr/bin". 🛤️
  • MinimumUid= — minimum user id of the users to be listed in the user interface. Default value is 1000. 🔢
  • MaximumUid= — maximum user id of the users to be listed in the user interface. Default value is 60000. 🔢
  • HideUsers= — comma-separated list of Users that shouldn't show up in the user list. Default value is empty. 🙈
  • HideShells= — comma-separated list of Shells of users that shouldn't show up in the user list. Default value is empty. 🐚
  • RememberLastUser= — if this flag is true, the LastUser value will be updated on every successful login; if false, the last user value won't be updated. Default value is true. 💾
  • RememberLastSession= — if this flag is true, the LastSession value will be updated on every successful login; if false, the last session value won't be updated. Default value is true. 💾

⭐ [Autologin] section

  • User= — name of the user to automatically log in when the system starts the first time. Default value is empty. 👤
  • Session= — name of the session to automatically log in when the system starts the first time. Default value is empty. 🗂️
  • SessionType= — session type to use for autologin when the session name exists in both X11 and Wayland session directories, and for the greeter session combo when Last.Session is empty. Valid values are:
    • wayland: prefer a Wayland session 🌊
    • x11: prefer an X11 session 🖥️

If the session is not found in the preferred type, the other type is tried. Default value is "wayland". ✨

  • Relogin= — if true and User and Session are set, automatic login will kick in again on session exit; otherwise it will work only the first time. Default value is false. 🔁

💖 SEE ALSO 💖

The full documentation for sddm is available at <https://github.com/sddm/sddm> 📚

okay that's the whole thing, bestie, you ate that 🎀✨ this was sddm 0.21.0 docs, dated March 2021 — go forth and configure, you absolute icon 👑💅🦋

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