tdebase/doc/kcontrol/kdm/index.docbook

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<articleinfo>

<authorgroup>
<author>&Thomas.Tanghus; &Thomas.Tanghus.mail;</author>
<author>&Steffen.Hansen; &Steffen.Hansen.mail;</author>
<author>&Mike.McBride; &Mike.McBride.mail;</author>
<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
</authorgroup>

<date>2002-02-13</date>
<releaseinfo>3.00.00</releaseinfo>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KControl</keyword>
<keyword>KDM configuration</keyword>
<keyword>login manager</keyword>
<keyword>login</keyword>
</keywordset>
</articleinfo>

<sect1 id="login-manager">
<title>Login Manager</title>

<para>Using this module, you can configure the &kde; graphical login
manager, &kdm;.  You can change how the login screen looks, who has
access using the login manager and who can shutdown the
computer.</para>

<para>In order to organize all of these options, this module is
divided into six sections: <link
linkend="kdmconfig-appearance"><guilabel>Appearance</guilabel></link>,
<link linkend="kdmconfig-font"><guilabel>Font</guilabel></link>, <link
linkend="kdmconfig-background"><guilabel>Background</guilabel></link>,
<link
linkend="kdmconfig-sessions"><guilabel>Sessions</guilabel></link>,
<link linkend="kdmconfig-users"><guilabel>Users</guilabel></link> and
<link
linkend="kdmconfig-convenience"><guilabel>Convenience</guilabel></link>.</para>

<para>You can switch between the sections using the tabs at the top of
the window.</para>

<note><para>If you are not currently logged in as a superuser, you
will need to click the <guibutton>Administrator Mode</guibutton>
Button. You will then be asked for a superuser password.  Entering a
correct password will allow you to modify the settings of this
module.</para></note>

<sect2 id="kdmconfig-appearance">
<title>Appearance</title>

<para>From this page you can change the visual appearance of &kdm;,
&kde;'s graphical login manager.</para>

<para>The greeting string is the title of the login screen. If the
string contains the word <computeroutput>HOSTNAME</computeroutput> it
will be translated to the domainless name of the machine &kdm; is
installed on.</para>

<para>You can then choose to show either the current system time, a logo
or nothing special in the login box.  Make your choice in the radio
buttons labeled <guilabel>Logo area</guilabel>. Using the
<guilabel>Positions</guilabel> setting, you can choose to either center
the content of the logo area or to position it using fixed
coordinates.</para>

<para>If you chose <guilabel>Show logo</guilabel> you can now choose a
logo:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Drop an image file on the image button.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>Click on the image button and select a new image from the image chooser
dialog.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>If you do not specify a logo the default
<filename>$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/share/apps/kdm/pics/kdelogo.png</filename>
will be displayed.</para>

<para>While &kde;'s style depends on the settings of the user logged in,
the style used by &kdm; can be configured using the <guilabel>GUI
Style</guilabel> option.</para>

<para>Below that, you have two dropdown boxes to choose the language and the
country for your login box.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="kdmconfig-font">
<title>Font</title>

<para>From this section of the module you can change the fonts used in
the login window.</para>

<para>You can select three different font styles from the drop down box
(<guilabel>Greeting</guilabel>, <guilabel>Fail</guilabel>,
<guilabel>Standard</guilabel>).  When you click on the <guibutton>Change
font</guibutton> button a dialog appears from which you can select the
new characteristics for the font style.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The <guilabel>Greeting</guilabel> font is the font used for the title
(Greeting String).</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The <guilabel>Fail</guilabel> font is used when a login fails.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The <guilabel>Standard</guilabel> font is used in all other places in the
login window.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>An example of each font can be seen in the
<guilabel>Example</guilabel> Box.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="kdmconfig-background">
<title>Background</title>

<para>Here you can change the desktop background which will be displayed
when a user logs in. You can have a single color or an image as a
background. If you have an image as the background and select center, the
selected background color will be used around the image if it isn't
large enough to cover the entire desktop.</para>

<para>The background colors and effects are controlled by the options on
the tab labeled <guilabel>Background</guilabel> and you select a
background image and its placement from the options on the tab labeled
<guilabel>Wallpaper</guilabel>.</para>

<para>To change the default background color(s) simply click either of
the color buttons and select a new color.</para>

<para>The dropdown box above the color buttons provides you with several
different blend effects.  Choose one from the list, and it will be
previewed on the small monitor at the top of the window.  Your choices
are:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Flat</term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select one color (using the color
button labeled <guibutton>Color 1</guibutton>), and the entire background is
covered with this one color.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Pattern</term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons). </para> <para>You then select a pattern by clicking
<guilabel>Setup</guilabel>.  This opens a new dialog window, which gives you
the opportunity to select a pattern.  Simply click once on the pattern of your
choice, then click on <guilabel>OK</guilabel>, and &kde; will render the pattern
you selected using the two colors you selected.  For more on patterns, see the
section <ulink url="help:/kcontrol/background/index.html#bkgnd-patterns">Background: Adding, Removing and Modifying
Patterns</ulink>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Background Program</term>
<listitem><para>By selecting this option, you can have &kde; use an external
program to determine the background.  This can be any program of your choosing.
For more information on this option, see the section entitled <ulink
url="help:/kcontrol/background/index.html#bkgnd-programs">Background: Using an external program</ulink>.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Horizontal Gradient</term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
1</guilabel> on the left edge of the screen, and slowly transform into the
color selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> by the time it gets to the
right edge of the screen.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Vertical Gradient</term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
1</guilabel> on the top edge of the screen, and slowly transform into the color
selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> as it moves to the bottom of the
screen.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Pyramid Gradient</term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
1</guilabel> in each corner of the screen, and slowly transform into the color
selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> as it moves to the center of the
screen.</para></listitem> 
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Pipecross Gradient</term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
1</guilabel> in each corner of the screen, and slowly transform into the color
selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> as it moves to the center of the
screen. The <quote>shape</quote> of this gradient is  different then the pyramid
gradient.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Elliptic Gradient</term>
<listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
buttons).  &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
2</guilabel> in the center of the screen, and slowly transform into the color
selected by <guilabel>Color 1</guilabel> as it moves to the edges, in an
elliptical pattern.</para></listitem> 
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<para>The setup button is only needed for if you select <guilabel>Background
program</guilabel> or <guilabel>Patterns</guilabel>.  In these instances,
another window will appear to configure the specifics.</para>
<para><emphasis>Wallpaper</emphasis></para>
<para>To select a new background image first, click on the
<guilabel>Wallpapers</guilabel> tab, then  you can either select an image from the
drop-down list labeled <guilabel>Wallpaper</guilabel> or select
<guibutton>Browse...</guibutton> and select an image file from a file
selector.</para>

<para>The image can be displayed in six different ways:</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>No wallpaper</term> 
<listitem><para>No image is displayed.  Just the background colors.</para>
</listitem></varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Centered</term> 
<listitem><para>The image will be centered on the screen.  The background colors
will be present anywhere the image does not cover.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Tiled</term>
<listitem><para>The image will be duplicated until it fills the entire
desktop. The first image will be placed in the upper left corner of the screen,
and duplicated downward and to the right.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Center Tiled</term>
<listitem><para>The image will be duplicated until it fills the entire
desktop. The first image will be placed in the center of the screen, and
duplicated upward, downward to the right, and to the left.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Centered Maxpect</term>
<listitem><para>The image will be placed in the center of the screen.  It will
be scaled to fit the desktop, but it will not change the aspect ratio of the
original image.  This will provide you with an image that is not distorted.
</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Scaled</term>
<listitem><para>The image will be scaled to fit the desktop.  It will be
stretched to fit all four corners.</para> </listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="kdmconfig-sessions">
<title>Sessions</title>

<para><guilabel>Allow to shutdown</guilabel></para>
<para>Use this dropdown box to choose who is allowed to shut down:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>None</guilabel>: No one can shutdown the computer using &kdm;.
You must be logged in, and execute a command.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>All</guilabel>:  Everyone can shutdown the computer using
&kdm;.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para><guilabel>Root only</guilabel>: &kdm; requires that the
<systemitem>root</systemitem> password be entered before shutting down the
computer.</para></listitem> 
<listitem><para><guilabel>Console only</guilabel>: The user must be at this
console, to shut down the computer.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para><emphasis>Commands</emphasis></para>
<para>Use these 3 blanks to define the exact shutdown command.</para>
<para>The shutdown command defaults to:</para>

<para><command>/sbin/shutdown</command></para>

<para>The restart command defaults to:</para>

<para><command>/sbin/reboot</command></para>

<para>The Console mode (which restarts the computer as a console only terminal)
defaults to:</para>

<para><command>/sbin/init <option>3</option></command></para>

<para>When <guilabel>Show boot options</guilabel> is enabled, &kdm; will on reboot
offer you options for the lilo boot manager. For this feature to work, you will
need to supply the correct paths to your <command>lilo</command> command and to
lilo's map file.</para>


<sect3 id="kdmconfig-sess">
<title>Session types</title>

<para>Define which session types should be accessible from the login
window.</para>

<para> For more information on this subject, look at <filename
class="directory">/etc/X11/xdm/Xsession</filename> to find your
<application>xdm</application> setup files.  Also review the <ulink
url="man:xdm">xdm man pages</ulink>, especially under the SESSION
PROGRAM section.</para>

<para>To add a session, type its name in the
blank entitled <guilabel>New types</guilabel>, and click
<guibutton>Add new</guibutton>. </para>

<para>To remove a session, select the session from the list and click
<guibutton>Remove</guibutton>.</para>

</sect3>

</sect2>


<sect2 id="kdmconfig-users">
<title>Users</title>

<para>From here you can change the way users are represented in the
login window.</para>

<para>As you look on this window, you will see three lists (All users,
selected users, and no-show users).  You also see an image box, and a
set of options along the right side of the window.</para>

<para>The first thing you must decide, is if you are going to show users
or not.</para>


<para>If you choose to show users, then the login window will show
images (which you select), of a list of users.  When someone is ready to
login, they select their user name/image, enter their password, and they
are granted access.  </para>

<para>If you choose not to show users, then the login window will be
more traditional.  Users will need to type their username, and password
to gain entrance.  This is the preferred way if you have many users on
this terminal.</para>

<sect3 id="kdmconfig-showusers">
<title>To show (and sort) or not to show users</title>

<para>Along the right edge of the window are two check boxes:</para>

<para>If <guilabel>Show users</guilabel> is selected, you have chosen to
show images of users, instead of making them type their login
name.</para>

<para>If <guilabel>Sort users</guilabel> is selected, then the list of
users will be sorted alphabetically in the login window.  If unchecked,
users will be listed in the same order as they are on this page.  If
<guilabel>Show users</guilabel> is not checked, this has no
effect.</para>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="kdmconfig-whichusers">
<title>How to determine which users to show and which users to hide</title>

<para>Below the user image box, and above the <guilabel>Show
users</guilabel> check box, is a set of two radio buttions:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Show only selected users: If this option is selected, only the
users contained in the list labelled <guilabel>Selected Users</guilabel>, will
be displayed in the login window. If <guilabel>Show users</guilabel> is not
checked, this has no effect.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Show all users but no-show users: If this option is selected,
all users will be listed, <emphasis>except</emphasis> those users contained in
the list entitled <guilabel>No show users</guilabel>.  If <guilabel>Show
users</guilabel> is not checked, this has no effect.  </para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="kdmconfig-select">
<title>Select users</title>

<para>This page contains three listboxes. The large listbox on the left
shows all the users on the system which might be a genuine user.</para>

<para>The top rightmost listbox shows the selected users and the bottom
rightmost listbox shows the users we don't want displayed in the login
window.</para>

<para>To move a user from one listbox to another you click on the
username in the listbox and click <guibutton>&gt;&gt;</guibutton> to
move the user from the leftmost box the the rightmost box or
<guibutton>&lt;&lt;</guibutton> to move the user from the rightmost box
to the leftmost box.</para>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="kdmconfig-image">
<title>Images</title>

<note><para>This section of the manual only applies if <guilabel>Show
users</guilabel> is selected.  If it is not, this image box has no
effect.</para></note>

<para>Every user on the system can be represented by a image. The image
for the user is kept in a file called
<filename>$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/share/apps/kdm/pics/users/$<envar>USER</envar>.xpm.</filename>
If the user doesn't have such a file the file
<filename>$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/share/apps/kdm/pics/users/default.xpm</filename>
will be used instead.</para>

<para>To assign a new image to a user just select the user in one of the
listboxes and either drop an imagefile on the image button to the right
or click on the image button and select a new image from the image
selector.</para>

<para>If no user is currently selected you will be asked if you want to change
the default image.</para>

<para>The replacement is performed by a &konqueror; process so if the
image file already exists you will be prompted by &konqueror; if you
want to replace it. If you confirm the image will be replaced - you will
<emphasis>not</emphasis> have to press the <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>
button.</para>

</sect3>
</sect2>


<sect2 id="kdmconfig-convenience">
<title>Convenience</title>

<para>In the <guilabel>convenience</guilabel> tab you can configure some
options that make life easier for lazy people, like auto login or
disabling passwords.</para>

<important><para>Please think more than twice before using these
options. Every option in the <guilabel>convenience</guilabel> tab is
well-suited to seriously compromise your system security. Practically,
these options are only to be used in a completely non-critical
environment, &eg; a private computer at home.  </para></important>

<sect3 id="loginmanager-convenience-autologin">
<title>Automatic Login</title>

<para>Automatic login will give anyone access to a certain account on
your system without doing any authentication.  You can enable it using
the option <guilabel>Enable auto-login</guilabel>.</para>

<para>Automatic login comes in two flavors: <guilabel>truly automatic
login</guilabel> acts like you would expect automatic login to, &ie;
&kdm; will automatically login without expecting any input from the
user. Enable this using the <guilabel>Truly automatic login</guilabel>
option. If this option is not enabled, &kdm; will start normally,
enabling you to login as any user, and will only perform automatic login
if you kill the X server, &eg; by pressing <keycombo
action="simul">&Ctrl;&Alt;<keycap>Backspace</keycap></keycombo>.</para>

<para>You can choose the account to be used for automatic login in the
list below.</para>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="loginmanager-convenience-nopasswd">
<title>Password-less Login</title>

<para>Using this feature, you can allow certain users to login without
having to provide their password. Enable this feature using the
<guilabel>Enable password-less logins</guilabel> option.</para>

<para>Below this option you will see a list of users for which a password
is required, as well as a (by default, empty) list of users that do not
need to provide a password.  When <guilabel>Enable password-less
logins</guilabel> is enabled, you can move users from one list into the
other, by selecting them and then clicking the
<guibutton>&gt;&gt;</guibutton> and <guibutton>&lt;&lt;</guibutton>
buttons.</para>

<important><para>Again, this option should only be used in a safe
environment. If you enable it on a rather public system you should take
care that only users with heavy access restrictions are granted
password-less login, &eg;
<systemitem>guest</systemitem>.</para></important>

<para>The <guilabel>Automatically login after X server crash</guilabel>
option allows you to skip the authentication procedure when your X
server accidentally crashed.  <guilabel>Show previous user</guilabel>
will show the name of the last login already entered into the login
field in &kdm;. Some site administrators would consider even this a
possible security weakness, because potential attackers then know at
least one valid login.</para>


</sect3>

</sect2>

</sect1>

</article>