SLiM

SLiM (Simple Login Manager) is Article description::a desktop-independent graphical [[display manager.]] Being fast and having only a few dependencies, it is a popular choice among users of lightweight window managers such as Openbox.

Emerge
Install :

With display-manager
Set SLiM as the default display manager:

To start SLiM on boot, add display-manager to the default runlevel:

To start SLiM now:

With the deprecated xdm init script
Set SLiM as the default display manager:

To start SLiM on boot, add xdm to the default runlevel:

To start SLiM now:

systemd
To start SLiM on boot:

To start SLiM now:

Upstream-style configuration
Make this section look like this:

Proceed to setup a window manager of choice that will be used as the default session.

Default configuration (no default session)
Most global configuration is done in the file.

By default, SLiM is configured to make all sessions in accessible — they can be cycled through by pressing the  key. This behavior is acquired by setting the options below:

If no changes are made to then users will need to press  while logging-in to select the desired session.

In following sections several methods of setting one session as the default are described.

Setting a global default session
Set a default session for all users of the computer by modifying the XSESSION variable. To do this, create and edit file file. The example below sets the Awesome window manager as the default session.

After saving the file run :

Setting a default session for one user
Besides (or instead of) setting global default sessions, it is possible to let each user choose a default session.

There are three approaches to accomplishing the task:


 * Use the SLiM session script to trigger session script from
 * Use the SLiM session script to trigger user-created session script
 * Force users to set everything by themselves

The first and second possibilities are generally preferred. However, if for any reason you do not want to set any defaults, you may choose the third approach.

Per-user default session using bundled session files
The simplest way to set a default session for one user is to make a symbolic link from the session file to

An alternative is to put session command in the file:

You will only need to make sure the file is executable:

Per-user default session using the customized file
Sometimes you need to customize the launcher script, e.g. to run other programs before starting the window manager or to start a window manager with a customized command. The method above does not allow such modifications, but it can be achieved by using default session script (instead of the one provided by window manager) and launching WM through the file.

To run your sessions this way, make sure you have no global default session set (or set it to  in  like described above). Then edit the file located in the user's home directory, putting the window manager launcher at the end.

The file may look like this:

Finally, remember to make sure the file is executable:

Per-user default session without using any default session files
If you do not like any defaults from and, you can let your users set everything by themselves. It is generally not a good idea, but sometimes you may need it.

Start by editing in the following way:

In the sessions line you may put the names of window managers you are planning to use.

Then create and edit file, which may look as below:

Finally make sure the file is executable:

Theme selection
Theme selection is done by changing the following line:

You can easily find what themes are available on your system:

You can preview a theme by running the following command while Xorg is running:

NumLock state on login
The NumLock key can be turned on or off by default:

Autologin
Change  in the example below to an appropriate user name:

Unlock keyrings
The following section will describe how to make SLiM automatically unlock different keychains automatically when you log in.

GNOME Keyring
First make sure you have (include  if you want a GUI). To configure SLiM to unlock your GNOME Keyring automatically you have to edit its PAM configuration file. To do so open and modify it to look similar to the text below. Lines ending with comment  should be added.

Once this change has been made your keyring should be automatically unlocked next time you log in.

Failed to connect to socket
This error is caused when D-Bus hasn't been started. It is possible that it wasn't added to the default run level. To fix this type the following:

This will ensure that D-Bus is running when you boot up your computer. It may be that this has already been added by other window manager, but I had to do this when using awesome WM.

SLiM starts but leaves a blank screen after login
This error is caused when SLiM is built with the  USE flag, and required alongside

the use of

On fresh installs, slim starts but fails to load any sessions
In this error, slim will start and be responsive (you can type the username for example) but after the login no sessions will be loaded and you will get a blank screen. Pressing F1 to change the session will result in nothing. This can occur when dbus is not being loaded when the system starts. To add dbus to the default runlevel, use: