KDE/Plasma 5 upgrade

Plasma 5 is the next generation of KDE's desktop environment, based on Qt 5 and KDE Frameworks 5. Upgrading is fairly simple, although it cannot be coinstalled with Plasma 4 due to upstream design decisions.

Note that while Plasma 5 is in a good state, it is still under heavy upstream development and is missing some features present in KDE 4.

Overlay (optional)
For set and keyword support install layman and add the KDE Overlay:

Profile
It is highly recommended to use the Plasma desktop profile as it sets a number of important options to ensure things run smoothly.

In order to choose the most suitable profile, first list what's available:

Then, select the right profile, substituting the appropriate profile number (which may vary between configurations):

Any packages affected by the profile change need to be rebuilt:

Unmasking and keywording
In the following examples please adapt "/path/to/overlay/" with the actual path, this is probably: /var/lib/layman/.

For stable users, you also need to keyword the required packages:

Installation
The package provides the full Plasma 5 suite:

Alternatively, provides the basic desktop, leaving you free to install only the extra packages you require:

Installing KDE/Plasma 5 Apps
the KDE/Plasma 5 Applications are not unmasked by the and, if you able to install them, you must unmask it manually:

If you don't want to install the all applications in kde-apps/kde-apps-meta, you can select a minor meta or install one by one

Display manager
SDDM (Simple Desktop Display Manager) is the recommended login manager and is pulled in automatically via by default. This is the preferred option. Alternatively, LightDM can be used and pulled in by setting  flag   for. Change the setting accordingly in. Also, be sure to read through the SDDM page if further issues appear.

KWallet Migration
KWallet5 will have to open your wallet from KWallet4 and import all the data into a new wallet. For that purpose, needs to be present at least once in a session after upgrade, but can be removed after migration and when you are sure no legacy package is using it anymore:

Troubleshooting
The most common issue with upgrading is running into blockers. Unfortunately, some packages just can't be coinstalled so they'll need to be removed. Feel free to drop by #gentoo or #gentoo-kde for assistance with resolving any blockers.

Missing systray icons
Plasma 5 does not support xembed-based systray icons anymore, but uses the StatusNotifier specification for that. As not all applications have been ported to the new system, some workaround exist.

The workaround can be enabled by activating the  and GUI-specific  USE flags for.

Alternatively, the required packages can be installed manually:

Pidgin
requires. After install, find this plugin under Tools | Plugins. It is called "Ubuntu Indicator".

Skype
is a 32-bit binary, you need to enable  on.

Update: there is an application that allows to convert old xembed-based systray icons to SNI icons which can show in Plasma 5:. To install it, you have to setup KDE/Overlay.

Currently this package is under development (probably it will be included in Plasma 5.5), and you will have to unmask/unkeyword it (add  to   and   files, see Handbook:X86/Portage/Branches for more info about unmasking). More information about  is on GitHub page.

ck-list-sessions has wrong session information
Start plasma without exec or ck-launch-session. Using `dbus-launch --sh-syntax --exit-with-session "/usr/bin/startkde"` was what I ended up using.

Agent startup/shutdown scripts
Configuration moved to for Plasma 5.

Missing shutdown, reboot, suspend and hibernate buttons when using OpenRC
Please ensure that and  (not ) are installed. Also ensure that your user belongs to the  group.

If you use, try instead.

sddm display issues
Check that your user is in the  group.

sddm: KCM unable to change themes
Sddm needs a configuration file so that the KCM module can change themes. This file is not created during the sddm installation, so it needs to be created manually afterwards:

kio-extras blocking plasma-workspace-5.4.1
This can happen if you installed from the overlay and  from the tree. Simply do: