How do I configure systemd to run a graphical login chooser?

TheOneKEA · 04-29-2015, 09:59 PM

I just recently used apt-get dist-upgrade to upgrade my x86_64 Debian install to jessie (8.0). This means that systemd is now running the show, and I have no idea how to configure it to run a graphical login chooser. Are there any tutorials or howtos on how to accomplish this?

Hungry ghost · 04-29-2015, 10:40 PM

Hi,

By graphical login chooser you mean something like kdm, gdm, xdm, etc? In case you want to use kdm, you just need to make sure it's installed and run the following command:

Code:

dpkg-reconfigure kdm

(substitute "kdm" which any login manager you want to use).

It should display a menu where you can choose which login manager to use.

TheOneKEA · 04-30-2015, 06:17 AM

Yes, that's what I am referring to. Prior to the upgrade I was using gdm as my login chooser. However, when I try to run dpkg-reconfigure on the gdm package the program errors out and says that the package is either broken or not installed, even though it is definitely installed.

Hungry ghost · 04-30-2015, 08:19 PM

Did you try executing that command on gdm3? That's the real name of the package.

TheOneKEA · 05-01-2015, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odiseo77

Did you try executing that command on gdm3? That's the real name of the package.

I did try that and received a similar error.

As part of my troubleshooting I booted my system using the generic entry in GRUB instead of the first entry in the advanced options sub-menu of the GRUB loader screen. Booting the system like this does cause the X server to start cleanly and gdm to start up as well, but I don't get a graphical shell and I don't get a cursor. When I VT-switch and log in on a text-only console I can see all of the relevant processes running.

I ran a service gdm stop and restarted X from a non-root shell using startx, then attempted to run dpkg-reconfigure against gdm3 and got back the following error:

Code:

Job for gdm.service failed. See 'systemctl status gdm.service' and 'journalctl -xn' for details.
invoke-rc.d: initscript gdm3, action "reload" failed.

systemctl status gdm.service says the following:

Code:

● gdm.service - GNOME Display Manager
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/gdm.service; enabled)
   Active: inactive (dead) since Fri 2015-05-01 22:01:01 EDT; 4min 26s ago
 Main PID: 2217 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
May 01 22:01:01 Betelgeuse gdm3[2217]: Child process 2262 was already dead.
May 01 22:01:01 Betelgeuse gdm3[2217]: Child process 2262 was already dead.

I'm very new at systemd so I'm quite certain that using the sysvinit-style service command instead of systemctl to unload gdm3 has broken things.

EDDY1 · 05-02-2015, 12:00 AM

I don't think that on upgrade that systemd-sysv is installed, please check.

TheOneKEA · 05-02-2015, 07:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EDDY1

I don't think that on upgrade that systemd-sysv is installed, please check.

Yes, it is present and installed.

Head_on_a_Stick · 05-02-2015, 10:54 AM

Run the reconfigure command again then post the output of:

Code:

journalctl -xn

You may need to add your user to the "systemd-journal" group to use this:

Code:

# gpasswd -a <user name> systemd-journal

Log out & back in again (or maybe even reboot) to effect the change.

TheOneKEA · 05-05-2015, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Head_on_a_Stick

Run the reconfigure command again then post the output of:

Code:

journalctl -xn

You may need to add your user to the "systemd-journal" group to use this:

Code:

# gpasswd -a <user name> systemd-journal

Log out & back in again (or maybe even reboot) to effect the change.

Thanks! After fully uninstalling and reinstalling the gdm3 package, dpkg-reconfigure did its thing and my X session immediately exited, to be replaced with the gdm3 graphical login chooser screen, without a reboot. I checked the output of journalctl -xn but I don't see anything noteworthy.

The only problem now is that XFCE doesn't properly restore my saved session data, such as window size and position.