Switch user command in Debian 9

erik2282 · 05-13-2018, 04:24 PM

Not the su command. I'm looking for the script or executable that when, in the GUI, you click on logout and another dialog box opens with the switch user option. Where in the file system is this being done? Im using the Mate Desktop, which is a fork of Gnome 2.

Thanks.

pan64 · 05-14-2018, 12:35 AM

this is not a script or executable, you won't find a script. Probably you can kick the current user off, but this is not the right way. Remember, in the linux world there is no such thing "switch users", it is a real multiuser environment, any number of [different] users can be logged in. What you are talking about is the GUI which is driven by the display manager, so you need to restart it with the new user. But first you need to gracefully shut it down, which is made by the menu.

jefro · 05-16-2018, 01:09 PM

I think you might be asking how does a window manager perform the task of logging out a user and providing a screen to select a user. Since you say Mate then it would be in the source of it. Once in a while you can load that all into an IDE and peek into it pretty quickly. Someone might know here. The Mate team would know exactly where that code resides.

pan64 · 05-17-2018, 01:10 AM

The problem is that it is not a single script, but binaries. Most probably it is the xinit (or something similar) and the greeter and some other appes too.

erik2282 · 05-17-2018, 10:36 AM

Thanks guys, the reason I was asking was because when I used XFCE, my preferred desktop, switch user doesn't work. It works fine in kde and mate, though. So i wanted to create a
shortcut to switch user if it was a simple executable file. My wife and I share this desktop and she doesnt like xfce anyway, so I'm just going to stick with Mate for me and Kde for her.

Thanks for your comments.

hydrurga · 05-17-2018, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erik2282

Thanks guys, the reason I was asking was because when I used XFCE, my preferred desktop, switch user doesn't work. It works fine in kde and mate, though. So i wanted to create a
shortcut to switch user if it was a simple executable file. My wife and I share this desktop and she doesnt like xfce anyway, so I'm just going to stick with Mate for me and Kde for her.

Thanks for your comments.

It's a bit old, but you could try https://github.com/xfce-mirror/xfswitch-plugin

Ubuntu has an updated version of the above: https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source...gin/+changelog

Also, and I'm sorry if I am being naïve, but perhaps you could use the following from the command line:

Code:

xfce4-session-logout

If that works, you can create a shortcut to it.

erik2282 · 05-17-2018, 11:25 AM

Thanks hydrurga. I'll look into those links and try that command tonight if I get home early enough.