Desktop, light setup

After installing the base system, here are instructions on how to get a desktop up and running quickly. The example provided shows how to get xdm login manager with JWM, but these examples should provide useful information for using other session managers or desktops.

Install

The following input is sufficient to install the programs for a running Desktop system:

# pkg install xdm jwm xorg

Alternatively, ports may be installed.

Session manager set up

Basic session managers are XDM, WDM, and slim. After the login manager is configured, the Desktop must be set up, or the screen will go into a loop, back to the login manager after logging in.

XDM

To configure xdm to start up on boot, edit /etc/ttys and change the option on line ttyv8 from off to on:

ttyv8   "/usr/local/bin/xdm -nodaemon"  xterm   on secure

The secure setting is also of interest here.

Slim

To enable slim, add to /etc/rc.conf:

slim_enable="YES"

Slim requires a *.desktop file in a directory that is specified by /usr/local/etc/slim.conf next to the sessiondir option; typically this would be /usr/local/share/xsessions. Older versions of slim could have their window manager configured in the file slim.conf by the sessions option.

The usr/local/share/xsessions/*.desktop file commands must be in xdg-style, shown here http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/desktop-entry-spec-1.0.html#basic-format.

First create the desktop directory, if it doesn't exist, by typing:

#mkdir -p /usr/local/share/xsessions/

Example of /usr/local/share/xsessions/jwm.desktop file:

Name=JWM
Exec=jwm

For details of slim configuration, type either:

#man slim
#less /usr/local/etc/slim.conf.sample

WDM

Wings Display Manager's (WDM) configuration files are at /usr/local/lib/X11/xdm/.

Desktop set up

For session managers, be sure to create the files .xinitrc and .xsession in the home and or /usr/local/etc folders. The files in the home folder override the files in /usr/local/etc. .xinitrc is needed to start a window manager from startx, and .xsession is needed to start a window manager from a session manager, otherwise the window manager will fail to load. .xinitrc and .xsession files are identical, except .xsession needs to be executable. A symbolic link can optionally be created between the two files.

Be sure to add exec [window manager]. Do not add an & after this, only add a space and ampersand after programs that are meant to run and detach. Example of both .xinitrc and .xsession files:

exec jwm

To enable the mouse and keyboard add the following to /etc/rc.conf:

hald_enable="YES"
dbus_enable="YES"

Enabling these options sooner may make it harder to fix problems.

Older versions of FreeBSD required the line in the Xorg configuration file to be manually set to:

Option "AllowEmptyInput" "False"

References

• FreeBSD 6 Unleashed (2006)
• Various FreeBSD and other forums