Desktop, light setup

After installing and configuring the base system, here are instructions on how to get a light desktop up and running quickly.

Install

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

% pkg install xorg jwm

In this example, replace jwm with your chosen window manager. Add xdm to the above, for a graphical desktop login manager.

Desktop login

The instructions provided show how to get XDM or Xinit login managers working. KDM, GDM, WDM and SLiM login manager installations are not covered here, because they are part of base windowmanagers that are not BSD style or are outdated.

Configuration files for XDM and Xinit are under the /usr/local/etc/X11/ and ~/ directories, respective to Xsession and Xinit. The minimal configuration for .xsession or .xinit in your home directory is:

#!/bin/sh
exec /usr/local/bin/<windowmanager>

Console

Set .xinitrc in each home folder, to load custom settings from that user's command line. The default /usr/local/etc/xinit/xinitrc points to several other files in your home directory.

Make sure the owner file permissions of .xinitrc are at minimum set to read.

% chmod 440 .xinitrc

Finally, type startx.

XDM

To configure x11/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 option allows logging in to the root console without a password from single user mode.

Set up .xsession with owner and group permissions to read and execute. If you soft link .xsession and .xinitrc together, both permissions must be 550.

ln -s .xsession .xinitrc
chmod 550 .xsession

Under normal circumstances, /usr/local/etc/X11/xdm/Xsession should be left alone, because this file by default points to ~/.xsession and ~/.xsession-errors.

Customization

Customization files for XDM are located in /usr/local/etc/X11/xdm/.

The background image can be changed by using a background setting command in Xsetup_0. xsetroot can change the background color, but for images it is limited in the file types it can display. To overcome this, use a background setting console program in place of xsetroot.

Example of Xsetup_0:

#!/bin/sh
bgs /home/mydirectory/mypicture.jpg &
#xconsole & 

The xconsole line can optionally be commented out or removed here, as it is not required for all purposes.

It is important to add an & after adding new configuration commands, or the login screen will freeze up with certain commands.

To change the box logo, edit Xresources, comment out or reference another .xpm file in the lines xlogin*logoFileName.

The file Xsession is responsible for choosing the window manager, it points to .xsession in the home directory.

For more information, see XFree Local Multi-User HOWTO: Using xdm and FreeBSD Handbook: XDM Configuration Files.

Desktop programs

Use the window manager's configuration files, .xsession or .xinitrc, depending on which one is used, to start up desktop programs. The window manager's configuration files, and .xsession can be used in combination to start programs, but, for clarity, it is better to not redundantly start the window manager through both.

Example of .xsession or .xinitrc:

#!/bin/sh
xterm &
xclock &
exec fluxbox
exec $1

Programs are loaded with &, and the window manager is loaded last with exec. The first and last line ensure which shell to use and to exit the script cleanly. The user's permissions will have to be set to read and execute, for example chmod 500 .xinitrc .xsession. .xsession and .xinit can be soft-linked to each other, which will make their file permissions match.

Xorg

Xorg is now mostly auto-configured. xorg.conf is no longer used, but it is replaced by the directory /usr/local/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ for specific configurations only. The syntax of a configuration filename in this directory is <customname>.conf, such as 10-nvidia.conf.

See Configuring X and the FreeBSD Handbook: The X Window System for more information.

Enabling hardware

To enable the mouse and keyboard, considering that recent versions of xorg are set to use autodetection by default.

Add the following to /etc/rc.conf:

dbus_enable="YES"

For using devfs, add to /etc/fstab:

devfs      /dev       devfs     rw   0 0 # not necessary unless custom configuration is needed
fdescfs    /dev/fd    fdescfs   rw   0 0

fdescfs(5) can alternatively be loaded through compiling in the kernel or through /boot/loader.conf. x11-servers/xorg-server has to be built without the hal option for this configuration.

See the manpages: devd(), devfs(), devfs.conf() and devfs.rules(). For advanced topics on hardware configuration, such as information about videocards, enabling HDMI audio out, and using multiple displays, see Hardware Configuration, Audio/Video.

See also

• Desktop, troubleshooting

References

• FreeBSD 6 Unleashed (2006)
• Various FreeBSD and other related forums: https://forums.freebsd.org/
• FreeBSD and programs documentation