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8 <article lang="&language;">
9 <articleinfo>
11 <authorgroup>
12 <author>&Thomas.Tanghus; &Thomas.Tanghus.mail;</author>
13 <author>&Steffen.Hansen; &Steffen.Hansen.mail;</author>
14 <author>&Mike.McBride; &Mike.McBride.mail;</author>
15 <!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
16 </authorgroup>
18 <date>2002-02-13</date>
19 <releaseinfo>3.00.00</releaseinfo>
21 <keywordset>
22 <keyword>KDE</keyword>
23 <keyword>KControl</keyword>
24 <keyword>KDM configuration</keyword>
25 <keyword>login manager</keyword>
26 <keyword>login</keyword>
27 </keywordset>
28 </articleinfo>
30 <sect1 id="login-manager">
31 <title>Login Manager</title>
33 <para>Using this module, you can configure the &kde; graphical login
34 manager, &kdm;. You can change how the login screen looks, who has
35 access using the login manager and who can shutdown the
36 computer.</para>
38 <para>In order to organize all of these options, this module is
39 divided into six sections: <link
40 linkend="kdmconfig-appearance"><guilabel>Appearance</guilabel></link>,
41 <link linkend="kdmconfig-font"><guilabel>Font</guilabel></link>, <link
42 linkend="kdmconfig-background"><guilabel>Background</guilabel></link>,
43 <link
44 linkend="kdmconfig-sessions"><guilabel>Sessions</guilabel></link>,
45 <link linkend="kdmconfig-users"><guilabel>Users</guilabel></link> and
46 <link
47 linkend="kdmconfig-convenience"><guilabel>Convenience</guilabel></link>.</para>
49 <para>You can switch between the sections using the tabs at the top of
50 the window.</para>
52 <note><para>If you are not currently logged in as a superuser, you
53 will need to click the <guibutton>Administrator Mode</guibutton>
54 Button. You will then be asked for a superuser password. Entering a
55 correct password will allow you to modify the settings of this
56 module.</para></note>
58 <sect2 id="kdmconfig-appearance">
59 <title>Appearance</title>
61 <para>From this page you can change the visual appearance of &kdm;,
62 &kde;'s graphical login manager.</para>
64 <para>The greeting string is the title of the login screen. If the
65 string contains the word <computeroutput>HOSTNAME</computeroutput> it
66 will be translated to the domainless name of the machine &kdm; is
67 installed on.</para>
69 <para>You can then choose to show either the current system time, a logo
70 or nothing special in the login box. Make your choice in the radio
71 buttons labeled <guilabel>Logo area</guilabel>. Using the
72 <guilabel>Positions</guilabel> setting, you can choose to either center
73 the content of the logo area or to position it using fixed
74 coordinates.</para>
76 <para>If you chose <guilabel>Show logo</guilabel> you can now choose a
77 logo:</para>
79 <itemizedlist>
80 <listitem>
81 <para>Drop an image file on the image button.</para>
82 </listitem>
83 <listitem>
84 <para>Click on the image button and select a new image from the image chooser
85 dialog.</para>
86 </listitem>
87 </itemizedlist>
89 <para>If you do not specify a logo the default
90 <filename>$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/share/apps/kdm/pics/kdelogo.png</filename>
91 will be displayed.</para>
93 <para>While &kde;'s style depends on the settings of the user logged in,
94 the style used by &kdm; can be configured using the <guilabel>GUI
95 Style</guilabel> option.</para>
97 <para>Below that, you have two dropdown boxes to choose the language and the
98 country for your login box.</para>
100 </sect2>
102 <sect2 id="kdmconfig-font">
103 <title>Font</title>
105 <para>From this section of the module you can change the fonts used in
106 the login window.</para>
108 <para>You can select three different font styles from the drop down box
109 (<guilabel>Greeting</guilabel>, <guilabel>Fail</guilabel>,
110 <guilabel>Standard</guilabel>). When you click on the <guibutton>Change
111 font</guibutton> button a dialog appears from which you can select the
112 new characteristics for the font style.</para>
114 <itemizedlist>
115 <listitem>
116 <para>The <guilabel>Greeting</guilabel> font is the font used for the title
117 (Greeting String).</para>
118 </listitem>
119 <listitem>
120 <para>The <guilabel>Fail</guilabel> font is used when a login fails.</para>
121 </listitem>
122 <listitem>
123 <para>The <guilabel>Standard</guilabel> font is used in all other places in the
124 login window.</para>
125 </listitem>
126 </itemizedlist>
128 <para>An example of each font can be seen in the
129 <guilabel>Example</guilabel> Box.</para>
131 </sect2>
133 <sect2 id="kdmconfig-background">
134 <title>Background</title>
136 <para>Here you can change the desktop background which will be displayed
137 when a user logs in. You can have a single color or an image as a
138 background. If you have an image as the background and select center, the
139 selected background color will be used around the image if it isn't
140 large enough to cover the entire desktop.</para>
142 <para>The background colors and effects are controlled by the options on
143 the tab labeled <guilabel>Background</guilabel> and you select a
144 background image and its placement from the options on the tab labeled
145 <guilabel>Wallpaper</guilabel>.</para>
147 <para>To change the default background color(s) simply click either of
148 the color buttons and select a new color.</para>
150 <para>The dropdown box above the color buttons provides you with several
151 different blend effects. Choose one from the list, and it will be
152 previewed on the small monitor at the top of the window. Your choices
153 are:</para>
155 <variablelist>
156 <varlistentry>
157 <term>Flat</term>
158 <listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select one color (using the color
159 button labeled <guibutton>Color 1</guibutton>), and the entire background is
160 covered with this one color.</para></listitem>
161 </varlistentry>
162 <varlistentry>
163 <term>Pattern</term>
164 <listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
165 buttons). </para> <para>You then select a pattern by clicking
166 <guilabel>Setup</guilabel>. This opens a new dialog window, which gives you
167 the opportunity to select a pattern. Simply click once on the pattern of your
168 choice, then click on <guilabel>OK</guilabel>, and &kde; will render the pattern
169 you selected using the two colors you selected. For more on patterns, see the
170 section <ulink url="help:/kcontrol/background/index.html#bkgnd-patterns">Background: Adding, Removing and Modifying
171 Patterns</ulink>.</para></listitem>
172 </varlistentry>
173 <varlistentry>
174 <term>Background Program</term>
175 <listitem><para>By selecting this option, you can have &kde; use an external
176 program to determine the background. This can be any program of your choosing.
177 For more information on this option, see the section entitled <ulink
178 url="help:/kcontrol/background/index.html#bkgnd-programs">Background: Using an external program</ulink>.</para></listitem>
179 </varlistentry>
180 <varlistentry>
181 <term>Horizontal Gradient</term>
182 <listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
183 buttons). &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
184 1</guilabel> on the left edge of the screen, and slowly transform into the
185 color selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> by the time it gets to the
186 right edge of the screen.</para></listitem>
187 </varlistentry>
188 <varlistentry>
189 <term>Vertical Gradient</term>
190 <listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
191 buttons). &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
192 1</guilabel> on the top edge of the screen, and slowly transform into the color
193 selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> as it moves to the bottom of the
194 screen.</para></listitem>
195 </varlistentry>
196 <varlistentry>
197 <term>Pyramid Gradient</term>
198 <listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
199 buttons). &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
200 1</guilabel> in each corner of the screen, and slowly transform into the color
201 selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> as it moves to the center of the
202 screen.</para></listitem>
203 </varlistentry>
204 <varlistentry>
205 <term>Pipecross Gradient</term>
206 <listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
207 buttons). &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
208 1</guilabel> in each corner of the screen, and slowly transform into the color
209 selected by <guilabel>Color 2</guilabel> as it moves to the center of the
210 screen. The <quote>shape</quote> of this gradient is different than the pyramid
211 gradient.</para></listitem>
212 </varlistentry>
213 <varlistentry>
214 <term>Elliptic Gradient</term>
215 <listitem><para>By choosing this mode, you select two colors (using both color
216 buttons). &kde; will then start with the color selected by <guilabel>Color
217 2</guilabel> in the center of the screen, and slowly transform into the color
218 selected by <guilabel>Color 1</guilabel> as it moves to the edges, in an
219 elliptical pattern.</para></listitem>
220 </varlistentry>
221 </variablelist>
223 <para>The setup button is only needed for if you select <guilabel>Background
224 program</guilabel> or <guilabel>Patterns</guilabel>. In these instances,
225 another window will appear to configure the specifics.</para>
226 <para><emphasis>Wallpaper</emphasis></para>
227 <para>To select a new background image first, click on the
228 <guilabel>Wallpapers</guilabel> tab, then you can either select an image from the
229 drop-down list labeled <guilabel>Wallpaper</guilabel> or select
230 <guibutton>Browse...</guibutton> and select an image file from a file
231 selector.</para>
233 <para>The image can be displayed in six different ways:</para>
234 <variablelist>
235 <varlistentry>
236 <term>No wallpaper</term>
237 <listitem><para>No image is displayed. Just the background colors.</para>
238 </listitem></varlistentry>
239 <varlistentry>
240 <term>Centered</term>
241 <listitem><para>The image will be centered on the screen. The background colors
242 will be present anywhere the image does not cover.</para> </listitem>
243 </varlistentry>
244 <varlistentry>
245 <term>Tiled</term>
246 <listitem><para>The image will be duplicated until it fills the entire
247 desktop. The first image will be placed in the upper left corner of the screen,
248 and duplicated downward and to the right.</para> </listitem>
249 </varlistentry>
250 <varlistentry>
251 <term>Center Tiled</term>
252 <listitem><para>The image will be duplicated until it fills the entire
253 desktop. The first image will be placed in the center of the screen, and
254 duplicated upward, downward to the right, and to the left.</para> </listitem>
255 </varlistentry>
256 <varlistentry>
257 <term>Centered Maxpect</term>
258 <listitem><para>The image will be placed in the center of the screen. It will
259 be scaled to fit the desktop, but it will not change the aspect ratio of the
260 original image. This will provide you with an image that is not distorted.
261 </para> </listitem>
262 </varlistentry>
263 <varlistentry>
264 <term>Scaled</term>
265 <listitem><para>The image will be scaled to fit the desktop. It will be
266 stretched to fit all four corners.</para> </listitem>
267 </varlistentry>
268 </variablelist>
270 </sect2>
272 <sect2 id="kdmconfig-sessions">
273 <title>Sessions</title>
275 <para><guilabel>Allow to shutdown</guilabel></para>
276 <para>Use this dropdown box to choose who is allowed to shut down:</para>
277 <itemizedlist>
278 <listitem>
279 <para><guilabel>None</guilabel>: No one can shutdown the computer using &kdm;.
280 You must be logged in, and execute a command.</para>
281 </listitem>
282 <listitem>
283 <para><guilabel>All</guilabel>: Everyone can shutdown the computer using
284 &kdm;.</para>
285 </listitem>
286 <listitem><para><guilabel>Root only</guilabel>: &kdm; requires that the
287 <systemitem>root</systemitem> password be entered before shutting down the
288 computer.</para></listitem>
289 <listitem><para><guilabel>Console only</guilabel>: The user must be at this
290 console, to shut down the computer.</para></listitem>
291 </itemizedlist>
293 <para><emphasis>Commands</emphasis></para>
294 <para>Use these 3 blanks to define the exact shutdown command.</para>
295 <para>The shutdown command defaults to:</para>
297 <para><command>/sbin/shutdown</command></para>
299 <para>The restart command defaults to:</para>
301 <para><command>/sbin/reboot</command></para>
303 <para>The Console mode (which restarts the computer as a console only terminal)
304 defaults to:</para>
306 <para><command>/sbin/init <option>3</option></command></para>
308 <para>When <guilabel>Show boot options</guilabel> is enabled, &kdm; will on reboot
309 offer you options for the lilo boot manager. For this feature to work, you will
310 need to supply the correct paths to your <command>lilo</command> command and to
311 lilo's map file.</para>
314 <sect3 id="kdmconfig-sess">
315 <title>Session types</title>
317 <para>Define which session types should be accessible from the login
318 window.</para>
320 <para> For more information on this subject, look at <filename
321 class="directory">/etc/X11/xdm/Xsession</filename> to find your
322 <application>xdm</application> setup files. Also review the <ulink
323 url="man:xdm">xdm man pages</ulink>, especially under the SESSION
324 PROGRAM section.</para>
326 <para>To add a session, type its name in the
327 blank entitled <guilabel>New types</guilabel>, and click
328 <guibutton>Add new</guibutton>. </para>
330 <para>To remove a session, select the session from the list and click
331 <guibutton>Remove</guibutton>.</para>
333 </sect3>
335 </sect2>
338 <sect2 id="kdmconfig-users">
339 <title>Users</title>
341 <para>From here you can change the way users are represented in the
342 login window.</para>
344 <para>As you look on this window, you will see three lists (All users,
345 selected users, and no-show users). You also see an image box, and a
346 set of options along the right side of the window.</para>
348 <para>The first thing you must decide, is if you are going to show users
349 or not.</para>
352 <para>If you choose to show users, then the login window will show
353 images (which you select), of a list of users. When someone is ready to
354 login, they select their user name/image, enter their password, and they
355 are granted access. </para>
357 <para>If you choose not to show users, then the login window will be
358 more traditional. Users will need to type their username, and password
359 to gain entrance. This is the preferred way if you have many users on
360 this terminal.</para>
362 <sect3 id="kdmconfig-showusers">
363 <title>To show (and sort) or not to show users</title>
365 <para>Along the right edge of the window are two check boxes:</para>
367 <para>If <guilabel>Show users</guilabel> is selected, you have chosen to
368 show images of users, instead of making them type their login
369 name.</para>
371 <para>If <guilabel>Sort users</guilabel> is selected, then the list of
372 users will be sorted alphabetically in the login window. If unchecked,
373 users will be listed in the same order as they are on this page. If
374 <guilabel>Show users</guilabel> is not checked, this has no
375 effect.</para>
377 </sect3>
379 <sect3 id="kdmconfig-whichusers">
380 <title>How to determine which users to show and which users to hide</title>
382 <para>Below the user image box, and above the <guilabel>Show
383 users</guilabel> check box, is a set of two radio buttions:</para>
385 <itemizedlist>
386 <listitem><para>Show only selected users: If this option is selected, only the
387 users contained in the list labelled <guilabel>Selected Users</guilabel>, will
388 be displayed in the login window. If <guilabel>Show users</guilabel> is not
389 checked, this has no effect.</para></listitem>
390 <listitem><para>Show all users but no-show users: If this option is selected,
391 all users will be listed, <emphasis>except</emphasis> those users contained in
392 the list entitled <guilabel>No show users</guilabel>. If <guilabel>Show
393 users</guilabel> is not checked, this has no effect. </para></listitem>
394 </itemizedlist>
396 </sect3>
398 <sect3 id="kdmconfig-select">
399 <title>Select users</title>
401 <para>This page contains three listboxes. The large listbox on the left
402 shows all the users on the system which might be a genuine user.</para>
404 <para>The top rightmost listbox shows the selected users and the bottom
405 rightmost listbox shows the users we don't want displayed in the login
406 window.</para>
408 <para>To move a user from one listbox to another you click on the
409 username in the listbox and click <guibutton>&gt;&gt;</guibutton> to
410 move the user from the leftmost box to the rightmost box or
411 <guibutton>&lt;&lt;</guibutton> to move the user from the rightmost box
412 to the leftmost box.</para>
414 </sect3>
416 <sect3 id="kdmconfig-image">
417 <title>Images</title>
419 <note><para>This section of the manual only applies if <guilabel>Show
420 users</guilabel> is selected. If it is not, this image box has no
421 effect.</para></note>
423 <para>Every user on the system can be represented by a image. The image
424 for the user is kept in a file called
425 <filename>$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/share/apps/kdm/pics/users/$<envar>USER</envar>.xpm.</filename>
426 If the user doesn't have such a file the file
427 <filename>$<envar>KDEDIR</envar>/share/apps/kdm/pics/users/default.xpm</filename>
428 will be used instead.</para>
430 <para>To assign a new image to a user just select the user in one of the
431 listboxes and either drop an imagefile on the image button to the right
432 or click on the image button and select a new image from the image
433 selector.</para>
435 <para>If no user is currently selected you will be asked if you want to change
436 the default image.</para>
438 <para>The replacement is performed by a &konqueror; process so if the
439 image file already exists you will be prompted by &konqueror; if you
440 want to replace it. If you confirm the image will be replaced - you will
441 <emphasis>not</emphasis> have to press the <guibutton>Apply</guibutton>
442 button.</para>
444 </sect3>
445 </sect2>
448 <sect2 id="kdmconfig-convenience">
449 <title>Convenience</title>
451 <para>In the <guilabel>convenience</guilabel> tab you can configure some
452 options that make life easier for lazy people, like auto login or
453 disabling passwords.</para>
455 <important><para>Please think more than twice before using these
456 options. Every option in the <guilabel>convenience</guilabel> tab is
457 well-suited to seriously compromise your system security. Practically,
458 these options are only to be used in a completely non-critical
459 environment, &eg; a private computer at home. </para></important>
461 <sect3 id="loginmanager-convenience-autologin">
462 <title>Automatic Login</title>
464 <para>Automatic login will give anyone access to a certain account on
465 your system without doing any authentication. You can enable it using
466 the option <guilabel>Enable auto-login</guilabel>.</para>
468 <para>Automatic login comes in two flavors: <guilabel>truly automatic
469 login</guilabel> acts like you would expect automatic login to, &ie;
470 &kdm; will automatically login without expecting any input from the
471 user. Enable this using the <guilabel>Truly automatic login</guilabel>
472 option. If this option is not enabled, &kdm; will start normally,
473 enabling you to login as any user, and will only perform automatic login
474 if you kill the X server, &eg; by pressing <keycombo
475 action="simul">&Ctrl;&Alt;<keycap>Backspace</keycap></keycombo>.</para>
477 <para>You can choose the account to be used for automatic login in the
478 list below.</para>
480 </sect3>
482 <sect3 id="loginmanager-convenience-nopasswd">
483 <title>Password-less Login</title>
485 <para>Using this feature, you can allow certain users to login without
486 having to provide their password. Enable this feature using the
487 <guilabel>Enable password-less logins</guilabel> option.</para>
489 <para>Below this option you will see a list of users for which a password
490 is required, as well as a (by default, empty) list of users that do not
491 need to provide a password. When <guilabel>Enable password-less
492 logins</guilabel> is enabled, you can move users from one list into the
493 other, by selecting them and then clicking the
494 <guibutton>&gt;&gt;</guibutton> and <guibutton>&lt;&lt;</guibutton>
495 buttons.</para>
497 <important><para>Again, this option should only be used in a safe
498 environment. If you enable it on a rather public system you should take
499 care that only users with heavy access restrictions are granted
500 password-less login, &eg;
501 <systemitem>guest</systemitem>.</para></important>
503 <para>The <guilabel>Automatically login after X server crash</guilabel>
504 option allows you to skip the authentication procedure when your X
505 server accidentally crashed. <guilabel>Show previous user</guilabel>
506 will show the name of the last login already entered into the login
507 field in &kdm;. Some site administrators would consider even this a
508 possible security weakness, because potential attackers then know at
509 least one valid login.</para>
512 </sect3>
514 </sect2>
516 </sect1>
518 </article>