Provided by: gdm_3.10.0.1-0ubuntu3.2_amd64
NAME
gdm - GNOME Display Manager
SYNOPSIS
gdm
DESCRIPTION
gdm is the equivalent of xdm(1x) or wdm(1x), but uses the GNOME libraries to provide a GNOME look-and-feel. It provides the GNOME equivalent of a "login:" prompt. gdm reads /etc/gdm/custom.conf for its configuration. For each local display, gdm starts an X server and runs a minimal GNOME session including a graphical greeter. If configured so, the main gdm process also listens for XDMCP requests from remote displays. These requests can either be direct, causing gdm to start a session on the remote display, or indirect, causing a chooser to be opened. When managing a display, gdm attempts to execute /etc/gdm/Init/display, or /etc/gdm/Init/Default if that does not exist. When a user logs in, gdm first attempts /etc/gdm/PreSession/display (or /etc/gdm/PreSession/Default), and then one of the sessions defined in /usr/share/xsessions. When the session has completed, gdm attempts to run /etc/gdm/PostSession/display, or /etc/gdm/PostSession/Default. gdm maintains information about the displays it is managing in /var/lib/gdm. This includes xauth information, so this directory is not readable to normal users. gdm uses PAM to perform authentication using the config file /etc/pam.d/gdm.
ENVIRONMENT
XAUTHORITY Upon session startup, GDM sets the XAUTHORITY environment variable to a session- specific file in /run/gdm. Applications and scripts that assume this file is set to ~/.Xauthority will not work. To access the display you need both DISPLAY and XAUTHORITY variables.
AUTHOR
Martin Kasper Petersen <mkp@SunSITE.auc.dk> This manual page written by Steve Haslam <araqnid@debian.org> for Debian GNU/Linux. Updated by Raphaeel Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>, Ryan Murray <rmurray@debian.org>, Josselin Mouette <joss@debian.org> and Vincent Lefevre <vincent@vinc17.net>.