NAME

       cinnamon-session - Start the GNOME desktop environment

SYNOPSIS

       cinnamon-session [-a|--autostart=DIR] [--session=SESSION] [--failsafe|-f] [--debug] [--whale]

DESCRIPTION

       The  cinnamon-session program starts up the GNOME desktop environment. This command is typically executed
       by your login manager (either mdm, xdm, or from your X startup scripts). It will load either  your  saved
       session, or it will provide a default session for the user as defined by the system administrator (or the
       default GNOME installation on your system).

       The  default  session  is  defined  in  gnome.session,  a  .desktop-like  file  that  is  looked  for  in
       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cinnamon-session/sessions,         $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/cinnamon-session/sessions        and
       $XDG_DATA_DIRS/cinnamon-session/sessions.

       When  saving  a  session,  cinnamon-session   saves   the   currently   running   applications   in   the
       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cinnamon-session/saved-session directory.

       cinnamon-session  is  an  X11R6 session manager. It can manage GNOME applications as well as any X11R6 SM
       compliant application.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       --autostart=DIR
              Start  all  applications  defined  in  DIR,  instead  of  starting  the  applications  defined  in
              gnome.session, or via the --session option. Multiple --autostart options can be passed.

       --session=SESSION
              Use the applications defined in SESSION.session. If not specified, gnome.session will be used.

       --failsafe
              Run in fail-safe mode. User-specified applications will not be started.

       --debug
              Enable debugging code.

       --whale
              Show the fail whale in a dialog for debugging it.

SESSION DEFINITION

       Sessions are defined in .session files, that are using a .desktop-like format, with the following keys in
       the GNOME Session group:

       Name   Name of the session. This can be localized.

       RequiredComponents
              List of component identifiers (desktop files) that are  required  by  the  session.  The  required
              components will always run in the session.

       RequiredProviders
              List  of  task providers that are required by the session. A default provider for each task has to
              be defined with a DefaultProvider-TASK key; the provider can be overridden by required components,
              the saved session or autostart applications. The task providers will always run in the session.

       DefaultProvider-TASK
              Identifier  (desktop  file)  of the default provider for TASK. If no provider for TASK is found in
              the required components, the saved session and in the autostart applications, the default provider
              will be started.

       Here is an example of a session definition:

           [GNOME Session]
           Name=GNOME fallback
           RequiredComponents=gnome-panel;metacity;gnome-settings-daemon;
           RequiredProviders=notifications;
           DefaultProvider-notifications=notification-daemon

       The     .session     files     are     looked    for    in    $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cinnamon-session/sessions,
       $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/cinnamon-session/sessions and $XDG_DATA_DIRS/cinnamon-session/sessions.

ENVIRONMENT

       cinnamon-session sets several environment variables for the use of its child processes:

       SESSION_MANAGER

              This variable is used by session-manager aware clients to contact cinnamon-session.

       DISPLAY

              This variable is set to the X display being used by cinnamon-session. Note that if  the  --display
              option is used this might be different from the setting of the environment variable when cinnamon-
              session is invoked.

FILES

       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/config/autostart $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/config/autostart /usr/share/gnome/autostart

              The applications defined in those directories will be started on login.  cinnamon-settings(1)  can
              be used to easily configure them.

       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cinnamon-session/sessions                     $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/cinnamon-session/sessions
       $XDG_DATA_DIRS/cinnamon-session/sessions

              These directories contain the .session files that can be used with the --session option.

       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/cinnamon-session/saved-session

              This directory contains the list of applications of the saved session.

SEE ALSO

       cinnamon-settings(1) cinnamon-session-quit(1)

                                                      GNOME                                     GNOME-SESSION(1)