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)