trusty (8) gdm.8.gz

Provided by: gdm_3.10.0.1-0ubuntu3.2_amd64 bug

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>.