Overview of the Desktop Working With Panels

Desktop Sessions

This chapter provides the information you need to start, manage, and end a desktop session.

I.3.1. Starting a Desktop Session

A desktop session occurs between the time that you log in to the desktop and the time that you log out. The login screen, displayed by the Login Manager, is your gateway to the desktop. The login screen provides fields for you to enter your user name and password. The Options menu on the login screen lists your login options, for example you can select the language of your session.

You start a desktop session when you log in. The session manager starts after the Login Manager authenticates your username and password. The session manager enables you to manage the session. For example, you can save the state of your most recent session and return to that session the next time that you log in. The session manager saves and restores the following:

  • The appearance and behavior settings, for example fonts, colors, and mouse settings.
  • The applications that you were running, for example file manager and text editor windows. You can not save and restore applications that the session manager does not manage. For example, if you start the vi editor from the command line in a terminal window, session manager can not restore your editing session.

I.3.2. Locking Your Screen

This section provides information on how to lock your screen, and how to configure your screensaver.

I.3.2.1. To Lock Your Screen

To lock the screen, perform one of the following actions:

  • Choose Actions ▸ Lock Display.

  • If the Lock Screen button is present on a panel, click on the Lock Screen button.

    To add the Lock Screen button to a panel, right-click on the panel. Choose Add to panel ▸ Lock button from the panel popup menu.

When you lock your screen, the screensaver starts. To unlock the screen, move your mouse to display the locked screen dialog. Enter your username and password in the locked screen dialog, then press Enter.

To lock your screen correctly, you must have a screensaver enabled.

I.3.2.2. To Set a Screensaver

To set your screensaver, perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on the Lock Screen button, then choose Properties from the popup menu. An XScreenSaver dialog is displayed.

    If the Lock Screen button is not present on a panel, you can add the button to a panel. To add the Lock Screen button to a panel, right-click on the panel. Choose Add to panel ▸ Lock button from the panel popup menu.

  2. Choose the screensaver that you require from the list box at the left side of the XScreenSaver dialog.

  3. To enable the screensaver, select the Enabled option.

  4. To configure your screensaver, click on the Screensaver Options tab. Configure your screensaver in the Screensaver Options tabbed section. The following table describes the dialog elements on the Screensaver Options tabbed section:

    Setting Function
    Saver Timeout Specify how long to wait to start the screensaver after the last use of the mouse or keyboard.
    Cycle Timeout Specify how long to display a particular screensaver before the next screensaver starts.
    Fade Duration Specify how long to take to fade to black when the screensaver starts.
    Fade Ticks Type how many times per second the colormap changes to create a fade effect. Specify a high number for a smooth fade. However, a high number in this text box might cause the fade to take longer than the Fade Duration.
    Lock Timeout Specify the delay between the start of the screensaver and when the screen locks.
    Password Timeout Specify how long to display the password dialog before displaying the screensaver again.
    Verbose Select this option if you want to display screensaver diagnostic information.
    Install Colormap Select this option to install a private colormap when the screensaver is active. Use of a private colormap might improve the quality of the color in particular screensavers.
    Fade Colormap Select this option if you want your display to fade to black when the screensaver starts.
    Unfade Colormap Select this option if you want your display to fade from black to the screen contents when the screensaver ends.
    Require Password Select this option to require the entry of your password to return to the desktop after the screensaver locks.

  5. Click OK to apply your changes, then close the XScreenSaver dialog.

I.3.3. Managing the Session

To configure the session management of the GNOME desktop, choose Applications  ▸ Desktop Preferences ▸ Advanced ▸ Session Properties & Startup Programs. The Session Properties & Startup Programs preference tool recognizes the following types of application:

  • Applications that are session-managed. When you save the settings for your session, the session manager saves all of the session-managed applications. If you log out, then log in again, the session manager automatically starts the session-managed applications.

  • Applications that are not session-managed. When you save the settings for your session, the session manager does not save any applications that are not session-managed. If you log out, then log in again, the session manager does not start non-session-managed applications. You must start the application manually. Alternatively, you can use the Session Properties & Startup Programs preference tool to specify non-session-managed applications that you want to automatically start. For more information, see Section II.10.5 ― Configuring Session Properties and Startup Applications.

I.3.3.1. Defining Session Behavior When You Log In and Log Out

To set how a session behaves when you log in and log out, choose Applications ▸ Desktop Preferences ▸ Advanced ▸ Session Properties & Startup Programs. Make the changes you require in the Session Options tabbed section. For example, you can select to display a splash screen when you log in.

I.3.3.2. To Use Startup Applications

You can configure your sessions to start with applications that are not session-managed. To configure non-session-managed startup applications, choose Applications ▸ Desktop Preferences  ▸ Advanced ▸ Session Properties & Startup Programs. Use the Startup Programs tabbed section to add, edit, and delete applications. If you save your settings and log out, the next time that you log in, the startup applications start automatically.

I.3.3.3. To Browse Applications in the Current Session

To browse the applications in the current session, choose Applications ▸ Desktop Preferences  ▸ Advanced ▸ Session Properties & Startup Programs. The Current Session tabbed section lists the following:

  • All GNOME applications that are currently running, that can connect to the session manager, and that can save the state of the application.
  • All desktop preference tools that can connect to the session manager, and that can save the state of the tool.

You can use the Current Session tabbed section to perform a limited number of actions on the session properties of an application or preference tool. For example, you can edit the startup order, and restart style of any GNOME application or desktop preference tool that is in the list. For more information, see Section II.10.5.3 ― Setting Session Properties.

I.3.3.4. To Save Session Settings

To save your session settings, perform the following steps:

  1. Configure your session to automatically save settings when you end the session. To configure your session, choose Applications ▸ Desktop Preferences ▸ Advanced ▸ Session Properties & Startup Programs. The Session Properties & Startup Programs preference tool starts. Select the Automatically save changes to session option on the Session Options tabbed section.
  2. End your session.

If you do not select the Automatically save changes to session option, when you log out, a dialog asks if you want to save your current settings. To save your settings, select the option, then continue to log out.

I.3.4. Ending a Session

To end your session, close all your currently active processes, then perform one of the following actions:

  • Click on the Log Out button.
  • Choose Actions ▸ Log out.
  • Open the GNOME Menu, then choose Log out.

Before you end a desktop session you might want to save your current settings so that you can restore the session later. During the log out process, a dialog asks if you want to save your current settings. In the Session Properties & Startup Programs preference tool, you can select an option to automatically save your current settings.

Overview of the Desktop Working With Panels