Random Wisdom

The wonders of gdmflexiserver

by on Oct.31, 2005, under How To ..., Linux, Software

If you’re using GDM, this is the easiest way to get the “Fast User Switching” seen on Windows XP. All you have to do is type:

[darkknight@darkknight ~]$ gdmflexiserver

and you get a brand new login on Virtual Terminal (VT) #8. Successive runs of gdmflexiserver will open up logins on VT#9, VT#10 and so on. Just in case you don’t know how to switch VTs, its done through the Ctrl+Alt+F<1-12> key combinations. The main login is on VT#7. Once you exit/logout from any of the sessions on VT#<8-12>, it will simply close. If you’re not automatically returned to the original session, just switch back manually using Ctrl+Alt+F7.

One useful option of gdmflexiserver is the ability to run in a nested X server. The command in that case is:

[darkknight@darkknight ~]$ gdmflexiserver -n

Now, instead of opening up a login in a brand-new VT, it will just open up a Xnest window with the login. The new X-Server is then a nested (child) server under the main X server on VT#7.

By default the Xnest window opened has a geometry of 1024×768 pixels. This can be changed by adding the -geometry option to the Xnest command in /etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf :

...
# the X nest command
Xnest=/usr/X11R6/bin/Xnest -audit 0 -name Xnest -geometry 1280x1024+0+0
# Automatic VT allocation.  Right now only works on Linux.  This way
...

The geometry is specified as WidthxHeight+XCoord.+YCoord. After saving the modified gdm.conf, gdm must be restarted for the changes to take effect. This is done by logging in as root into one of the text VTs (VT#<1-6>) and issuing the commands:

[root@darkknight ~]# telinit 3; telinit 5; exit
:, ,

Leave a Reply