Ubuntu – How to change the default session for when using auto-logins

auto-loginlightdmunityunity-2d

When autologon is active, lightdm will start the Unity 3D session, not the 2D (or any other shell that I want to auto-login to).

Is there a way to start the shell I want automatically (autologon)?

Anyway, if autologon is disabled, the last used session is launched, and that's fine. I just want to choose which is default with autologon.

Best Answer

The list of sessions is described in the directory /usr/share/xsessions.

Some of the more common session names are as follows:

For unity-2d the session file is called ubuntu-2d.desktop
For gnome-classic the session file is called gnome-classic.desktop
For gnome-classic (no effects) aka gnome-fallback the session file is called gnome-fallback.desktop
For unity-3d the session file is called ubuntu.desktop
For Lubuntu the session file is called Lubuntu.desktop
For LXDE the session file is called LXDE.desktop

Thus, if you change the light-dm configuration file to "ubuntu-2d" this will default the session to Unity-2D

i.e.

sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

change the line

user-session=ubuntu

user-session=ubuntu-2d

Note - if you don't have a lightdm.conf file then for a autologin use the following values for this file:

[SeatDefaults]
greeter-session=unity-greeter
user-session=ubuntu-2d
autologin-user=myusername
autologin-user-timeout=0

Another possibility is to run:

sudo /usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm-set-defaults -s <session-name>

E.g.:

sudo /usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm-set-defaults -s ubuntu-2d

This will also create the lightdm.conf file if it wasn't already present.

Using LightDM

Edit the the /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf using this command

gksu gedit /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf

And add these two lines to the [SeatDefaults] section

greeter-hide-users=true
allow-guest=false

Taken From: http://www.puppychau.com/archives/130

Ubuntu – LightDM run desktop for one session “This session Only”

Here is a Workaround I'm now using, not perfect, I'm probally remembering a featrue from the good ol gnome days, anyways-

I made another user to do all my "desktop experimentation". My regular user still auto logs in, and to my "default" session. So then I can just log out, mess up my other user, and easily go back to my regular desktop, when the computer shutdown(or crashes) it logs in to my normal desktop!

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – How to change Unity’s default login screen to allow users to type in their logins and passwords

Using LightDM

Ubuntu – LightDM run desktop for one session “This session Only”

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