Re: [gdm-list] modifying login process

[Patrick Shirkey <pshirkey boosthardware com>]

On 01/15/2010 05:28 PM, Brian Cameron wrote:
> Patrick:
>
> Not sure which version of GDM you are using, but the best docs to
> reference are here:
>
>   http://library.gnome.org/admin/gdm/
>
> Note in the "Configuration" section of the version you are using
> there are the following script interfaces:
>
> - Init       - This runs after the Xserver starts but before the login
>                GUI is presented to the user.  This script is not aware
>                of what user is logging in since it is run before the
>                login screen is presented.
> - PreSession - This runs after the user authenticates but before the
>                user session is started.  This script is passed in the
>                user who will be logged in via the USER environment
>                variable.
>
> There are also PostSession and PostLogin scripts, but I do not think
> they are what you would want to use.  You can read about them, though,
> in the docs.
>
> If you run a GUI program in either script, then the GUI will run
> and block GDM from continuing until the user exits the launched GUI.
> This provides a mechanism for you to launch your own GUI to do setup.
> Note both scripts run as root, so you have permission to do any setup
> needed.
>
> Since you want to run your script and be aware of the user who will
> be logging in, I would think you would want to use the PreSession
> script.
>
> You could save a dot-file in the user's $HOME directory or in
> /var/tmp/$USER-wizard-complete or something to indicate that the user
> completed the wizard so that on future logins the script could
> determine that it should not run the wizard program again, if that is
> the sort of behavior you want.
>
> Also, as Halton mentioned before, there is the autostart mechanism.
> However, programs started via autostart run along with the login GUI
> and users could avoid running your GUI and just login.  Running this
> way, your wizard becomes optional.  Using the Init or PreSession hooks
> would force the user to complete the setup before GDM would allow the
> login process to continue, which I think is what you want.



Thanks for your detailed explanation. That gives me a lot to work with.


Cheers.


Patrick Shirkey
Boost Hardware Ltd





> Brian
>
>
> On 01/14/10 15:09, Patrick Shirkey wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I got stuck in a loop looking for gdm documentation on the wiki so I am
> > asking here instead :-)
> >
> > I have a project that requires a wizard interface for the user to
> > configure system settings prior to starting the desktop session. I would
> > appreciate some feedback on whether modifying gdm is the correct
> > location for this process to happen.
> >
> > The plan is to display the wizard when gdm starts and guide the user
> > through a set of questions to configure the system settings before
> > logging into the desktop. It's important that the user only has to login
> > once and not to login, change the config, logout, login again.
> >
> > Do you recommend modifying gdm for this purpose?
> > Could I run anaconda over gdm with auto login post wizard?
> >
> > I also need to be able to force the wizard to display every time the
> > session is dropped back to gdm ex. inactivity timeout is reached, user
> > logs out.
> >
> >
> > Any thought or tips on making this happen will be greatly appreciated.
> >
> >
> > Cheers.