Chapter 3 GNOME Desktop Sessions

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

• Starting a Session

• To Lock Your Screen

• Managing the Session

• Ending a Session

Starting a Session

A session occurs between the time that you log in to the desktop environment and the time that you log out. The login screen, displayed by the Login Manager, is your gateway to the desktop environment. The login screen provides fields for you to enter your username 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 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 cannot 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 cannot restore your editing session.

To Log in to a Session

To log in to a session, perform the following actions.

1. Choose Options -> Session. Choose the GNOME Desktop from the list of available desktop environments.

2. Enter your login name in the field on the Login Manager dialog, then click OK.

3. Enter your password in the field on the Login Manager dialog, then click OK.

When you log in successfully, the session manager starts a session. If this is the first time you log in, then the session manager starts a new session. If you have logged in before, then the session manager restores your previous session.

To Start a Session in a Different Language

To start a session in a different language, perform the following actions.

1. On the login dialog, choose Options -> Session. Choose the GNOME Desktop from the list of available desktop environments.

2. On the login dialog, choose Options -> Language.

3. Choose the language group that includes the language that you want.

4. Choose a language.

5. Log in.

Your system administrator sets the default language for your system. The Options menu on the Login Manager dialog enables you to access other languages. When you choose a language in the Options menu, your system sets the LANG variable for your session. The system restores the default language at the end of the session.

To Lock Your Screen

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

• Choose Actions -> Lock Screen.

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

  To add the Lock button to a panel, right-click on the panel. Choose Add to Panel -> Lock button.

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 Return.

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

Managing the Session

To configure the session management of the desktop environment, choose Applications -> Desktop Preferences -> Advanced -> Sessions. The Sessions 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 Sessions preference tool to specify non-session-managed applications that you want to automatically start.

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 -> Sessions. 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.

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 -> Sessions. 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.

To Browse Applications in the Current Session

To browse the applications in the current session, choose Applications -> Desktop Preferences -> Advanced -> Sessions. 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 preference tool that is in the list.

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 -> Sessions. The Sessions 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.

Ending a Session

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

• Choose Actions -> Log Out.

• Open the GNOME Menu, then choose Log Out.

• Click on the Log Out button.

Before you end a session, you might want to save your current settings so that you can restore the session later. During the logout process, a dialog asks if you want to save your current settings. In the Sessions preference tool, you can select an option to automatically save your current settings.