Running Inside GnomeΒΆ
Add the following snippet to your Qtile configuration. As per this page, it registers Qtile with gnome-session. Without it, a "Something has gone wrong!" message shows up a short while after logging in. dbus-send must be on your $PATH.
import subprocess
import os
from libqtile import hook
@hook.subscribe.startup
def dbus_register():
id = os.environ.get('DESKTOP_AUTOSTART_ID')
if not id:
return
subprocess.Popen(['dbus-send',
'--session',
'--print-reply',
'--dest=org.gnome.SessionManager',
'/org/gnome/SessionManager',
'org.gnome.SessionManager.RegisterClient',
'string:qtile',
'string:' + id])
This adds a new entry "Qtile GNOME" to GDM's login screen.
$ cat /usr/share/xsessions/qtile_gnome.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Qtile GNOME
Comment=Tiling window manager
TryExec=/usr/bin/gnome-session
Exec=gnome-session --session=qtile
Type=XSession
The custom session for gnome-session.
For Gnome >= 3.23.2 (Ubuntu >= 17.04, Fedora >= 26, etc.)
$ cat /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/qtile.session
[GNOME Session]
Name=Qtile session
RequiredComponents=qtile;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.A11ySettings;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Clipboard;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Color;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Datetime;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Housekeeping;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Keyboard;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.MediaKeys;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Mouse;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Power;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.PrintNotifications;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Rfkill;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.ScreensaverProxy;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Sharing;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Smartcard;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Sound;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Wacom;org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.XSettings;
Or for older Gnome versions
$ cat /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/qtile.session
[GNOME Session]
Name=Qtile session
RequiredComponents=qtile;gnome-settings-daemon;
So that Qtile starts automatically on login.
$ cat /usr/share/applications/qtile.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Qtile
Exec=qtile start
NoDisplay=true
X-GNOME-WMName=Qtile
X-GNOME-Autostart-Phase=WindowManager
X-GNOME-Provides=windowmanager
X-GNOME-Autostart-Notify=false
The above does not start gnome-panel. Getting gnome-panel to work requires some extra Qtile configuration, mainly making the top and bottom panels static on panel startup and leaving a gap at the top (and bottom) for the panel window.
You might want to add keybindings to log out of the GNOME session.
Key([mod, 'control'], 'l', lazy.spawn('gnome-screensaver-command -l')),
Key([mod, 'control'], 'q', lazy.spawn('gnome-session-quit --logout --no-prompt')),
Key([mod, 'shift', 'control'], 'q', lazy.spawn('gnome-session-quit --power-off')),
The above apps need to be in your path (though they are typically
installed in /usr/bin
, so they probably are if they're installed
at all).