SDB:Change Display Manager

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Situation

The Display Manager (DM) or login manager is typically the first interaction the user has with the computer after boot, as it is where the user enters his or her username and password to log on.

Although the default DM (gdm for GNOME installations, or SDDM for KDE installations) will suffice for most cases, sometimes users will want to change to a non-default DM for performance or aesthetic purposes. This article explains that process.

Procedure

Installing Another DM

An alternative DM must be installed before it may be selected.

To install one of the below managers, type the indicated code.

Display Manager Brief Description To Install, Type:
gdm (Gnome Display Manager) [1] Default DM for GNOME desktop installations
zypper in gdm
SDDM (Simple Desktop Display Manager) [2] QML-Based X11 and Wayland DM. Default DM for KDE Plasma 5 installations
zypper in sddm
LightDM [3] A lightweight DM; default for XFCE installations
zypper in lightdm
kdm (KDE Display Manager [4] Default DM for KDE 4 installations
zypper in kdm
kdm3 DM for KDE3
zypper in kdebase3-kdm

Setting the new default

The way this is accomplished changed with the release of Leap 15.

To list all display managers the alternatives system knows about, run

update-alternatives --list default-displaymanager

To change the display manager interactively

update-alternatives --config default-displaymanager

To change it non-interactively

update-alternatives --set default-displaymanager /usr/lib/X11/displaymanagers/<choice>

YaST and YaST2 also have an "Alternatives" module under the Miscellaneous section. If you need to install this package, it is called yast2-alternatives.

See also

Related articles

External links

gdm
SDDM
LightDM