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|
+++
date = 2022-10-30
title = "How to Disable or Change the Display Manager on Void Linux"
description = "Learn how to change the default dm on Void Linux or disable it completely."
+++
## Display Manager Services
In order to change the [display
manager](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_manager) on Void Linux - or any
other Linux distro - you need to identify the currently enabled display manager.
### Disabling the Current Display Manager
Void Linux only has one ISO available for download with a pre-built display
manager at the time of this post: the XFCE ISO. If you've installed this
version, the pre-assigned display manager is `lxdm`. If you installed another
display manager, replace `lxdm` in the following command with the display
manager you have installed.
To disable `lxdm`, simply remove the service symlink:
```sh
sudo rm /var/service/lxdm
```
### Enabling a New Display Manager
If you want to enable a new display manager, you can do so after `lxdm` is
disabled. Make sure to replace `<new_display_manager>` with your new DM, such as
`gdm`, `xdm`, etc.
```sh
sudo ln -s /etc/sv/<new_display_manager> /var/service
```
## Set Up `.xinitrc`
Depending on your setup, you may need to create a few X files, such as
`~/.xinitrc`. For my personal set-up, I created this file to launch the i3wm as
my desktop.
```sh
nano ~/.xinitrc
```
```sh
#!/bin/sh
exec i3
```
If you run a desktop other than i3, simply replace `i3` with the shell command
that launches that desktop.
## Set Up Your Shell Profile
Finally, in order to automatically launch an X session upon login, you will need
to edit the `.bash_profile` (bash) or `.zprofile` (zsh) files for your
shell:
```sh
nano ~/.zprofile
```
Add the following snippet to the end of the shell profile file. This will
execute the `startx` command upon login.
```sh
if [ -z "${DISPLAY}" ] && [ "${XDG_VTNR}" -eq 1 ]; then
exec startx
fi
```
Alternatively, you can ignore this step and simply choose to manually execute
`startx` upon login. This can be useful if you have issues with your desktop or
like to manually launch different desktops by choice.
|
