Re: [gentoo-user] Consolekit and elogind switch questions

[Dale]

Mick wrote:
> On Sunday, 3 November 2019 06:08:15 GMT Dale wrote:
>> Mick wrote:
>>> On Monday, 28 October 2019 08:25:06 GMT Neil Bothwick wrote:
>>>> On Mon, 28 Oct 2019 02:46:45 -0500, Dale wrote:
>>>>> Thanks much for the info.  Maybe the switch will go well for me too.
>>>> If it works for you it will be good news for the rest of us ;-)
>>> If hald's list of devices has anything to do with it, Dale is bound to
>>> nail it on the first (re)boot!  :-)
>>>
>>> The consolekit framework is responsible switching between users on a
>>> system. As I understand it, when you go to 'Plasma/Leave/Switch User'
>>> menu option, console kit daemon is responsible for:
>>>
>>> 1. Looking at PAM and any processes you own as a user in a login session.
>>> 2. Checking which seat (local or remote) you are logged in as and
>>> associating the hardware you are using with it (e.g. keyboard, mouse,
>>> monitor, etc.). 3. Connecting to the d-bus system bus to manage the local
>>> login session and pass control of hardware devices to the new user.
>>> 4. When the new user enters their credentials at the Display Manager,
>>> check
>>> with PAM what processes the new user is authorised to access/use in their
>>> login session.
>>>
>>> I should have the above mostly correct.  You may ask if any of this
>>> control
>>> framework complexity is *necessary* for a single user called Dale, who
>>> won't allow anyone else to take his 'seat' at the PC without a fight.
>>> The answer is probably no, and this is why simpler desktop environments
>>> like *box, Enlightenment, etc. do not offer the facility to switch users
>>> and therefore do not ultimately need consolekit.
>>>
>>> There are no screenshots of consolekit/elogind because AFAIK neither offer
>>> a GUI application.  However, when you run 'ck-list-sessions' in a
>>> terminal you'll see your local session, as well as any other login
>>> sessions you may be running at the time, e.g. /dev/tt1, remote logins
>>> over ssh and which of these are active at the time.
>>>
>>> Since consolekit is no longer under development and systemd appears to
>>> have
>>> taken over most of the Linux distros, elogind is the current service which
>>> can run as stand alone on openrc (just as udev of systemd does).
>>>
>>> When elogind is running you can use 'loginctl list-sessions' in a terminal
>>> to see who's running a session.  The man page gives more options.
>>>
>>> You don't *have* to add elogind as a boot service, because any
>>> applications
>>> which need it will launch it themselves.  However, don't be surprised if
>>> some desktop functions are not working as expected.  For example, the
>>> SDDM Display Manager's shutdown/reboot buttons may not be displayed and
>>> even if they are displayed they'll do nothing when you click on them
>>> after a reboot.  If after a reboot you login/out into your Plasma
>>> desktop, then elogind will be running and the SDDM buttons should
>>> function again normally.
>>>
>>> I have converted a number of systems to elogind.  It should be as easy as
>>> setting in your make.conf:
>>>
>>> USE="elogind -consolekit"
>>>
>>> grep consolekit -r /etc/portage
>>>
>>> to find and remove/replace any USE flags still asking for consolekit to be
>>> emerged.  Then,
>>>
>>> emerge --depclean -v -a consolekit
>>>
>>> emerge -uaNDv @world
>>>
>>> emerge @preserved-rebuild -v -a
>>>
>>> rc-update del consolekit
>>> rc-update add elogind boot
>>>
>>> reboot
>>>
>>> >From memory that's all there is to it.
>> One quick question, is a reboot necessary or would going to single and
>> back be enough?  I hate rebooting because I've had a init thingy fail a
>> couple times in the past.  Makes me nervous and my blood pressure go up
>> as well.  Reminds me a little of hal.  :/
>>
>> I'm thinking about going ahead and doing this but may sync again first,
>> just to be sure the tree is up to date enough.  I did a -p on it and it
>> doesn't look like to much changes, mostly USE flags.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Dale
>>
>> :-)  :-)
> I forgot, you should stop the consolekit service before you remove/delete it
> and do this *after* you have logged out.
>
> Since consolekit/elogind are services dealing with desktop user access, you
> should at least log out, stop consolekit, start elogind and then log back into
> your KDE/Plasma desktop.  Rebooting is not necessary, although I tend to
> reboot just to check boot services (re)start as they should and there are no
> errors/clashes.
>

OK, thanks much.  Since it is a service, I thought a reboot may not be
required but wanted to be sure.  The extra information did help me with
what I thought would be required, like stopping consolekit first.  That
hadn't occurred to me. 

Dale

:-)  :-)