SUSE Support

Here When You Need Us

Logins in gdm default to DISPLAY :1 Customer applications are expecting DISPLAY :0

This document (000020370) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP3
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP2
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP1

 

Situation

When gdm runs in SLES 15 the greeter session (login screen) is started as display :0 and user logins then get display :1 or higher.

Resolution

This is working as designed, see Cause section.

If you want to go back to the old method that is possible, but this method may be removed in future versions of SLES so update applications to make use of the new default method.

To go back to the previous behavior do the following:

Run "systemctl edit display-manager.server" and enter the following (which gets added as a display-manager.service override file in /etc/systemd/system/)

[Service]
Environment="GDM_DISABLE_USER_DISPLAY_SERVER=1"

Check that your changes are correct:
SLES15SP3:~ # systemctl cat display-manager.service
# /usr/lib/systemd/system/display-manager.service
[Unit]
Description=X Display Manager
Requires=var-run.mount
Conflicts=getty@tty7.service plymouth-quit.service
After=ypbind.service gpm.service time-sync.target winbind.service acpid.service
Wants=remote-fs.target dbus.socket systemd-user-sessions.service systemd-logind.service
After=remote-fs.target dbus.socket systemd-user-sessions.service systemd-logind.service getty@tty7.service plymouth->
OnFailure=plymouth-quit.service

[Service]
Type=forking
PIDFile=/run/displaymanager.pid
ExecStart=/usr/lib/X11/display-manager start
ExecStop=/usr/lib/X11/display-manager stop
ExecReload=/usr/lib/X11/display-manager reload
KillMode=process

[Install]
WantedBy=graphical.target
Alias=xdm.service

# /etc/systemd/system/display-manager.service.d/override.conf
[Service]
Environment="GDM_DISABLE_USER_DISPLAY_SERVER=1"


Reboot the system and login.
 

Cause

"GDM's behavior was changed in 3.16 so that instead of running one X server on the login screen which is then transformed into the user's session, we now start a new X session from within the user's session, which means that we need to start the user's session on another TTY/VT."

Disclaimer

This Support Knowledgebase provides a valuable tool for SUSE customers and parties interested in our products and solutions to acquire information, ideas and learn from one another. Materials are provided for informational, personal or non-commercial use within your organization and are presented "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

  • Document ID:000020370
  • Creation Date: 30-Aug-2021
  • Modified Date:01-Sep-2021
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server

< Back to Support Search

For questions or concerns with the SUSE Knowledgebase please contact: tidfeedback[at]suse.com

tick icon

SUSE Support Forums

Get your questions answered by experienced Sys Ops or interact with other SUSE community experts.

tick icon

Support Resources

Learn how to get the most from the technical support you receive with your SUSE Subscription, Premium Support, Academic Program, or Partner Program.

tick icon

Open an Incident

Open an incident with SUSE Technical Support, manage your subscriptions, download patches, or manage user access.