This wiki should be considered unmaintained and deprecated, though some information may still be relevant. Please instead refer to Lubuntu.me.
Boot
There's some information about booting Lubuntu at Lubuntu/InstallingLubuntu
WindowsDualBoot has info about dual-booting.
Revert power/logout button back to LXpanel
Open terminal and run command:
leafpad ~/.config/lxpanel/Lubuntu/panels/panel
Then add following lines to the bottom of the file
Plugin { type = launchbar Config { Button { id=lubuntu-logout.desktop } } }
Then save the file and logout and log back in. As killing LXpanel and running in terminal lxpanel -p Lubuntu just doesnt fix it well enough as relogin.
Shutdown Button is missing from LXPanel, how can I add it?
From LXTerminal, please run this command:
gksudo leafpad /usr/share/applications/lubuntu-logout.desktop
Now, copy the below content, paste it into lubuntu-logout.desktop file, Save and Exit:
[Desktop Entry] Name=Shutdown Comment=Shutdown or Reboot Icon=system-shutdown-panel Exec=lubuntu-logout #NoDisplay=true Type=Application Categories=Settings;
After that, please right click on LXPanel > Add/Remove Panel Items > Add > Application Launch Bar > Add > double click on Application Launch Bar > Preferences > select Shutdown from the list and on the right and then click "Add" > Close > Close
I want to bind the power-button to change computer state, how do I do it?
In LXTerminal:
leafpad ~/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml
Locate the <keyboard> section and add following lines.
<keybind key="XF86PowerOff"> <action name="Execute"> <command>lubuntu-logout</command> </action> </keybind>
Now the power-button should call the shutdown menu, where you can choose the next state your computer should go to.
To find the name for the <keybind key="<name>"> line of special keys like XF86PowerOff do:
xev | grep "keycode"
Which grabs the line with the name from xev. Just press the key you want to assign to find the name.
Install
After downloading the Lubuntu/Alternate_ISO the desktop ISO (default), or even the Minimal ISO, proceed to the install instructions.
How to install Lubuntu on 4GB USB Drive
Please see this thread on Ubuntu Forum.
Login
Change background of login screen
For LXDM (before 12.04)
Using LXTerminal:
gksudo leafpad /etc/lxdm/default.conf
and change the value of bg to the full path of your desired wallpaper, such as:
bg=/usr/share/lubuntu/wallpapers/new.png
Logout and you should see it.
For LightDM (from 12.04 and on)
Using LXTerminal:
gksudo leafpad /etc/xdg/lubuntu/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf
and change the value of background to the full path of your desired wallpaper, such as:
background=/usr/share/lubuntu/wallpapers/1204-happy-new-year.png
Changing the LightDM Background
Edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf Thanks LubuntuTips
Changing LightDM Settings
You can change:
- Default Session
- Default Greeter
- Allow Guest
- Hide Users and Other options
In LXTerminal, run:
/usr/lib/lightdm/lightdm-set-defaults -h
Please note that to make any changes, you need to run as sudo as it actually edits the /etc/lxdm/default.conf file mentioned below. The main advantage is all the possible changes are well-documented.
- == For 16.04 and Later ==
Run lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings and then enter your password for a superuser as this changes systemwide. You then get a menu to change the background user images and font settings.
How to enable automatic logon
For releases 11.10 and before it (LXDM)
In LXTerminal, run:
gksudo leafpad /etc/lxdm/default.conf
and replace lines:
[base] # autologin=dgod
to
[base] autologin=<YOUR USER>
For release 12.04 and on (LightDM)
You will need to create an /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf with these contents: (do this as root)
[SeatDefaults] autologin-user=<YOUR USER> autologin-user-timeout=0 # Check https://bugs.launchpad.net/lightdm/+bug/854261 before setting a timeout user-session=Lubuntu greeter-session=lightdm-gtk-greeter
Stop autologin For release 12.04 and on (LightDM)
You will need to edit the /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf with these contents: (do this as root)
Remove or comment out the following lines
autologin-user=<YOUR USER> autologin-user-timeout=0
How I can autostart a program when logging into Desktop
Offical documentation here.
If you would like to use the GUI to move the shortcut to autostart, see this answer.
Alternatively, first you need to copy a .desktop -file to your .config folder's autostart folder.
cp /usr/share/applications/urxvtd.desktop ~/.config/autostart/
After copying we need to activate the starting from menu: Menu -> Preferences -> Desktop Session Settings
Please note that the directory may need to be created first:
mkdir ~/.config/autostart
for a PCManFM window
leafpad ~/.config/autostart/pcmanfm.desktop
and change
Exec=pcmanfm %U
to
Exec=pcmanfm
Alternatively, Just create a file with these lines:
[Desktop Entry] Type=Application Exec=/somepath/myapplication
Alternative method
Make the directories "lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart" in "~/.config/"
mkdir -p ~/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/ touch ~/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart
Then edit the file with the name of the applications you want to start, one per line. Example:
pcmanfm sylpheed chromium-browser
Autostart method for all users
add the program to /etc/xdg/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart
Autostart before Login
create a script in /etc/init.d/
instructions here.
I want to bind a key to lock my screen, how do I do it?
In LXTerminal:
leafpad ~/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml
Locate the <keyboard> section and add following lines.
<keybind key="W-l"> <action name="Execute"> <startupnotify> <enabled>true</enabled> <name>Xscreensaver Lock</name> </startupnotify> <command>xscreensaver-command -lock</command> </action> </keybind>
And now Windows (Super-Key) + L should lock the screen.
To add Lock Screen icon to the Menu and/or LXPanel, please see this link
Setting environment variables upon login
While [[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Documentation/FAQ/Guides#How_I_can_autostart_a_program_when_logging_in_to_DesktoRun from the menu lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings p|autostarting programs]] has been well documented, it is not entirely clear how to set environment variables upon login. A common one would be adding to your $PATH.
Relevant files are:
/etc/environment
~/.xsessionrc
~/.bashrc
To understand the differences between these:
/etc/environment
This runs before anyone logs in. It is a good place to set a system-wide environment variable, for example if you have a non-standard folder that must be available in $PATH to everyone who logs in.~/.xsessionrc
This runs as soon as you log in. It is a good place to set an environment variable that must be available not only to consoles (see next point) but also to GUI programs.~/.bashrc
This runs each time you start a new console, and lasts only as long as that console is open. A console is a terminal, which you can open from the menu with LXTerminal or, for more advanced use, by pressing Alt-F1 etc. to open a non-GUI console.
If you want to add ~/bin to your path, ~/.bashrc will do this automatically - but only in a console. If your GUI programs need to access it, you need to set it in ~/.xsessionrc (which does not exist by default, so you would need to create it).
To edit a file, use Leafpad from the menu. However, /etc/environment belongs to root so for that you need to press Alt-F2 and enter gksudo leafpad.
The command to add something to the path is as follows.
To add (say) /foo to the path:
PATH="${PATH}:/foo"To add ~/bin to the path (note the use of ${HOME} instead of ~):
PATH="${PATH}:${HOME}/bin"
Note that interactive non-login shells and non-interactive shells use entirely different files, but that's a more advanced Bash topic.
Lubuntu Netbook not launching (11.10 and previous)
There is a reported bug, lxdm cannot handle a 'space' between the two words.
sudo cp /usr/share/xsessions/Lubuntu-Netbook.desktop /usr/share/xsessions/Lubuntu-Netbook2.desktop gksudo leafpad /usr/share/xsessions/Lubuntu-Netbook2.desktop
Remove tRun from the menu lightdm-gtk-greeter-settings he space in Name: (Lubuntu Netbook to make it LubuntuNetbook). Reboot, and start LubuntuNetbook session instead of Lubuntu Netbook
It should work until we have a real fix.
UNTESTED: You could also try putting it in quotes, like "Lubuntu Netbook".
Please report on the <lubuntu DASH users AT lists DOT ubuntu DOT com> if this solution works.
Additional Links
Our users found these pages helpful.
2015-04-08 The following part seems outdated.
Windows partition does not show up in GRUB
Note: This issue existed in 10.10 but should no longer occur in Lubuntu 11.04 and later releases.