GNOME: Difference between revisions

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Added examples of managing extensions; updated dynamic triple buffering overlay, added warning; added curly braces (as NixOS manual do) to configuration examples to indicate its type (attribute set).
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[[{{PAGENAME}}]] (/(ɡ)noʊm/) is a [[desktop environment]] known for its focus on being simple, intuitive, and easy to use. It is made by The GNOME Project and is composed entirely of free and open-source software. Its Mutter compositor supports both [[Wayland]] and X server, and the GNOME Shell user interface is customizable by extensions.
[[{{PAGENAME}}]] (/(ɡ)noʊm/) is a [[desktop environment]] known for its focus on being simple, intuitive, and easy to use. It is made by The GNOME Project and is composed entirely of free and open-source software. Its Mutter compositor supports both [[Wayland]] and X server, and the GNOME Shell user interface is customizable by extensions.


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[https://gnome.org/ {{PAGENAME}}] is available as a [[module]] and can be enabled with <code>services.xserver.desktopManager</code>.
[https://gnome.org/ {{PAGENAME}}] is available as a [[module]] and can be enabled with <code>services.xserver.desktopManager</code>.
== Installation ==
== Installation ==


To use GNOME, add this to your configuration.nix:
To use GNOME, add this to your <code>configuration.nix</code>:


<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
{{file|/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>
services.xserver.enable = true;
{
services.xserver.displayManager.gdm.enable = true;
  services.xserver.enable = true;
services.xserver.desktopManager.gnome.enable = true;
  services.xserver.displayManager.gdm.enable = true;
</syntaxHighlight>
  services.xserver.desktopManager.gnome.enable = true;
}
</nowiki>}}


=== Excluding GNOME Applications ===
=== Excluding GNOME Applications ===


To exclude certain applications that are installed by default with GNOME edit {{ic|configuration.nix}} as follows:
To exclude certain applications that are installed by default with GNOME edit <code>configuration.nix</code> as follows:


<syntaxhighlight lang="nixos">
{{file|/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>
environment.gnome.excludePackages = (with pkgs; [
{
  # for packages that are pkgs.***
  environment.gnome.excludePackages = (with pkgs; [
  gnome-tour
    # for packages that are pkgs.***
  gnome-connections
    gnome-tour
]) ++ (with pkgs.gnome; [
    gnome-connections
  # for packages that are pkgs.gnome.***
  ]) ++ (with pkgs.gnome; [
  epiphany # web browser
    # for packages that are pkgs.gnome.*
  geary # email reader
    epiphany # web browser
  evince # document viewer
    geary # email reader
]);
    evince # document viewer
</syntaxhighlight>
  ]);
}
</nowiki>}}


== Configuration ==
== Configuration ==
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Extensions can be installed with Nix, however they aren't enabled by default. To enable them the "Extensions" program can be used.
Extensions can be installed with Nix, however they aren't enabled by default. To enable them the "Extensions" program can be used.
<syntaxhighlight lang="nixos">
environment.systemPackages = (with pkgs.gnomeExtensions; [
  blur-my-shell
  pop-shell
  # ***
]);
</syntaxhighlight>


To declaratively enable and configure, use of modules like home-manager you are required to configure dconf settings.
{{file|/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>
{
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs.gnomeExtensions; [
    blur-my-shell
    pop-shell
    # ...
  ];
}
</nowiki>}}
 
Extension can be enabled and configured in your system configuration. Look at the following example.
 
{{file|/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>
{
  programs.dconf = {
    enable = true;
    profiles.user.databases = [
      {
        settings = {
          "org/gnome/shell" = {
            disable-user-extensions = false; # enables user extensions (disabled by default)
            enabled-extensions = [
              # Put UUIDs of extensions that you want to enable here.
              # If the extension you want to enable is packaged in nixpkgs,
              # you can easily get its UUID by accessing its extensionUuid
              # field (look at the following example).
              pkgs.gnomeExtensions.blur-my-shell.extensionUuid 
              # Alternatively, you can manually pass UUID as a string. 
              "blur-my-shell@aunetx"
              # ...
            ];
          };
 
          # Configure individual extensions
          "org/gnome/shell/extensions/blur-my-shell" = {
            brightness = 0.75;
            noise-amount = 0;
          };
        };
      }
    ];
  };
}
</nowiki>}}
 
Same result can be achieved for specific user only by using [[Home Manager]] module.


<syntaxhighlight lang="nixos">
{{file|~/.config/home-manager/home.nix|nix|<nowiki>
{
{
   dconf = {
   dconf = {
Line 55: Line 97:
     settings = {
     settings = {
       "org/gnome/shell" = {
       "org/gnome/shell" = {
         disabled-user-extensions = false; # enables user extensions (disabled by default)
         disable-user-extensions = false;
         enabled-extensions = [
         enabled-extensions = [
          pkgs.gnomeExtensions.blur-my-shell.extensionUuid 
           "blur-my-shell@aunetx"
           "blur-my-shell@aunetx"
           # ****
           # ...
         ];
         ];
       };
       };


      # Configure individual extensions
       "org/gnome/shell/extensions/blur-my-shell" = {
       "org/gnome/shell/extensions/blur-my-shell" = {
         brightness = 0.75;
         brightness = 0.75;
Line 70: Line 112:
   };
   };
}
}
</syntaxhighlight>
</nowiki>}}


To learn about settings that can be configured with dconf either look into "dconf editor" program or type <syntaxhighlight lang="shell">dconf watch /</syntaxhighlight> in the terminal and change settings from the GUI and see which options are responsible for that component/element.
To learn about settings that can be configured with dconf either look into "dconf-editor" program (provided by <code>gnome.dconf-editor</code> package) or type <code>dconf watch /</code> in the terminal and change settings from the GUI and see which options are responsible for that component/element.


=== Dark mode ===
=== Dark mode ===
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Change default color theme for all GTK4 applications to dark using [[Home Manager]].
Change default color theme for all GTK4 applications to dark using [[Home Manager]].


<syntaxhighlight lang="nix">
{{file|~/.config/home-manager/home.nix|nix|<nowiki>
{
{
   dconf = {
   dconf = {
Line 85: Line 127:
   };
   };
}
}
</syntaxhighlight>
</nowiki>}}


== Tips and tricks ==
== Tips and tricks ==
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you should enable dconf module:
you should enable dconf module:


<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
programs.dconf.enable = true;
{
  programs.dconf.enable = true;
}
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>


Many applications rely heavily on having an icon theme available, GNOME’s Adwaita is a good choice but most recent icon themes should work as well.
Many applications rely heavily on having an icon theme available, GNOME’s Adwaita is a good choice but most recent icon themes should work as well.


<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
environment.systemPackages = [ gnome.adwaita-icon-theme ];
{
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ gnome.adwaita-icon-theme ];
}
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>


=== Systray Icons ===
=== Systray Icons ===


To get systray icons, install the related gnome shell extension
To get systray icons, install the related GNOME shell extension


<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ gnomeExtensions.appindicator ];
{
  environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.gnomeExtensions.appindicator ];
}
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>


And ensure gnome-settings-daemon udev rules are enabled :
And ensure gnome-settings-daemon udev rules are enabled:


<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
services.udev.packages = with pkgs; [ gnome.gnome-settings-daemon ];
{
  services.udev.packages = [ pkgs.gnome.gnome-settings-daemon ];
}
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>


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Some old applications use GConf service to store configuration. This has been deprecated for many years but some applications were abandoned before they managed to upgrade to a newer dconf system. If you are running such application and getting an error like:
Some old applications use GConf service to store configuration. This has been deprecated for many years but some applications were abandoned before they managed to upgrade to a newer dconf system. If you are running such application and getting an error like:


<syntaxHighlight lang=text>
<syntaxHighlight lang="text">
GLib.GException: Failed to contact configuration server; the most common cause is a missing or misconfigured D-Bus session bus daemon. See http://projects.gnome.org/gconf/ for information
GLib.GException: Failed to contact configuration server; the most common cause is a missing or misconfigured D-Bus session bus daemon. See http://projects.gnome.org/gconf/ for information
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>
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you need to add {{ic|gnome2.GConf}} to the list of dbus packages in your {{ic|configuration.nix}}:
you need to add {{ic|gnome2.GConf}} to the list of dbus packages in your {{ic|configuration.nix}}:


<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
services.dbus.packages = with pkgs; [ gnome2.GConf ];
{
  services.dbus.packages = with pkgs; [ gnome2.GConf ];
}
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>


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=== Dynamic triple buffering ===
=== Dynamic triple buffering ===
{{Warning|Dynamic triple buffering is a still developing feature that is not merged into GNOME's mutter. Some bugs and unexpected behavior can occur. Use at your own risk!}}


Big [https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/mutter/-/merge_requests/1441 merge request] against Mutter improves the performance of the window manager by a lot (and is already used by Ubuntu). Not merged into nixpkgs due to [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/197181 philosophy of nixpkgs], but users are free to add this overlay to get it too.
Big [https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/mutter/-/merge_requests/1441 merge request] against Mutter improves the performance of the window manager by a lot (and is already used by Ubuntu). Not merged into nixpkgs due to [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/197181 philosophy of nixpkgs], but users are free to add this overlay to get it too.


For NixOS 24.05 (gnome 46), add the following to your NixOS configuration:
If you wish to try this patch for yourself, add the following to your NixOS configuration:


<syntaxhighlight lang="nixos">
{{file|/etc/nixos/configuration.nix|nix|<nowiki>
{
{
   nixpkgs.overlays = [
   nixpkgs.overlays = [
    # GNOME 46: triple-buffering-v4-46
     (final: prev: {
     (final: prev: {
       gnome = prev.gnome.overrideScope (
       gnome = prev.gnome.overrideScope (gnomeFinal: gnomePrev: {
        gnomeFinal: gnomePrev: {
        mutter = gnomePrev.mutter.overrideAttrs (old: {
          mutter = gnomePrev.mutter.overrideAttrs (old: {
          src = pkgs.fetchFromGitLab  {
            src = pkgs.fetchgit {
            domain = "gitlab.gnome.org";
              url = "https://gitlab.gnome.org/vanvugt/mutter.git";
            owner = "vanvugt";
              rev = "663f19bc02c1b4e3d1a67b4ad72d644f9b9d6970";
            repo = "mutter";
              sha256 = "sha256-I1s4yz5JEWJY65g+dgprchwZuPGP9djgYXrMMxDQGrs=";
            rev = "triple-buffering-v4-46";
            };
            hash = "sha256-fkPjB/5DPBX06t7yj0Rb3UEuu5b9mu3aS+jhH18+lpI=";
          });
          };
        }
        });
      );
      });
     })
     })
   ];
   ];
}
}
</syntaxhighlight>
</nowiki>}}


You might need to disable aliases to make it work:
You might need to disable aliases to make it work:


<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
nixpkgs.config.allowAliases = false;
  nixpkgs.config.allowAliases = false;
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>


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Install {{ic|sysprof}} as a ''system'' package (it won't work properly if installed against users). Then enable the associated service with  
Install {{ic|sysprof}} as a ''system'' package (it won't work properly if installed against users). Then enable the associated service with  


<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
services.sysprof.enable = true;
  services.sysprof.enable = true;
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>


=== Automatic screen rotation ===
=== Automatic screen rotation ===


<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
hardware.sensor.iio.enable = true;
  hardware.sensor.iio.enable = true;
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>


Line 192: Line 247:
Currently there is no way to change the user's profile picture using Gnome Control Center [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/10025 (see this issue)] and currently there is no plan to support it officially in NixOS. However, you can modify it by copying the profile picture that you want to the path '''/home/$USER/.face''' as a workaround, i.e.
Currently there is no way to change the user's profile picture using Gnome Control Center [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/10025 (see this issue)] and currently there is no plan to support it officially in NixOS. However, you can modify it by copying the profile picture that you want to the path '''/home/$USER/.face''' as a workaround, i.e.


<syntaxHighlight lang=console>
<syntaxHighlight lang="console">
$ mv /path/to/image.jpg ~/.face
$ mv /path/to/image.jpg ~/.face
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>


=== automatic login ===
=== Automatic login ===


If you have enabled [https://help.gnome.org/admin/system-admin-guide/stable/login-automatic.html.en auto login] (with <!-- [[GDM]] -->[[{{PAGENAME}}]]) with something like
If you have enabled [https://help.gnome.org/admin/system-admin-guide/stable/login-automatic.html.en auto login] (with <!-- [[GDM]] -->[[{{PAGENAME}}]]) with something like
: <syntaxHighlight lang=bash>
: <syntaxHighlight lang="bash">
grep autoLogin /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
grep autoLogin /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>
<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
services.xserver.displayManager.autoLogin.enable = true;
services.xserver.displayManager.autoLogin.enable = true;
services.xserver.displayManager.autoLogin.user = "account";
services.xserver.displayManager.autoLogin.user = "account";
Line 208: Line 263:
than add the following (as a workaround for a current (2023)<ref>https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/103746#issuecomment-945091229</ref> problem)
than add the following (as a workaround for a current (2023)<ref>https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/103746#issuecomment-945091229</ref> problem)
: <syntaxHighlight lang=console># nano /etc/nixos/configuration.nix</syntaxHighlight>
: <syntaxHighlight lang=console># nano /etc/nixos/configuration.nix</syntaxHighlight>
<syntaxHighlight lang=nix>
<syntaxHighlight lang="nix">
systemd.services."getty@tty1".enable = false;
  systemd.services."getty@tty1".enable = false;
systemd.services."autovt@tty1".enable = false;
  systemd.services."autovt@tty1".enable = false;
</syntaxHighlight>
</syntaxHighlight>
.


== Also see ==
== Also see ==

Revision as of 21:14, 9 June 2024

GNOME (/(ɡ)noʊm/) is a desktop environment known for its focus on being simple, intuitive, and easy to use. It is made by The GNOME Project and is composed entirely of free and open-source software. Its Mutter compositor supports both Wayland and X server, and the GNOME Shell user interface is customizable by extensions.

This article is an extension of the documentation in the NixOS manual.

GNOME is available as a module and can be enabled with services.xserver.desktopManager.

Installation

To use GNOME, add this to your configuration.nix:

/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
{
  services.xserver.enable = true;
  services.xserver.displayManager.gdm.enable = true;
  services.xserver.desktopManager.gnome.enable = true;
}

Excluding GNOME Applications

To exclude certain applications that are installed by default with GNOME edit configuration.nix as follows:

/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
{
  environment.gnome.excludePackages = (with pkgs; [
    # for packages that are pkgs.***
    gnome-tour
    gnome-connections
  ]) ++ (with pkgs.gnome; [
    # for packages that are pkgs.gnome.*
    epiphany # web browser
    geary # email reader
    evince # document viewer
  ]);
}

Configuration

Managing Extensions

GNOME extensions are managed and configured by the program "Extensions" that comes with GNOME.

Extensions can be installed with Nix, however they aren't enabled by default. To enable them the "Extensions" program can be used.

/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
{
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs.gnomeExtensions; [
    blur-my-shell
    pop-shell
    # ...
  ];
}

Extension can be enabled and configured in your system configuration. Look at the following example.

/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
{
  programs.dconf = {
    enable = true;
    profiles.user.databases = [
      {
        settings = {
          "org/gnome/shell" = {
            disable-user-extensions = false; # enables user extensions (disabled by default)
            enabled-extensions = [
              # Put UUIDs of extensions that you want to enable here.
              # If the extension you want to enable is packaged in nixpkgs,
              # you can easily get its UUID by accessing its extensionUuid
              # field (look at the following example).
              pkgs.gnomeExtensions.blur-my-shell.extensionUuid  
              # Alternatively, you can manually pass UUID as a string.  
              "blur-my-shell@aunetx"
              # ...
            ];
          };

          # Configure individual extensions
          "org/gnome/shell/extensions/blur-my-shell" = {
            brightness = 0.75;
            noise-amount = 0;
          };
        };
      }
    ];
  };
}

Same result can be achieved for specific user only by using Home Manager module.

~/.config/home-manager/home.nix
{
  dconf = {
    enable = true;
    settings = {
      "org/gnome/shell" = {
        disable-user-extensions = false;
        enabled-extensions = [
          pkgs.gnomeExtensions.blur-my-shell.extensionUuid  
          "blur-my-shell@aunetx"
          # ...
        ];
      };

      "org/gnome/shell/extensions/blur-my-shell" = {
        brightness = 0.75;
        noise-amount = 0;
      };
    };
  };
}

To learn about settings that can be configured with dconf either look into "dconf-editor" program (provided by gnome.dconf-editor package) or type dconf watch / in the terminal and change settings from the GUI and see which options are responsible for that component/element.

Dark mode

Change default color theme for all GTK4 applications to dark using Home Manager.

~/.config/home-manager/home.nix
{
  dconf = {
    enable = true;
    settings."org/gnome/desktop/interface".color-scheme = "prefer-dark";
  };
}

Tips and tricks

To run GNOME programs outside of GNOME

GNOME platform-based applications are largely self-contained, but they still depend, for one reason or another, on some global configuration. The gnome.nix module sets all the necessary options for you but if you are running customized set-up, you might need to replicate that yourself.

For instance, if you see the following error:

dconf-WARNING **: failed to commit changes to dconf: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name ca.desrt.dconf was not provided by any .service files

you should enable dconf module:

{
  programs.dconf.enable = true;
}

Many applications rely heavily on having an icon theme available, GNOME’s Adwaita is a good choice but most recent icon themes should work as well.

{
  environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ gnome.adwaita-icon-theme ];
}

Systray Icons

To get systray icons, install the related GNOME shell extension

{
  environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.gnomeExtensions.appindicator ];
}

And ensure gnome-settings-daemon udev rules are enabled:

{
  services.udev.packages = [ pkgs.gnome.gnome-settings-daemon ];
}

To run old applications

Some old applications use GConf service to store configuration. This has been deprecated for many years but some applications were abandoned before they managed to upgrade to a newer dconf system. If you are running such application and getting an error like:

GLib.GException: Failed to contact configuration server; the most common cause is a missing or misconfigured D-Bus session bus daemon. See http://projects.gnome.org/gconf/ for information

you need to add gnome2.GConf to the list of dbus packages in your configuration.nix:

{
  services.dbus.packages = with pkgs; [ gnome2.GConf ];
}

After applying the update restart your desktop session to refresh the user-specific dbus session.

Dynamic triple buffering

Warning: Dynamic triple buffering is a still developing feature that is not merged into GNOME's mutter. Some bugs and unexpected behavior can occur. Use at your own risk!

Big merge request against Mutter improves the performance of the window manager by a lot (and is already used by Ubuntu). Not merged into nixpkgs due to philosophy of nixpkgs, but users are free to add this overlay to get it too.

If you wish to try this patch for yourself, add the following to your NixOS configuration:

/etc/nixos/configuration.nix
{
  nixpkgs.overlays = [
    # GNOME 46: triple-buffering-v4-46
    (final: prev: {
      gnome = prev.gnome.overrideScope (gnomeFinal: gnomePrev: {
        mutter = gnomePrev.mutter.overrideAttrs (old: {
          src = pkgs.fetchFromGitLab  {
            domain = "gitlab.gnome.org";
            owner = "vanvugt";
            repo = "mutter";
            rev = "triple-buffering-v4-46";
            hash = "sha256-fkPjB/5DPBX06t7yj0Rb3UEuu5b9mu3aS+jhH18+lpI=";
          };
        });
      });
    })
  ];
}

You might need to disable aliases to make it work:

  nixpkgs.config.allowAliases = false;

Profiling (with sysprof)

Install sysprof as a system package (it won't work properly if installed against users). Then enable the associated service with

  services.sysprof.enable = true;

Automatic screen rotation

  hardware.sensor.iio.enable = true;

Troubleshoots

Change user's profile picture

Currently there is no way to change the user's profile picture using Gnome Control Center (see this issue) and currently there is no plan to support it officially in NixOS. However, you can modify it by copying the profile picture that you want to the path /home/$USER/.face as a workaround, i.e.

$ mv /path/to/image.jpg ~/.face

Automatic login

If you have enabled auto login (with GNOME) with something like

grep autoLogin /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
services.xserver.displayManager.autoLogin.enable = true;
services.xserver.displayManager.autoLogin.user = "account";

than add the following (as a workaround for a current (2023)[1] problem)

# nano /etc/nixos/configuration.nix
  systemd.services."getty@tty1".enable = false;
  systemd.services."autovt@tty1".enable = false;

Also see

GNOME/Calendar