Auto login and `startx` without a display manager (systemd)

[Head_on_a_Stick]

it boots into x when it's set to graphical.target

Will it startx from a console log in?

[milomak]

yes startx works when it loads into console

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Can we see:

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systemctl cat getty@tty1

[milomak]

sure

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$ systemctl cat getty@tty1
# /lib/systemd/system/getty@.service
#  This file is part of systemd.
#
#  systemd is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
#  under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
#  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
#  (at your option) any later version.

[Unit]
Description=Getty on %I
Documentation=man:agetty(8) man:systemd-getty-generator(8)
Documentation=http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/serial-console.html
After=systemd-user-sessions.service plymouth-quit-wait.service
After=rc-local.service

# If additional gettys are spawned during boot then we should make
# sure that this is synchronized before getty.target, even though
# getty.target didn't actually pull it in.
Before=getty.target
IgnoreOnIsolate=yes

# IgnoreOnIsolate causes issues with sulogin, if someone isolates
# rescue.target or starts rescue.service from multi-user.target or
# graphical.target.
Conflicts=rescue.service
Before=rescue.service

# On systems without virtual consoles, don't start any getty. Note
# that serial gettys are covered by serial-getty@.service, not this
# unit.
ConditionPathExists=/dev/tty0

[Service]
# the VT is cleared by TTYVTDisallocate
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --noclear %I $TERM
Type=idle
Restart=always
RestartSec=0
UtmpIdentifier=%I
TTYPath=/dev/%I
TTYReset=yes
TTYVHangup=yes
TTYVTDisallocate=yes
KillMode=process
IgnoreSIGPIPE=no
SendSIGHUP=yes

# Unset locale for the console getty since the console has problems
# displaying some internationalized messages.
Environment=LANG= LANGUAGE= LC_CTYPE= LC_NUMERIC= LC_TIME= LC_COLLATE= LC_MONETARY= LC_MESSAGES= LC_PAPER= LC_NAME= LC_ADDRESS= LC_TELE

[Install]
WantedBy=getty.target
DefaultInstance=tty1

# /etc/systemd/system/getty@tty1.service.d/override.conf
[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --autologin mythtv --noclear %I $TERM

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Does the autologin itself work?

Try removing the `startx` line from ~/.profile and see if it will autologin to a TTY command line.

You could also try this logic in ~/.profile instead of the line you are using now:

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[ "$(tty)" = "/dev/tty1" ] && exec startx /usr/bin/kodi

That doesn't rely on $XDG_VTNR or $DISPLAY.

EDIT: the Xorg logs will be found in ~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log because the server is being run as your normal user

[Peripatus]

Head_on_a_Stick, thank you!

FWIW, I can confirm that the procedure works, without modification, for my system running BunsenLabs Helium (i.e. ~Debian Stretch).

Makes for a real fast boot-to-GUI -- and near-instant resume from Suspend! Ideal for an older computer mainly used as an internet tv.

No upgrade-proofness tested yet.

[NB: To anyone else who initially mistypes their username in the override.conf file (no capital letters! ), and reboots to find only a blinking cursor: don't panic; hit Ctl+Alt+F2 to open an auxiliary terminal; login with the correct username and password; optionally start the GUI by typing startx; fix the typo in the file; reboot; enjoy the smoothness.]

[Head_on_a_Stick]

I can confirm that the procedure works, without modification, for my system running BunsenLabs Helium (i.e. ~Debian Stretch).

BunsenWhat?

But anyway, yes, I've had it working in stretch and buster as well so I've changed the OP to reflect this.

[Peripatus]

BunsenWhat?

Are you kidding me? Just noticed a rather active head on a stick over at the BunsenLabs forums...

Either way, I installed it just recently -- it's wonderful!

cheerio

[Head_on_a_Stick]

rather active

Not any more

[Peripatus]

rather active

Not any more

Oh Should we take heed?

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Should we take heed?

No, not at all, BL is one of the more excellent distributions out there, I just prefer vanilla Debian

[bedtime]

I like how you dealt with issuing the startx command:

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[ "$(tty)" = "/dev/tty1" ] && exec startx

You negated the need for an 'if' command—clever! Always nice to do a command as efficiently as possible!

Thanx!

[nyu-98]

It's work , but now i see this in auth.log

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gnome-keyring-daemon[640]: couldn't access control socket: /run/user/1000/keyring/control: No such file or directory

i'm using debian 10 with mate desktop.


EDIT:
fixed with https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GN ... PAM_method

[mrowl]

Hello All,
I followed the original howto and it worked fine for me with Debian 10.1 + Enlightenment DR16. I wanted to go further, though, and I don't know where to look at. My ultimate goal is to have the same Plymouth "theme" as I have in Enlightenment in that way the auto-logon executes and X starts at "the background" of the Plymouth skin (I see the Plymouth boot screen during the whole time and don't see any console output until I finally arrive to my E desktop) and when E16 starts I'd start also screen lock - this would effectively replace any DM for me but also gives some security measures.

My "very big" problem is that when bootup finishes, Plymouth closes the bootup screen and I can see the console autologin, including hostname and "Last login" lines. (Of course I could hide startx messages and motd easily.)

I understand that starting X includes changing the video driver and screen resolution so I don't expect a seamless transition from Plymouth screen to X's screen but I want to make this transition as smooth as possible (e.g. black screen for a second is OK). I couldn't find agetty parameter that suppress output and putting " > /dev/null 2&1" at the end of the systemd override file Exec line didn't help.

Do you have a tip where I should continue, please?
Thanks,
Mr 0wl

[wizard10000]

No, not at all, BL is one of the more excellent distributions out there, I just prefer vanilla Debian

Same. My openbox install still uses a (slightly modified) #! theme

[mrowl]

My ultimate goal is to have the same Plymouth "theme" as I have in Enlightenment in that way the auto-logon executes and X starts at "the background" of the Plymouth skin (I see the Plymouth boot screen during the whole time and don't see any console output until I finally arrive to my E desktop)

I somewhat solved the above.

/etc/systemd/system/getty@.service.d/override.conf:

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[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty -i -J --nohostname --skip-login --login-options "-f <username>" %I 38400 linux

...and I needed a touch ~/.hushlogin, too.

Now I only need to figure out how I can keep plymouth background on the screen further.

[imazed]

Excellent information Thank you Head-on-a-stick.
I have just followed your instructions and works perfectly on my Debian "trixie" system.
So I was able to bin LightDM and Plymouth neither of which does anything useful.
I

[vmclark]

Works perfectly on Xubuntu. Tried other methods. They either failed or took too long to boot up.

[milomak]

I am finding after doing updates (using sid), that

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/etc/systemd/system/getty.target.wants/getty@tty1.service

reverts to default.

OK, thanks for bringing that up.

My original method is a tad on the hacky side

For a more "correct" solution, create a file at /etc/systemd/system/getty@tty1.service.d/override.conf with the following content:

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[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --autologin <user name> --noclear %I $TERM

This can be used instead of modifying the unit file and should survive upgrades

EDIT: Note added to the end of the OP.

@Head_on_a_Stick this does not seem to be ion the op. was there a reason why not?

[seamusdemora]

From the "master post" on the first page:

This Howto is aimed at users who wish to automatically login to their Debian stable system and start the X server without having to enter startx at the command prompt.

It is primarily aimed at users of simple window manager environments rather then those who prefer fully-blown desktop environments as the latter usually have integrated display mangers to perform this function.

This guide only applies to those users who chose to run systemd as their init system.

If you have chosen to use SysVinit as PID1, refer to the "traditional" guides such as http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=29333

This guide assumes an ability to edit system configuration files that may require root permissions to alter and will require correct configuration of the X server initialisation files at ~/.xsession or ~/.xinitrc (see startx(1) for more on this). If no ~/.xinitrc or ~/.xsession file is present then whatever is linked to /etc/alternatives/x-session-manager or /etc/alternatives/x-window-manager will be run instead (use the update-alternatives(1) command to change these).

For automatic login, run this command (as root):

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systemctl edit getty@tty1

Then enter this text and save the file afterwards:

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[Service]
ExecStart=
ExecStart=-/sbin/agetty --autologin $username --noclear %I $TERM

Replace $username with your user name.

For automatic `startx` add this snippet to the end of the file at ~/.profile:

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[ "$(tty)" = "/dev/tty1" ] && exec startx

Finally, set the correct default.target to ensure the system boots to the console (TTY) rather than to a display manager:

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# systemctl set-default multi-user.target

To reverse this change, reset the default.target with:

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# systemctl set-default graphical.target

I have three (3) things to add:

1. I am SUGGESTING a change to @Head_on_a_stick's "master" HOW-TO back on page 1 of this topic.
I'll say first that I'm not sure this change is correct for everyone, BUT this is what worked for me on my 'bookworm' system.

The change:

FROM:
For automatic login, run this command (as root):

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systemctl edit getty@tty1

TO:
For automatic login, run this command:

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sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/getty.target.wants/getty@tty1.service

Please note that the code in the "TO:" section is from this post in the "lenny" version of this HOW-TO. I suspect that the current (FROM:) version may accomplish the same thing (via "drop-in file"?), but the instructions in the file were unclear to me - as many things are in 'systemd'.

2. Regarding the applicability of this "AutoLogin" recipe:
I have recently begun using `pipewire` to get Bluetooth Audio from my Raspberry Pi system. I use the 'Lite' version of their OS, and its Bluetooth features are, uh... primitive. `pipewire` has been a lifesaver, but it has one irritating "feature": When the user that started the music is logged out, `pipewire` "quits"; i.e. the music stops. I thought an "AutoLogin" would cure that issue, and I began searching for a solution when I found this (and the older "lenny" version) thread. I'd love to hear from anyone who's found another solution to the `pipewire` issue, but I can say that this (AutoLogin) works fine.

3. All that said, I am unclear why this (autologin) cannot be done as a simple `cron` job under `@reboot`. I've tried this on my "headless" Raspberry Pi; 'who' shows the user (pi) logged in on tty1, but it doesn't seem to be able to stop pipewire from quittin when pi logs out Too bad... I'll keep trying. It would certainly be much easier to edit the root crontab than a systemd unit file!

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$ sudo crontab -e
# add this one line:
@reboot /sbin/agetty -a pi --noclear tty1 linux

# afterwards, from my terminal:

$ who
pi       tty1         1970-01-06 16:57
pi       pts/0        -3386239902218181070 (192.168.1.209)

But it's not enough to keep `pipewire` from shutting down.