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shugg

Member

Registered: 2025-11-28

Posts: 5  

How to change the Login background in Excalibur ?

Hello !

I've been using Devuan Excalibur since a short time and I appreciate it. However, I would like to change the blue Login background that is too flashy for my eyes (I prefer darker and softer themes), but I don't know how to do it. Does anybody know how change this background ?

Thank you in advance for your help !

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devuan beginner

rbit

Member

Registered: 2018-06-12

Posts: 87  

Re: How to change the Login background in Excalibur ?

If you're talking about the default installation of xfce with slim, the default login background seems to be a combination of /usr/share/slim/themes/desktop-slim-theme/panel.png, /usr/share/slim/themes/desktop-slim-theme/background.png, and the settings "background_style" and "background_color" contained in /usr/share/slim/themes/desktop-slim-theme/slim.theme.  Modifying these files should change the login background.
Or, if you'd like to try out a different theme, edit /etc/slim.conf and change the "current_theme" setting (use directory names under /usr/share/slim/themes/ for a list of theme names)

Last edited by rbit (2025-11-28 17:19:49)

shugg

Member

Registered: 2025-11-28

Posts: 5  

Re: How to change the Login background in Excalibur ?

@rbit : Thanks for the answer but I don't know how to modify the files (Devuan and  Gnu-Linux are new things for me).

And when I try to edit /etc/slim.conf, I can't save because the file is in "read-only mode".

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devuan beginner

golinux

Administrator

Registered: 2016-11-25

Posts: 3,596  

Re: How to change the Login background in Excalibur ?

You have to log in as root to make that change.

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shugg

Member

Registered: 2025-11-28

Posts: 5  

Re: How to change the Login background in Excalibur ?

@golinux : Okay thanks, but I don't know which commands to do in the terminal after I'm logged in root

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devuan beginner

brocashelm

Member

Registered: 2020-06-29

Posts: 167  

Re: How to change the Login background in Excalibur ?

Are you logged in as root in a graphical session (not recommended) or using something like Sudo in a terminal window (recommended)? For the latter, just refer to Rbit's post on locating specific configuration files and append a command such as Nano or Vim to them.

For example, typing in sudo nano /etc/slim.conf will escalate user privileges by allowing you to directly modify the respective file. Make your changes, and then save with Ctrl+O. If you want to try a different preinstalled theme, you can then use cd /usr/share/slim/themes/ and type ls within that directory to view the available themes to choose from for the configuration file.

shugg

Member

Registered: 2025-11-28

Posts: 5  

Re: How to change the Login background in Excalibur ?

@brocashelm : Thanks a lot ! I did the sudo nano /etc/slim.conf command, changed the theme, saved and it works ! I'm happy

Then if I chose a personal image instead of a preinstalled theme as background, what command should I do ?

I know there's a way to do it with LightDM but I don't want to install it.

Last edited by shugg (Yesterday 08:14:16)

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devuan beginner

rbit

Member

Registered: 2018-06-12

Posts: 87  

Re: How to change the Login background in Excalibur ?

Then if I chose a personal image instead of a preinstalled theme as background, what command should I do ?

Probably the easiest way to achieve this is to set your current_theme to "original" (in /etc/slim.conf).  Then in a terminal, run

cd /usr/share/slim/themes/original
sudo mv background.jpg background.backup
sudo cp $HOME/newbackground.jpg ./background.jpg

That is, assuming the background image you want to use is called "newbackground.jpg" in your home directory.  Replace that part of the last command with the actual file name and path.