Qtile: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:15, 17 March 2025

Qtile screenshot (default configuration).

Qtile is a full-featured and hackable window manager written in Python, compatible with Xorg and Wayland.

Prerequisites

Internet connectivity, unless the packages have been pre-fetched into a local cache.
Install appropriate Graphics driver drivers for your hardware. Without graphics drivers, errors are likely to occur when starting your desktop.
A non-root user account.
The community repository must be enabled.
Set up eudev.
Install and enable D-Bus. Without D-Bus, icons and keyboard shortcuts may be missing.
Install Xorg

Installation

Minimal package selection to install:

# apk add qtile lightdm-gtk-greeter font-dejavu

Starting Qtile

With a display manager (graphical login)

If the package lightdm-gtk-greeter has been installed per the instructions above, the lightdm display manager may be started to log in graphically with your new user:

First, create a lightdm session file at /usr/share/xsessions:

# mkdir -p /usr/share/xsessions

Contents of /usr/share/xsessions/qtile.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Qtile
Comment=Qtile Session
Exec=dbus-run-session -- qtile start
Type=Application
Keywords=wm;tiling

# rc-service lightdm start

After correct operation is verified, lightdm can be enabled to start up during boot:

# rc-update add lightdm

Configuration

Allowing shut down and reboot

To enable users to shut down the machine or reboot, the packages elogind and polkit-elogind need to be installed.

# apk add elogind polkit-elogind

A reboot is required to let it take effect.

# lbu commit # if running in diskless mode, to save state $ reboot

Auto-mounting USB drives

To enable automatic mounting of USB drives, install these packages:

# apk add gvfs udisks2

Depending on what devices you intend to mount, some additional packages may be needed:

# apk add \ ntfs-3g \ # Stable, full-featured, read-write NTFS (driver) gvfs-cdda \ # CDDA support for gvfs gvfs-afp \ # AFP support for gvfs gvfs-goa \ # GNOME Online Accounts support for gvfs gvfs-mtp \ # MTP support for gvfs gvfs-smb \ # Windows fileshare support for gvfs gvfs-lang \ # Languages for package gvfs gvfs-afc \ # Apple mobile devices support for gvfs gvfs-nfs \ # NFS support for gvfs gvfs-dev \ # Backends for the gio framework in GLib (development files) gvfs-archive \ # Archiving support for gvfs gvfs-dav \ # WebDAV support for gvfs gvfs-fuse \ # FUSE support for gvfs gvfs-gphoto2 \ # gphoto2 support for gvfs gvfs-avahi \ # DNS-SD support for gvfs

To list descriptions of all gvfs- packages:

$ apk info -d gvfs-*

Enabling privilege escalation GUI

To make elogind/lightdm running, either make them start automatically at system start:

# rc-update add elogind #change elogind for lightdm and run the same command

or start them manually for this time only:

# rc-service elogind start #change elogind for lightdm and run the same command

Localized keyboard layout

The keyboard layout can be configured at the Xorg level.

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 [https://qtile.org/ Qtile] is a full-featured and hackable window manager written in Python, compatible with Xorg and Wayland.
+== Prerequisites ==
 {{:Include:Desktop prerequisites}}
+* [[Alpine_setup_scripts#setup-xorg-base|Install Xorg]]
+== Installation ==
+Minimal package selection to install: {{Cmd|# apk add qtile lightdm-gtk-greeter font-dejavu}}
+[[File:Themeiconworking.png|thumb|With adw-gtk3-dark and Adwaita-Xfce]]
+== Starting Qtile ==
+=== With a display manager (graphical login) ===
-== Manual installation ==
+If the package <code>lightdm-gtk-greeter</code> has been installed per the instructions above, the lightdm display manager may be started to log in graphically with your new user:
-=== Prerequisites ===
+First, create a lightdm session file at /usr/share/xsessions:
+{{Cmd|# mkdir -p /usr/share/xsessions}}
-* [[Alpine_setup_scripts#setup-xorg-base|Install Xorg]]
-* [[D-Bus#Installation|Install and configure D-Bus]] (without D-Bus icons and keyboard shortcuts may be missing)
-Minimal package selection to install:
+{{cat|/usr/share/xsessions/qtile.desktop|[Desktop Entry]
-{{Cmd|# apk add qtile lightdm-gtk-greeter font-dejavu}}
+Name{{=}}Qtile
+Comment{{=}}Qtile Session
+Exec{{=}}dbus-run-session -- qtile start
+Type{{=}}Application
+Keywords{{=}}wm;tiling}}
-[[File:Themeiconworking.png|thumb|With adw-gtk3-dark and Adwaita-Xfce]]
+{{Cmd|# rc-service lightdm start}}
-=== Set up eudev ===
+After correct operation is verified, lightdm can be enabled to start up during boot:
+{{Cmd|# rc-update add lightdm}}
-{{:Include:Setup_Device_Manager}}
+== Configuration ==
 === Allowing shut down and reboot ===
@@ Line 64: / Line 80: @@
 or start them manually for this time only:
 {{Cmd|# rc-service elogind start  #change elogind for lightdm and run the same command}}
-== Starting Qtile ==
-=== With a display manager (graphical login) ===
-If the package <code>lightdm-gtk-greeter</code> has been installed per the instructions above, the lightdm display manager may be started to log in graphically with your new user:
-First, create a lightdm session file at /usr/share/xsessions:
-{{Cmd|# mkdir -p /usr/share/xsessions}}
-{{cat|/usr/share/xsessions/qtile.desktop|[Desktop Entry]
-Name{{=}}Qtile
-Comment{{=}}Qtile Session
-Exec{{=}}dbus-run-session -- qtile start
-Type{{=}}Application
-Keywords{{=}}wm;tiling}}
-{{Cmd|# rc-service lightdm start}}
-After correct operation is verified, lightdm can be enabled to start up during boot:
-{{Cmd|# rc-update add lightdm}}
 === Localized keyboard layout ===
@@ Line 94: / Line 88: @@
 * [[Installation#Post-Install|Post Install]]
-* [[Alpine Setup Scripts]]
 * [https://docs.qtile.org/en/stable/ Qtile docs]
 * [https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Qtile Qtile - ArchWiki]