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bernd_007

Member

Registered: 2025-01-28

Posts: 2

[SOLVED] using lxdm -> xfce4, edit: how is ssh-agent started?

edit
tl;dr; I chased the wrong paths, xfce4-session starts ssh-agent by default, at the end i posted the commands to disable it.
/edit

Hi,

I would like to use ssh-agent from systemd --user (currently disabled to avoid running two ssh-agent).

$ systemctl --user status ssh-agent.service 
○ ssh-agent.service - OpenSSH key agent
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/ssh-agent.service; disabled; preset:>
     Active: inactive (dead)

Login in with LXDM to XFCE. Does lxdm start lxsession? I used the waybackmachine to look at the LXDE wiki, no luck.

$ ps ax -o pid,ppid,cmd | grep -e ssh-agent -e lxsession
    PID   PPID       CMD
    658       1 /usr/bin/ssh-agent -s

Not sure if i located the issue correctly. Previously i used lxde / lxsession and started ssh-agent.

$ grep -R ssh-agent ~/.config
.config/lxsession/LXDE/desktop.conf:keyring/command=ssh-agent

One unnecessary mistake i did, was wasting time with .xinitrc, because lxdm ignores it.

$ cat ~/.dmrc 
[Desktop]
Session=xfce

$ grep -ve '^$' -e '^#' /etc/lxdm/lxdm.conf 
[base]
greeter=/usr/lib/lxdm/lxdm-greeter-gtk
[server]
arg=/usr/bin/X -background vt1
[display]
gtk_theme=Adwaita
bottom_pane=1
lang=1
keyboard=0
theme=Industrial
[input]
[userlist]
disable=0
white=
black=

I am looking around for possible solutions, but i don't really know how this is happening, where i screwed things up.

What logfile can i look at, i found nothing suspicious?
/var/log/lxdm.log
/var/log/Xorg.0.log
~/.local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log

EDIT:

I am wrong again, sorry. I believe lxsession has nothing to do with my problem, because i edited '.config/lxsession/LXDE/desktop.conf:keyring/command=' without any change.

systemctl status

           └─user.slice
             └─user-1000.slice
               ├─session-1.scope
               │ ├─562 /usr/lib/lxdm/lxdm-session
               │ ├─580 xfce4-session
               │ ├─648 /usr/bin/ssh-agent -s

How is ssh-agent started?

Last edited by bernd_007 (2025-01-28 15:07:42)

TE

Member

Registered: 2014-06-21

Posts: 85

Re: [SOLVED] using lxdm -> xfce4, edit: how is ssh-agent started?

How is ssh-agent started?

It's started by xfce4-session - i use LightDM to launch Xfce/MATE so not familiar with LXDM but I was under the impression it was for LXDE specifically (but what do I know ). Anyways, the docs on it are over here: https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-sessio … gpg_agents

On minor thing to be aware of though is if you're wanting to keep n+1 desktop environments running it may require a bit of "meet in the middle" to be able to / seamlessly switch back and forth. In the case of Xfce + MATE I need to have gnome-keyring installed for MATE, which package hard codes it's systemd startup unit active on every package install/upgrade[1] which makes _not_ using it with Xfce a bit of a pain point so I just leave it running; it doesn't require enabling "Start GNOME Services on Login" checked either as it's already running by systemd at boot. $0.02 hth

[1] https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/ … type=heads

bernd_007

Member

Registered: 2025-01-28

Posts: 2

Re: [SOLVED] using lxdm -> xfce4, edit: how is ssh-agent started?

Yes, thank you TE! I finally just found that page also and wanted to post the solution. I was so long chasing the wrong path.

To disable the start of the agents, which are by default enabled and a bit unfortunately not mentioned in the preferences -> session, or anywhere that i thought of looking earlier.

xfconf-query -c xfce4-session -p /startup/ssh-agent/enabled -n -t bool -s false
xfconf-query -c xfce4-session -p /startup/gpg-agent/enabled -n -t bool -s false