{"id":7205,"date":"2017-10-06T17:06:54","date_gmt":"2017-10-06T17:06:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/?p=7205"},"modified":"2024-05-06T16:22:58","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T16:22:58","slug":"change-login-screen-background-ubuntu-17-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2017\/10\/change-login-screen-background-ubuntu-17-10\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Change Login Screen Background in Ubuntu 18.04"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"gnome<\/p>\n

Boring with the default purple login screen background in Ubuntu 18.04? Well, here’s how to make a change by hacking the css file.<\/b><\/p>\n

UPDATE 2024: This tutorial is outdated and only work for old Ubuntu 18.04!! For most recent Ubuntu versions, see this tutorial<\/a> instead!<\/b><\/p>\n

Ubuntu since 17.10 switches to Gnome 3 Desktop and GDM display manager. Although there are options to change desktop wallpaper and lock screen background (it’s actually screen saver with date & time displayed), the login screen is always purple.<\/p>\n

\"GDM<\/a><\/p>\n

In the picture above, I’ve changed the login background to the image “Aardvark_Wallpaper_Grey_4096x2304.png” locate in \/usr\/share\/backgrounds.<\/p>\n

1. Move your favorite image to \/usr\/share\/backgrounds:<\/b><\/p>\n

It’s better to move the image you want to set as login background to system pictures folder: \/usr\/share\/backgrounds.<\/p>\n

To do so, open terminal via Ctrl+Alt+T<\/b>, then either run command:<\/p>\n

sudo cp PATH\/TO\/YOUR\/IMAGE \/usr\/share\/backgrounds\/<\/pre>\n
or run command to open file browser via root and then do copy and paste in that window:<\/p>\n
xhost +local: && sudo nautilus \/usr\/share\/backgrounds\/<\/pre>\n
2. Edit the css file that define GDM login background:<\/b><\/p>\n
Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run command to edit file \/etc\/alternatives\/gdm3.css, which is linked to \/usr\/share\/gnome-shell\/theme\/gdm3.css:<\/p>\n
xhost +local: && sudo gedit \/etc\/alternatives\/gdm3.css<\/pre>\n
Input your password (no visual feedback while typing) when it prompts and hit Enter. And of course back up the file before editing.<\/i><\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
3.<\/b> When the file opens, go to menu (right after ‘Save’ button) -> find and find out following section:<\/p>\n
#lockDialogGroup {\r\n  background: #2c001e url(resource:\/\/\/org\/gnome\/shell\/theme\/noise-texture.png);\r\n  background-repeat: repeat; }<\/pre>\n
change the lines into:<\/p>\n
#lockDialogGroup {\r\n  background: #2c001e url(file:\/\/\/usr\/share\/backgrounds\/Aardvark_Wallpaper_Grey_4096x2304.png<\/span>);\r\n  background-repeat: no-repeat<\/span>;\r\n  background-size: cover;<\/span>\r\n  background-position: center;<\/span> }<\/pre>\n
Replace Aardvark_Wallpaper_Grey_4096x2304.png<\/code> with your picture file name.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
Finally save the file and restart your computer to apply changes.<\/p>\n
NOTE: these changes may be overwritten in case of an system update with GDM packages. Please let me know if you find a good way to change the GDM3 login background in Ubuntu 17.10.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Boring with the default purple login screen background in Ubuntu 18.04? Well, here’s how to make a change by hacking the css file. UPDATE 2024: This tutorial is outdated and only work for old Ubuntu 18.04!! For most recent Ubuntu versions, see this tutorial instead! Ubuntu since 17.10 switches to Gnome 3 Desktop and GDM […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[780,1468],"class_list":["post-7205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-howtos","tag-gdm","tag-ubuntu-17-10"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}