man kdmctl (1): kdm remote control application

SYNOPSIS

kdmctl [options] [command [command arguments]]

DESCRIPTION

kdmctl is an application to remote-control kdm. It makes use of UNIX domain sockets.

There are two types of sockets: the global one (dmctl) and the per-display ones (dmctl-<display>). The global one's subdir is owned by root, the subdirs of the per-display ones' are owned by the user currently owning the session (root or the logged in user).

The directory in which the sockets are located is determined this way:

: - the -s option is examined
- the $DM_CONTROL variable is examined
- the kdm config file is searched for the FifoDir key
-/var/run/xdmctl and /var/run are tried

If $DISPLAY is set (or -d was specified) and -g was not specified, the display-specific control socket will be used, otherwise the global one.

Tokens in the command and the reply are tab-separated. Command arguments can be specified as separate command line parameters, in which case they are simply concatenated with tabs in between.

If the command is '-', kdmctl reads commands from stdin. The default command is 'caps'.

OPTIONS

Options:

-h -help: print help message.
-g -global: Use global control socket even if $DISPLAY is set
-d -display: Override $DISPLAY
-s -sockets: Override $DM_CONTROL
-c -config: Use alternative kdm config file

Commands:

Global commands:

login: display (now|schedule) user password [session_arguments]

login user at specified display. if "now" is specified, a possibly running session is killed, otherwise the login is done after the session exits.
session_arguments are printf-like escaped contents for .dmrc. Unlisted keys will default to previously saved values.

Per-display commands:

lock: The display is marked as locked. If the X-Server crashes in this state, no auto-relogin will be performed even if the option is on.
unlock: Reverse the effect of "lock": re-enable auto-relogin.
suicide: The currently running session is forcibly terminated. No auto-relogin is attempted, but a scheduled "login" command will be executed.

Commands for all sockets:

caps

Returns a list of this socket's capabilities:

- kdm

identifies kdm, in case some other DM implements this protocol, too.

- list, activate, lock, suicide, login

the respective command is supported.

- bootoptions

the "listbootoptions" command and the "=" option to "shutdown" are supported.

- shutdown <list>

"shutdown" is supported and allowed to the listed users (comma-separated). "*" means all authenticated users.

- shutdown

"shutdown" is supported and allowed to everybody.

- nuke <list>

forced shutdown is allowed to the listed users.

- nuke

forced shutdown is allowed to everybody.

- reserve <number>

reserve displays are configured and <number> are available at this time.

list [all|alllocal]

Return a list of running sessions. By default all active sessions are listed. If "all" is specified, passive sessions are listed as well. If "alllocal" is specified, passive sessions are listed as well, but all incoming remote sessions are skipped.

Each session entry is a comma-separated tuple of:

- Display or TTY name
- VT name for local sessions
- Logged in user's name, empty for passive sessions and outgoing

remote sessions (local chooser mode)
- Session type or remote host for outgoing remote sessions,

empty for passive sessions
- A flag field:

: - "t" for tty sessions
- "*" for the display belonging to the requesting socket
- "!" for sessions that cannot be killed by the requesting

socket
- New flags might be added later

- New fields might be added later

reserve [timeout in seconds]

Start a reserve login screen. If nobody logs in within the specified amount of time (one minute by default), the display is removed again. When the session on the display exits, the display is removed, too.
Permitted only on sockets of local displays and the global socket.

activate (vt|display)

Switch to a particular VT (virtual terminal). The VT may be specified either directly (e.g., vt3) or by a display using it (e.g., :2).
Permitted only on sockets of local displays and the global socket.

listbootoptions

List available boot options.
=> "ok" list default current default and current are indices into the list and are -1 if unset or undeterminable.

shutdown (reboot|halt) [=bootchoice]

Request a system shutdown, either a reboot or a halt/poweroff.

An OS choice for the next boot may be specified from the list returned by "listbootoptions".

Shutdowns requested from per-display sockets are executed when the current session on that display exits. Such a request may pop up a dialog asking for confirmation and/or authentication.

start is the time for which the shutdown is scheduled. If it starts with a plus-sign, the current time is added. Zero means immediately.

end is the latest time at which the shutdown should be performed if active sessions are still running. If it starts with a plus-sign, the start time is added. Minus one means wait infinitely. If end is through and active sessions are still running, KDM can do one of the following:

: - "cancel" - give up the shutdown.
- "force" - shut down nonetheless.
- "forcemy" - shut down nonetheless if all active sessions

belong to the requesting user. Only for per-display sockets.

start and end are specified in seconds since the UNIX epoch.

"trynow" is a synonym for "0 0 cancel", "forcenow" for "0 0 force" and "schedule" for "0 -1".

"ask" attempts an immediate shutdown and interacts with the user if active sessions are still running. Only for per-display sockets.

shutdown cancel [local|global]

Cancel a scheduled shutdown. The global socket always cancels the currently pending shutdown, while per-display sockets default to cancelling their queued request.

shutdown status

Return a list with information about shutdowns.
The entries are comma-separated tuples of:

: - ("global"|"local") - pending vs. queued shutdown. A local

entry can be returned only by a per-display socket.
- ("halt"|"reboot")
- start
- end
- ("ask"|"force"|"forcemy"|"cancel")
- Numeric user ID of the requesting user, -1 for the global

socket.
- The next boot OS choice or "-" for none.
- New fields might be added later.

AUTHORS

Oswald Buddenhagen <[email protected]>

Please use http://bugs.kde.org to report bugs; do not mail the authors directly.

This manual page was written by Holger Hartmann <[email protected]> for the Debian Project (but may be used by others). Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Version 2 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation.

On Debian systems, the complete text of the GNU General Public License can be found in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL.