# Dank (dms) Greeter
A greeter for [greetd](https://github.com/kennylevinsen/greetd) that follows the aesthetics of the dms lock screen.
## Features
- **Multi user**: Login with any system user
- **dms sync**: Sync settings with dms for consistent styling between shell and greeter
- **niri or Hyprland**: Use either niri or Hyprland for the greeter's compositor.
- **Custom PAM**: Supports custom PAM configuration in `/etc/pam.d/dankshell`
- **Session Memory**: Remembers last selected session and user
## Installation
### Arch Linux
Arch linux users can install [greetd-dms-greeter-git](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/greetd-dms-greeter-git) from the AUR.
```bash
paru -S greetd-dms-greeter-git
# Or with yay
yay -S greetd-dms-greeter-git
```
Once installed, disable any existing display manager and enable greetd:
```bash
sudo systemctl disable gdm sddm lightdm
sudo systemctl enable greetd
```
#### Syncing themes (Optional)
To sync your wallpaper and theme with the greeter login screen:
```bash
dms-greeter-sync
```
Then logout/login for changes to take effect. Your wallpaper and theme will appear on the greeter!
What does dms-greeter-sync do?
The `dms-greeter-sync` helper automatically:
- Adds you to the greeter group
- Sets minimal ACL permissions on parent directories (traverse only)
- Sets group ownership on your DMS config directories
- Creates symlinks to share your theme files with the greeter
This uses standard Linux ACLs (Access Control Lists) - the same security model used by GNOME, KDE, and systemd. The greeter user only gets traverse permission through your directories and can only read the specific theme files you share.
Manual theme syncing (advanced)
If you prefer to set up theme syncing manually:
```bash
# Add yourself to greeter group
sudo usermod -aG greeter
# Set ACLs to allow greeter to traverse your directories
setfacl -m u:greeter:x ~ ~/.config ~/.local ~/.cache ~/.local/state
# Set group ownership on config directories
sudo chgrp -R greeter ~/.config/DankMaterialShell
sudo chgrp -R greeter ~/.local/state/DankMaterialShell
sudo chgrp -R greeter ~/.cache/quickshell
sudo chmod -R g+rX ~/.config/DankMaterialShell ~/.local/state/DankMaterialShell ~/.cache/quickshell
# Create symlinks
sudo ln -sf ~/.config/DankMaterialShell/settings.json /var/cache/dms-greeter/settings.json
sudo ln -sf ~/.local/state/DankMaterialShell/session.json /var/cache/dms-greeter/session.json
sudo ln -sf ~/.cache/quickshell/dankshell/dms-colors.json /var/cache/dms-greeter/colors.json
# Logout and login for group membership to take effect
```
### Fedora / RHEL / Rocky / Alma
Install from COPR or build the RPM:
```bash
# From COPR (when available)
sudo dnf copr enable avenge/dms
sudo dnf install dms-greeter
# Or build locally
cd /path/to/DankMaterialShell
rpkg local
sudo rpm -ivh x86_64/dms-greeter-*.rpm
```
The package automatically:
- Creates the greeter user
- Sets up directories and permissions
- Configures greetd with auto-detected compositor
- Applies SELinux contexts
Then disable existing display manager and enable greetd:
```bash
sudo systemctl disable gdm sddm lightdm
sudo systemctl enable greetd
```
**Optional:** Sync your theme with the greeter:
```bash
dms-greeter-sync
```
Then logout/login to see your wallpaper on the greeter!
### Automatic
The easiest thing is to run `dms greeter install` or `dms` for interactive installation.
### Manual
1. Install `greetd` (in most distro's standard repositories) and `quickshell`
2. Create the greeter user (if not already created by greetd):
```bash
sudo groupadd -r greeter
sudo useradd -r -g greeter -d /var/lib/greeter -s /bin/bash -c "System Greeter" greeter
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/greeter
sudo chown greeter:greeter /var/lib/greeter
```
3. Clone the dms project to `/etc/xdg/quickshell/dms-greeter`:
```bash
sudo git clone https://github.com/AvengeMedia/DankMaterialShell.git /etc/xdg/quickshell/dms-greeter
```
4. Copy `Modules/Greetd/assets/dms-greeter` to `/usr/local/bin/dms-greeter`:
```bash
sudo cp /etc/xdg/quickshell/dms-greeter/Modules/Greetd/assets/dms-greeter /usr/local/bin/dms-greeter
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/dms-greeter
```
5. Create greeter cache directory with proper permissions:
```bash
sudo mkdir -p /var/cache/dms-greeter
sudo chown greeter:greeter /var/cache/dms-greeter
sudo chmod 750 /var/cache/dms-greeter
```
6. Edit or create `/etc/greetd/config.toml`:
```toml
[terminal]
vt = 1
[default_session]
user = "greeter"
# Change compositor to sway or hyprland if preferred
command = "/usr/local/bin/dms-greeter --command niri"
```
7. Disable existing display manager and enable greetd:
```bash
sudo systemctl disable gdm sddm lightdm
sudo systemctl enable greetd
```
8. (Optional) Install the `dms-greeter-sync` helper for easy theme syncing:
```bash
# Download or copy the dms-greeter-sync script from the spec file
sudo cp /path/to/dms-greeter-sync /usr/local/bin/dms-greeter-sync
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/dms-greeter-sync
```
#### Legacy installation (deprecated)
If you prefer the old method with separate shell scripts and config files:
1. Copy `assets/dms-niri.kdl` or `assets/dms-hypr.conf` to `/etc/greetd`
2. Copy `assets/greet-niri.sh` or `assets/greet-hyprland.sh` to `/usr/local/bin/start-dms-greetd.sh`
3. Edit the config file and replace `_DMS_PATH_` with your DMS installation path
4. Configure greetd to use `/usr/local/bin/start-dms-greetd.sh`
### NixOS
To install the greeter on NixOS add the repo to your flake inputs as described in the readme. Then somewhere in your NixOS config add this to imports:
```nix
imports = [
inputs.dankMaterialShell.nixosModules.greeter
]
```
Enable the greeter with this in your NixOS config:
```nix
programs.dankMaterialShell.greeter = {
enable = true;
compositor.name = "niri"; # or set to hyprland
configHome = "/home/user"; # optionally copyies that users DMS settings (and wallpaper if set) to the greeters data directory as root before greeter starts
};
```
## Usage
### Using dms-greeter wrapper (recommended)
The `dms-greeter` wrapper simplifies running the greeter with any compositor:
```bash
dms-greeter --command niri
dms-greeter --command hyprland
dms-greeter --command sway
dms-greeter --command niri -C /path/to/custom-niri.kdl
```
Configure greetd to use it in `/etc/greetd/config.toml`:
```toml
[terminal]
vt = 1
[default_session]
user = "greeter"
command = "/usr/local/bin/dms-greeter --command niri"
```
### Manual usage
To run dms in greeter mode you can also manually set environment variables:
```bash
DMS_RUN_GREETER=1 qs -p /path/to/dms
```
### Configuration
#### Compositor
You can configure compositor specific settings such as outputs/displays the same as you would in niri or Hyprland.
Simply edit `/etc/greetd/dms-niri.kdl` or `/etc/greetd/dms-hypr.conf` to change compositor settings for the greeter
#### Personalization
The greeter can be personalized with wallpapers, themes, weather, clock formats, and more - configured exactly the same as dms.
**Easiest method:** Run `dms-greeter-sync` to automatically sync your DMS theme with the greeter.
**Manual method:** You can manually synchronize configurations if you want greeter settings to always mirror your shell:
```bash
# Add yourself to the greeter group
sudo usermod -aG greeter $USER
# Set ACLs to allow greeter user to traverse your home directory
setfacl -m u:greeter:x ~ ~/.config ~/.local ~/.cache ~/.local/state
# Set group permissions on DMS directories
sudo chgrp -R greeter ~/.config/DankMaterialShell ~/.local/state/DankMaterialShell ~/.cache/quickshell
sudo chmod -R g+rX ~/.config/DankMaterialShell ~/.local/state/DankMaterialShell ~/.cache/quickshell
# Create symlinks for theme files
sudo ln -sf ~/.config/DankMaterialShell/settings.json /var/cache/dms-greeter/settings.json
sudo ln -sf ~/.local/state/DankMaterialShell/session.json /var/cache/dms-greeter/session.json
sudo ln -sf ~/.cache/quickshell/dankshell/dms-colors.json /var/cache/dms-greeter/colors.json
# Logout and login for group membership to take effect
```
**Advanced:** You can override the configuration path with the `DMS_GREET_CFG_DIR` environment variable or the `--cache-dir` flag when using `dms-greeter`. The default is `/var/cache/dms-greeter`.
The cache directory should be owned by `greeter:greeter` with `770` permissions.