Skip to main content
Version: 1.5
██████╗  █████╗ ███╗   ██╗██╗  ██╗ ██████╗ ██████╗ ███████╗███████╗████████╗
██╔══██╗██╔══██╗████╗  ██║██║ ██╔╝██╔════╝ ██╔══██╗██╔════╝██╔════╝╚══██╔══╝
██║  ██║███████║██╔██╗ ██║█████╔╝ ██║  ███╗██████╔╝█████╗  █████╗     ██║
██║  ██║██╔══██║██║╚██╗██║██╔═██╗ ██║   ██║██╔══██╗██╔══╝  ██╔══╝     ██║
██████╔╝██║  ██║██║ ╚████║██║  ██╗╚██████╔╝██║  ██║███████╗███████╗   ██║
╚═════╝ ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚═╝  ╚═══╝╚═╝  ╚═╝ ╚═════╝ ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚══════╝╚══════╝   ╚═╝

Installation

Installation Methods​

Already have the DankLinux repository?

If DMS or another DankLinux package is already installed, the repository is already configured. The simplest option is:

dms greeter install

This installs the package and handles all configuration automatically.

⚠️ This replaces your current display manager.

Distro Installation​

Arch & Derivatives​

paru -S greetd-dms-greeter-git

Fedora & CentOS​

sudo dnf copr enable avengemedia/danklinux
sudo dnf install dms-greeter

The dms-greeter RPM installs /usr/lib/sysusers.d/dms-greeter.conf so the greeter user is recreated from /usr on every boot. That matters on Fedora Atomic, Universal Blue, bootc, and other ostree systems where install-time useradd in /etc/passwd may not persist.

Debian & Ubuntu​

Debian​

Packages are published on OBS for Debian 13 (Trixie), Debian Testing, and Debian Sid.

Select your release:

curl -fsSL https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/Debian_13/Release.key | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/danklinux.gpg
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/danklinux.gpg] https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/AvengeMedia:/danklinux/Debian_13/ /" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/danklinux.list
sudo apt update
sudo apt install dms-greeter

Ubuntu​

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS+ (Resolute Raccoon) is supported via Launchpad PPA.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:avengemedia/danklinux
sudo apt update
sudo apt install dms-greeter

openSUSE & Derivatives​

DankGreeter is available through the Open Build Service (OBS) for OpenSUSE Tumbleweed, Leap 16/16.1, and Slowroll.

Select your distribution:

sudo zypper addrepo https://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux/openSUSE_Tumbleweed/home:AvengeMedia:danklinux.repo
sudo zypper refresh
sudo zypper install dms-greeter

Void Linux​

note

Void packages are pending submission to the official void-packages repository. Until they are merged upstream, you can install them from our self-hosted custom XBPS repositories or build them from source.

echo "repository=https://avengemedia.github.io/DankLinux/current" | sudo tee /etc/xbps.d/danklinux.conf
sudo xbps-install -Su
sudo xbps-install -S dms-greeter
note

On the first sync, xbps-install will output our signing key fingerprint and ask you to type y to trust and import it. Verify that the key matches our official signing fingerprint.

After installation, proceed to Completing Setup below.

Greeter system user (RPM, DEB, and immutable systems)​

Official dms-greeter packages (Arch AUR, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, openSUSE) ship two systemd declarations under /usr:

FilePurpose
/usr/lib/sysusers.d/dms-greeter.confDeclares the greeter UNIX account (home /var/lib/greeter, shell /bin/bash)
/usr/lib/tmpfiles.d/dms-greeter.confCreates /var/cache/dms-greeter and /var/lib/greeter with greeter:greeter ownership

systemd-sysusers applies the user definition at boot and on package install. Package scriptlets (useradd / adduser) remain as a fallback on traditional mutable systems.

Immutable and image-based systems​

On Fedora Atomic, Universal Blue, bootc, Zirconium, and similar systems:

  • Install dms-greeter from your distro repo (layered package or image build). Do not rely on dms greeter install, dms greeter enable, or dms greeter uninstall — those commands are disabled on immutable systems by DMS CLI policy.
  • After installing or upgrading dms-greeter, reboot once if getent passwd greeter is empty (sysusers runs early in boot).
  • Configure /etc/greetd/config.toml, enable greetd, and set up theme sync using your distro or image documentation. dms greeter sync may still work for theme files if not blocked by your image policy.

Verify the account:

getent passwd greeter
getent group greeter
ls -l /usr/lib/sysusers.d/dms-greeter.conf
systemd-sysusers --dry-run | grep greeter

If you previously added a manual /usr/lib/sysusers.d/dms-greeter.conf workaround (for example on Zirconium before upstream packaging), you can remove it once dms-greeter from DankLinux includes the same file.

Gentoo​

note

DMS must already be installed on your system before running this command. The greeter wrapper is sourced from your local DMS installation.

dms greeter install

This will automatically install greetd via Portage, copy the greeter wrapper from your local DMS installation, configure permissions, and set up greetd to use DMS. To start the greeter immediately without rebooting, run sudo systemctl start greetd.

NixOS​

tip

NixOS has dedicated documentation with two installation methods:

Void Linux​

Install the dms-greeter package (see the DMS installation guide to configure the repository), then install and enable it:

sudo xbps-install -S dms-greeter
dms greeter enable
dms greeter sync     # optional: share theming with the shell

On Void, dms greeter enable sets up everything logind provides automatically on systemd distros: it configures greetd, enables seatd, adds the _greeter user to the _seatd/video/input groups, and adds pam_rundir to /etc/pam.d/greetd so the post-login session gets an XDG_RUNTIME_DIR.

A Wayland compositor (niri, hyprland, sway, …) and a working DRM device (/dev/dri/card*) are required and are not pulled in automatically.

Installer & Manual Installation​

DankInstall Users​

(Niri and Hyprland users only)

dms-greeter is an opt-in component in the DankInstaller. It can be toggled on during the installation process, but is skipped by default to ensure users consciously choose to enable it (since it replaces your current display manager).

If you enable dms-greeter in DankInstall, the full greeter setup (permissions, ACLs, greetd configuration, service enablement) runs automatically at the end of the install process. No further steps are required.

If you skipped it during dankinstall and want to add it later, install the package for your distro (see the sections above) and then proceed to Completing Setup.

warning

Enabling dms-greeter will replace your current display manager.

Manual installation (DMS already installed)​

If you already have DMS installed but need to set up the greeter manually, install greetd and then the greeter wrapper:

sudo wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/AvengeMedia/DankMaterialShell/refs/heads/master/quickshell/Modules/Greetd/assets/dms-greeter -O /usr/local/bin/dms-greeter
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/dms-greeter

Then proceed to Completing Setup below, using the following command in /etc/greetd/config.toml:

command = "dms-greeter --command niri -p /usr/share/quickshell/dms"

Manual installation (without DMS)​

For non-dankinstall users without DMS, install greetd, quickshell, and then the greeter:

sudo mkdir -p /etc/xdg/quickshell
sudo git clone https://github.com/AvengeMedia/DankMaterialShell.git /etc/xdg/quickshell/dms-greeter
sudo mkdir /var/cache/dms-greeter
sudo chown greeter:greeter /var/cache/dms-greeter
note

Some distributions may have different user/group names for the greetd user.

Prerequisites for Theme Syncing​

ACLs (Access Control Lists) are required to allow the greeter user to traverse your home directory and access configuration files. The acl package is installed automatically when you run dms greeter sync or dms greeter install, so no manual action is needed on supported distributions.

Completing Setup​

If you used dms greeter install​

This applies to any distro where you ran dms greeter install, including Arch Linux (requires paru or yay), Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, openSUSE, and Gentoo.

Configuration, permissions, theme syncing, and greetd service enablement are all handled automatically. To start the greeter immediately without rebooting:

sudo systemctl start greetd

You can verify your setup at any time with dms greeter status. dms greeter sync can be re-run after theme changes.

If you installed the package manually​

This applies to: Arch Linux, and any other distro where you installed the package manually using the commands above.

After installing the package, run these two commands to complete setup:

1. Enable the Greeter​

dms greeter enable

This will:

  • Configure /etc/greetd/config.toml with the correct compositor command
  • Disable conflicting display managers (gdm, lightdm, sddm)
  • Enable and start the greetd service

2. Sync with Your User Theme​

dms greeter sync

This will:

  • Install acl (if not already installed)
  • Add your user to the greeter group (if needed)
  • Set up ACL permissions on parent directories for greeter access
  • Configure group permissions on DMS config directories
  • Create symlinks to sync settings, wallpapers, and color themes
  • Create your per-user cache slot at /var/cache/dms-greeter/users/<username>/
note

After running dms greeter sync, you will need to log out and log back in for group membership changes to take effect.

Multi-user systems

One main admin runs dms greeter sync once for system setup. Add every other user to the greeter group in Settings → Users (greeter access toggle), or with sudo usermod -aG greeter <username>. Each of those accounts should then run dms greeter sync --profile after logging out and back in—not full sync. See Configuration → Multi-user systems.

note

NixOS users: The dms greeter enable and dms greeter sync commands are not available on NixOS. Please follow the manual steps below or see the NixOS installation guides.

For all users​

You can check your greeter configuration at any time:

dms greeter status

This verifies your greeter setup and sync status. See the Configuration guide for detailed information.

Manual Setup (all distros)​

If you prefer to set up the greeter manually, follow these steps:

tip

All users: You can use dms greeter enable to automate this process instead of following the manual steps below.

  1. Edit /etc/greetd/config.toml and set command = to use dms-greeter:
[terminal]
vt = 1

[default_session]
user = "greeter"
command = "dms-greeter --command niri"
### Uncomment the below line to run the greeter on Hyprland
# command = "dms-greeter --command Hyprland"
### Uncomment to run the greeter on sway
# command = "dms-greeter --command sway"
### Uncomment to run the greeter on Miracle WM
# command = "dms-greeter --command miracle-wm"
  1. Disable any existing conflicting greeters:
warning

Disabling a greeter while logged in under that greeter will log you out and bring you to a non-graphical TTY.

sudo systemctl disable gdm lightdm sddm
  1. Enable and start the greeter:
sudo systemctl enable greetd
sudo systemctl start greetd