Getting started with the GNOME desktop environment

Procedure

1. Open the /usr/share/gnome-shell/modes/classic.json file as the root user.

2. Find the following line in the file:

   "hasOverview": false

3. Change the line to the following:

   "hasOverview": true

4. Save changes, and close the /usr/share/gnome-shell/modes/classic.json file.
5. Restart the user session.

Verification

1. In your GNOME Classic session, open multiple windows.
2. Press the Super key to open the window overview.

3. In the overview, check that:

   • The Dash (the horizontal panel on the bottom of the screen) is displayed.
   • The bottom panel is not displayed.

   Window overview with "hasOverview": true

   

   With the default settings ("hasOverview": false), the overview has the following features:

   • The Dash is not displayed.
   • The bottom panel is displayed. It includes the Window picker button in its left part and the workspace switcher in its right part.

   Window overview with "hasOverview": false

   

Procedure

1. From the login screen (GDM), click the gear button in the lower right corner of the screen.

   Note

   You cannot access this option from the lock screen. The login screen appears when you first start RHEL or when you log out of your current session.

   

2. From the drop-down menu that appears, select the option that you prefer.

   In the menu, the X.Org display server is also marked as X11.

Procedure

1. Open the /etc/gdm/custom.conf file as the root user.

2. Locate the following line in the [daemon] section of the file:

   #WaylandEnable=false

3. Uncomment the line by remove the # character. As a result, the line says:

   WaylandEnable=false

4. Reboot the system.

Procedure

1. Open the Activities Overview screen using either of the following ways:

   • Click Activities in the top panel.
   • Press the Super key, which is usually labeled with the Windows logo, ⌘, or 🔍.

2. Find the application using either of the following ways:

   • Click the Show Applications icon in the bottom horizontal bar.

     
   • Type the name of the required application in the search entry.
3. Click the application in the displayed list.

Procedure

1. Open the Applications menu in the top panel.

2. Choose the required application from the available categories, which can include:

   • Favorites
   • Accessories
   • Graphics
   • Internet
   • Office
   • Sound & Video
   • System Tools
   • Utilities

Procedure

1. Open a command prompt using either of the following ways:

   • Open a terminal.

   • Press the Alt+F2 shortcut to open the Enter a Command screen.

     
2. Type the application command in the command prompt.
3. Confirm the command by pressing Enter.

Procedure

1. Open Tweaks. For more details see Launching applications in GNOME.

2. Select Startup Applications in the left side bar.

   

3. Click the plus sign button (+).

   

4. Select an application from the list of available applications and click Add.

   

Verification

1. Open Tweaks.
2. Select Startup Applications in the left side bar.

3. List of applications launched at start will be present in the center section.

   

Procedure

1. Open the Settings application by clicking the gear button.
2. In the Settings application, go to Multitasking.

3. In the General section, disable the Hot Corner button.

   Disabling hot corner using the Settings application

   

Procedure

1. Create the user profile in the /etc/dconf/profile/user file.

   user-db:user
   system-db:local

2. Create a file in the /etc/dconf/db/local.d/ directory, for example /etc/dconf/db/local.d/00-interface, with the following content:

   # Specify the dconf path
   [org/gnome/desktop/interface]
   
   # GSettings key names and their corresponding values
   enable-hot-corners='FALSE'

3. Create a file in the /etc/dconf/db/local.d/locks directory, for example /etc/dconf/db/local.d/locks/00-interface, with the following content:

   # Prevent users from changing values for the following keys:
   /org/gnome/desktop/interface/enable-hot-corners

   The configuration file locks down the /org/gnome/desktop/interface/enable-hot-corners key for all users. This key controls whether the hot corner is enabled.

4. Update the system databases for the changes to take effect.

   # dconf update

5. Ensure that all users log out. The changes take effect when users log back in.

Procedure

1. Open the Files application.
2. Press the Search button.

3. In the text field, type the file name or a part of the file name that you are searching for.

   
4. The window now lists all files in your home directory that match the file name.

Procedure

1. Open the Files application.

2. Navigate to the folder where you want to search for a file.

   The search recursively descends into all folders contained in this location.

3. Press the Search button.

4. Optional: Type the file name or a part of the file name that you are searching for in the text field.

   If you do not provide a file name, the search lists all files that match the other criteria, regardless of their file names.

   

5. Click the triangle button next to the text field.

   In this menu, you can select other search criteria.

   

6. To specify the access or modification time, click Select dates next to the When label. Enter a date or select a time point from the list.

   Below the time list, you can switch between Last modified and Last used.

   

7. To specify the file type, click Anything next to the What label. Select a file type from the list.

   

8. To switch between a search based on file content or file names, use the Full Text and File Name buttons, respectively.

   Note

   The full-text search only works in indexed locations. You can configure the indexed locations in the Search section of the Settings application.

9. Click the triangle button next to the text field to hide the menu.
10. The window now lists all files in the specified directory that match your search criteria.

Procedure

1. Right-click the bookmark in the side bar.

2. Select Remove from the menu.

   

Procedure

1. Right-click the bookmark in the side bar.

2. Select Rename….

   

3. In the Name field, enter the new name for the bookmark.

   
4. Click Rename.

Procedure

1. In the home directory of each existing user, edit the ~user/.config/gtk-3.0/bookmarks file.

2. In the file, add a Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI) line that identifies the bookmark.

   For example, the following lines add bookmarks to the /usr/share/doc/ directory and to the GNOME FTP network share:

   file:///usr/share/doc/
   ftp://ftp.gnome.org/

3. Optional: To also add the bookmarks for every newly created user on the system:

   1. Create the /etc/skel/.config/gtk-3.0/bookmarks file.
   2. Enter the bookmark URI lines in the file.

Procedure

1. Open a GTK application.
2. Make sure that a text field is active.

3. Press Ctrl+;.

   The emoji selection menu opens.

4. Browse the emoji characters or type a keyword that identifies the emoji character that you want to insert, such as smile.

   For the full list of keywords associated with emoji characters, see the Other Keywords column on the Emoji List page.

5. Click the selected character, or navigate to it using the cursor keys and press Enter.

Procedure

1. Open an application.
2. Make sure that a text field is active.

3. Press Ctrl+..

   The underscored letter e appears at your cursor.

4. Type a keyword that identifies the emoji character that you want to insert, such as smile.

   For the full list of keywords associated with emoji characters, see the Other Keywords column on the Emoji List page.

5. Repeatedly press Space to browse the emoji characters that match your keyword.
6. Confirm the selected emoji character by pressing Enter.

Procedure

1. Go to the system menu, which is accessible from the top-right screen corner, and click Settings.

   

2. Select the Keyboard section.

3. In the Input Sources list, review the currently enabled input methods.

   

4. If your input method is missing:

   1. Click the + button under the Input Sources list.

      

   2. Select your language.

      
      Note

      If you cannot find your language in the menu, click the three dots icon (More…) at the end of the menu.

   3. Select the input method that you want to use. A cog wheel icon marks all input methods to distinguish them from simple keyboard layouts.

      
   4. Confirm your selection by clicking Add.

5. Switch the active input method using one of the following ways:

   • Click the input method indicator on the right side of the top panel and select your input method.

     
   • Switch between the enabled input methods using the Super+Space keyboard shortcut.

Verification

1. Open a text editor.
2. Type text in your language.
3. Verify that the text appears in your native script.

Procedure

1. On your Red Hat Enterprise Linux, go to Settings > Bluetooth.
2. Toggle the button at the top-right corner to switch ON the Bluetooth. Your system automatically starts scanning for nearby discoverable devices.
3. Put the device you want to connect within range of your system into pairing mode.
4. When your device is discovered, click on it and follow the on-screen instructions to pair.
5. Optional: Verify the PIN between your Bluetooth device and your system.
6. Click Confirm.

Procedure

1. Enter into the bluetoothctl interactive prompt:

   $ bluetoothctl

2. Check the status of Bluetooth on your system:

   [bluetoothctl]# show
   Powered: no
   Discoverable: no
   DiscoverableTimeout: 0x000000b4
   Pairable: no

   • If bluetoothctl is not powered on, enter:

     [bluetoothctl]# power on

3. Put the device you want to connect within range of your system into pairing mode:

   [bluetoothctl]# discoverable on

   [bluetoothctl]# pairable on

4. Start scanning for Bluetooth devices:

   [bluetoothctl]# scan on

   The list of discovered devices is displayed with their MAC addresses and names (if available).

5. When you find your device, stop scanning:

   [bluetoothctl]# scan off

6. Note the MAC address of the device you want to connect.

7. Pair the device:

   [bluetoothctl]# pair XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

   You might be prompted to confirm a pairing code on your system.

8. Trust the device you paired:

   [bluetoothctl]# trust XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

9. Optional: If you want this device to automatically connect in the future, you can set it as the default:

   [bluetoothctl]# default XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

10. Quit bluetoothctl when you are done:

    [bluetoothctl]# quit

Procedure

1. Open Settings.
2. Click Online Accounts.
3. Select Enterprise Login (Kerberos).
4. In the Principal field, enter your domain username in the username@domain.com format.
5. Click Connect.

6. Enter your enterprise password and click Continue.

   Depending on the configuration of your domain, you might be asked for the domain administrator credentials.

Procedure

1. Open Settings.
2. Click Users.
3. Select the Unlock button and enter your password.
4. Click Add User.
5. Choose Enterprise Login
6. Enter the domain, username, and password for your Enterprise account.

7. Click Add.

   Depending on the domain configuration, you might need to enter administrator credentials.

Procedure

1. Configure a firewall rule to enable VNC access to the server:

   # firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=vnc-server
   success

2. Reload firewall rules:

   # firewall-cmd --reload
   success

3. Open Settings in GNOME.

4. Navigate to the Sharing menu:

   

5. Click Screen Sharing.

   The screen sharing configuration opens:

   

6. Click the switch button in the window header to enable screen sharing:

   

7. Select the Allow connections to control the screen check box.
8. Under Access Options, select the Require a password option.

9. Set a password in the Password field.

   Remote clients must enter this password when connecting to the desktop on the server.

   

Procedure

1. Install the Connections application on the client:

   # dnf install gnome-connections

2. Launch the Connections application.

3. Click the + button to open a new connection.

   

4. Enter the IP address of the server.

   

5. Choose the connection type based on the operating system you want to connect to.
6. Click Connect.

Verification

1. On the client, check that you can see the shared server desktop.

2. On the server, a screen sharing indicator appears on the right side of the top panel:

   

   You can control the screen sharing in the system menu.

Procedure

1. As the server user, set the encryption key of org.gnome.desktop.remote-desktop.vnc GSettings schema to ['none'].

   $ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.remote-desktop.vnc encryption "['none']"

2. Optional: Red Hat recommends that you tunnel the VNC connection over SSH to your VNC port. As a result, the SSH tunnel keeps the connection encrypted.

   For example:

   1. On the client, configure the port forwarding.

      # ssh -N -T -L 5901:server-ip-address:5901 user@server-ip-address

   2. Connect to the VNC session on the localhost:5901 address.

1. /etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-mandatory

   This file replaces the default configuration and has a higher priority than the per-user configuration. It is intended for system administrators who want to enforce particular VNC options.

2. $HOME/.vnc/config

   Individual users can override the default VNC configuration in this file.

3. /etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-defaults

   This file stores the default VNC configuration.

Procedure

1. Map users to display and port numbers.

   In the /etc/tigervnc/vncserver.users configuration file, add a line for each server user that will export a VNC session:

   :user-number=user-name

   • Replace user-number with the port and display number mapped to the selected existing user.
   • Replace user-name with the user name of the selected existing user.

   For example:

   :2=vncuser

2. Open TCP ports 5900 to 5903 in the firewall:

   [root]# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=vnc-server

3. Reload the firewall rules:

   [root]# firewall-cmd --reload

4. Add the following lines to the /etc/tigervnc/vncserver-config-defaults configuration file:

   session=gnome
   alwaysshared

   This configuration has the following effects:

   • The VNC server starts the GNOME session when a remote user logs in.
   • Multiple users can connect to the VNC server at the same time.

5. As each server user that exports a VNC session, set the VNC password for the user:

   [regular-user]$ vncpasswd

   Remote clients must enter this password when connecting to the desktop on the server.

6. If you previously configured VNC for the user, ensure that the configuration files have the correct SELinux context:

   [regular-user]$ restorecon -RFv ~/.vnc

7. Enable and start the VNC server unit for the regular user:

   [root]# systemctl enable --now vncserver@:user-number

8. If the server uses the proprietary Nvidia driver, disable Wayland:

   1. Uncomment the WaylandEnable=False line in the /etc/gdm/custom.conf configuration file.
   2. Add the DefaultSession=gnome-xorg.desktop option to the [daemon] section of the configuration file.
   3. Reboot the server.

Procedure

1. Install basic X11 packages:

   # dnf install xorg-x11-xauth xorg-x11-fonts-\* xorg-x11-utils dbus-x11

   Note

   Your applications might rely on additional graphical libraries.

2. Enable the X11Forwarding option in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config configuration file:

   X11Forwarding yes

   The option is disabled by default in RHEL.

1. Restart the sshd service:

   # systemctl restart sshd.service

Procedure

1. Log in to the server using SSH:

   [local-user]$ ssh -X -Y remote-server
   The authenticity of host 'remote-server (192.168.122.120)' can't be established.
   ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:uYwFlgtP/2YABMHKv5BtN7nHK9SHRL4hdYxAPJVK/kY.
   Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

2. Confirm that a server key is valid by checking its fingerprint.

   Note

   If you plan to log in to the server on a regular basis, add the user’s public key to the server using the ssh-copy-id command.

3. Continue connecting by typing yes.

   Warning: Permanently added 'remote-server' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.

4. When prompted, type the server password.

   local-user's password:
   [local-user ~]$

5. Launch the application from the command line:

   [remote-user]$ application-binary

Procedure

1. Install the waypipe package on the local system.

   # dnf install waypipe

2. Install the waypipe package on the remote system.

   # dnf install waypipe

Procedure

1. Launch the application remotely through waypipe and SSH.

   [local-user]$ waypipe -c lz4=9 ssh remote-server application-binary
   
   The authenticity of host 'remote-server (192.168.122.120)' can't be established.
   ECDSA key fingerprint is SHA256:uYwFlgtP/2YABMHKv5BtN7nHK9SHRL4hdYxAPJVK/kY.
   Are you sure you want to continue connecting (yes/no/[fingerprint])?

2. Confirm that a server key is valid by checking its fingerprint.

3. Continue connecting by typing yes.

   Warning: Permanently added 'remote-server' (ECDSA) to the list of known hosts.

4. When prompted, type the server password.

   remote-user's password:
   [remote-user]$

Procedure

1. Open the Files application.

2. Click Other Locations in the side bar.

   The window lists all connected storage volumes and all network shares that are publicly available on your local area network.

   If you can see the volume or network share in this list, mount it by clicking the item.

   If you want to connect to a different network share, use the following steps.

3. Enter the GVFS URI string to the network share in the Connect to Server field.
4. Press Connect.
5. If the dialog asks you for login credentials, enter your name and password into the relevant fields.
6. When the mounting process finishes, you can browse the files on the volume or network share.

Procedure

1. Open the Files application.
2. In the side bar, click the Unmount (⏏) icon next to the chosen mount.
3. Wait until the mount disappears from the side bar or a notification about the safe removal appears.

Procedure

1. Install the package that provides tablet definition files:

   # dnf install libwacom-data

   The package installs tablet definitions in the /usr/share/libwacom/ directory.

2. Check whether the definition file is available in the /usr/share/libwacom/ directory.

   To use the screen mapping correctly, support for your tablet must be included in the libwacom database and in the udev rules file.

   Important

   A common indicator that a device is not supported by libwacom is that it works normally in a GNOME session, but the device is not correctly mapped to the screen.

3. If the definition file for your device is not available in /usr/share/libwacom/, you have these options:

   • The required definition file may already be available in the linuxwacom/libwacom upstream repository. You can try to find the definition file there. If you find your tablet model in the list, copy the file to the local machine.

   • You can create a new tablet definition file. Use the data/wacom.example file below, and edit particular lines based on the characteristics of your device.

     Example 17.1. Example model file description for a tablet

     [Device]
     
     # The product is the product name announced by the kernel
     Product=Intuos 4 WL 6x9
     
     # Vendor name of this tablet
     Vendor=Wacom
     
     # DeviceMatch includes the bus (usb, serial), the vendor ID and the actual
     # product ID
     DeviceMatch=usb:056a:00bc
     
     # Class of the tablet. Valid classes include Intuos3, Intuos4, Graphire, Bamboo, Cintiq
     Class=Intuos4
     
     # Exact model of the tablet, not including the size.
     Model=Intuos 4 Wireless
     
     # Width in inches, as advertised by the manufacturer
     Width=9
     
     # Height in inches, as advertised by the manufacturer
     Height=6
     
     # Optional features that this tablet supports
     # Some features are dependent on the actual tool used, e.g. not all styli
     # have an eraser and some styli have additional custom axes (e.g. the
     # airbrush pen). These features describe those available on the tablet.
     #
     # Features not set in a file default to false/0
     
     [Features]
     # This tablet supports styli (and erasers, if present on the actual stylus)
     Stylus=true
     
     # This tablet supports touch.
     Touch=false
     
     # This tablet has a touch ring (Intuos4 and Cintiq 24HD)
     Ring=true
     # This tablet has a second touch ring (Cintiq 24HD)
     Ring2=false
     
     # This tablet has a vertical/horizontal scroll strip
     VStrip=false
     HStrip=false
     
     # Number of buttons on the tablet
     Buttons=9
     
     # This tablet is built-in (most serial tablets, Cintiqs)
     BuiltIn=false

Procedure

1. Add and install the definition file with the .tablet suffix:

   # cp <tablet_definition_file>.tablet /usr/share/libwacom/

   After it is installed, the tablet is part of the libwacom database. The tablet is then available through libwacom-list-local-devices.

2. Create a new /etc/udev/rules/99-libwacom-override.rules file with the following content so that your settings are not overwritten:

   ACTION!="add|change", GOTO="libwacom_end"
   KERNEL!="event[0-9]*", GOTO="libwacom_end"
   
   [new tablet match entries go here]
   
   LABEL="libwacom_end"

3. Reboot your system.