Switching users from GUI on Stretch.

[Dinosaur]

Hi All

Running Debian GNU Linux 9.8 (Stretch) on a Beaglebone Black.
Installed on a 32Gb uSD using firstly the image:
Debian 9.5 2018-10-07 4GB SD LXQT
Upgraded using terminal commands.

Then installed various packages using terminal:
Qupzilla, Calculator, Geany, FreeBasic, Libpruio, libcgui, lib Allegro4.4 etc.
Just packages to allow me to program an application, compile it and test it.
Then copying the application to the Flash drive on the BBB eventually creates a standalone device
without the uSD.

Have everything working the way I want, EXCEPT for one thing.
I can't switch to admin from the gui to perform certain functions.

So, I go through the terminal commands to create the users and give them permissions.

Then I expect to see them in "Users and Groups" from the gui menu.
Nope.
They are visible in the terminal.

So, I try to Add to the menu, (Users and Groups) but whatever I do, I get "No authentication agent found"
I expect that I need to be at least admin to edit the entries on that menu.
BUT, how to get to being "admin" in the gui ?

OK, so
logout from my carefully prepared screen layout, and login as root.

Open the same "Users and Groups" from the menu and try to add users to this list,
so that I can pick one from the list.
Same errors.

OK, reboot and go back to standard user.
WOW, Screen completely altered showing the /home/debian folder list as folders on the screen.
All my icons are gone.
No amount of fiddling would get my screen back.

Re-write the image onto the uSD and try again.
No success, the same screen corruption will happen once I go to root user.

If I browse using PCManFM and look at the "Desktop" contents, my icons are there , but the folder list is not ????
yet the folder list is all that is displayed.No other workspaces are visible on the taskbar, so I have to assume that
I am on the one and only workspace.

I have no idea how to get rid of this screen and get my "Desktop" back.
So, rewrite the disk AGAIN.

The AIM, was to simply allow me to change users from the "Users and Groups" menu option.

Does anybody have any constructive suggestions as to what I am doing wrong, or need to do right.

Regards

Regards

[GarryRicketson]

Very long post, so maybe I just missed it, but

The AIM, was to simply allow me to change users from the "Users and Groups" menu option.

Does anybody have any constructive suggestions as to what I am doing wrong, or need to do right.

and as the title says: Switching users from GUI on Stretch
What menu ? What GUI ? I don't see any where in the long post that gives us a hint as to what WindowManager or Desktop Environment, nothing to indicate what GUI you are talking about,... "Does anybody have any constructive suggestions ",
please clarify and give some relative details, IE, if it is the KDE DE, and menu, or Maybe it is XFCE, ..?

I have no idea how to get rid of this screen and get my "Desktop" back

Neither do I , especially since I have no idea what Desktop Environment , it was to start with.
Why not just restore the system with the backup you made, before you started mucking around and changing things ?

[Dinosaur]

Hi All

Garry thanks for taking the time to reply.
Here was me thinking I provided enough info.

The image I wrote above.

Debian 9.5 2018-10-07 4GB SD LXQT

runs LXQt with the Window Manager being Qx.

Left clicking the Debian logo on the lower task bar opens a Menu.
/preferences/lxqt settings/users and groups pops up a lists of users.
It's Title is Users and Groups Settings.
It allows "Add , Delete , Properties , Change Password and Refresh.
Currently it only shows one user "Debian" and another as "nobody"

A greyed out area shows a tick box (not ticked) and "Show system users".

I guess the Beaglebone Black Debian version is probably not your everyday installation, so for me to assume that someone would
immediately pick up on it's spec was probably over ambitious.

Regards

[Head_on_a_Stick]

Have everything working the way I want, EXCEPT for one thing.
I can't switch to admin from the gui to perform certain functions.

There is no "admin" in GNU/Linux, that's a Windows thing.

If you mean "root" then I would have to ask what it is that you want to do on a graphical desktop as root?

The only thing I can think of is gparted and that program provides the necessary configuration to run it under polkit with elevated permissions:

Code: Select all

pkexec gparted

So, I go through the terminal commands to create the users and give them permissions.

Are we allowed to know the exact commands that you used or are they a closely guarded secret?

how to get to being "admin" in the gui ?

From a terminal:

Code: Select all

su -

Or

Code: Select all

sudo -i

If you mean "how do I launch a graphical program as root" then stop being silly (or look up how to use pkexec(1) — you can check /usr/share/polkit-1/actions/com.ubuntu.pkexec.gparted.policy for an example of how to configure a graphical program to launch as root but it is a bad idea generally).

login as root

*Never* login to the graphical desktop as root.

The AIM, was to simply allow me to change users from the "Users and Groups" menu option.

^ I don't understand this

Can you explain more please?

You can switch users from the login screen, is that what you mean?

Beaglebone Black Debian version

Have you seen https://elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack_Debian?

[Dinosaur]

Hi All

Thanks for the reply.
I should clarify that although I am a beginner in Debian I have been running Mint on my laptop for a few years now.
My main task in life is designing and building computerised food machinery.
Have been doing that for 40 years, from Dos to FreeDos to XPe and finally the last 8 years Linux.
From S100 bus Z80 to ISA bus to "Fitlet" and now experimenting with Beaglebone Black.

There is no "admin" in GNU/Linux, that's a Windows thing.

The default setup has an "admin" group.
But I agree that term belongs elsewhere.

If you mean "root" then I would have to ask what it is that you want to do on a graphical desktop as root?

When setting up machines I frequently open folders as root to edit files or to be allowed to copy files to that folder.
In Mint I can right click on a folder (and file I think) and "Open as Root"
To do the things I want to do, the gui is the most convenient.I am not the average desktop user in my needs.

So, the Menu I described doesn't allow me to even ADD a user, because of not having the permission.So how am I expected to do it.?
I have discovered that with the browser PCManFM a mod was available to add "Open as Root", which I did, and it works.

Appreciate the link, no matter how much you google, there is always a site (or sub-site) that you have missed. And I did miss that one.

REgards

[Head_on_a_Stick]

I have been running Mint on my laptop for a few years now.

Ah, my condolences

When setting up machines I frequently open folders as root to edit files or to be allowed to copy files to that folder.

Use the terminal instead: it is faster, less buggy and more secure.

[stevepusser]

I have been running Mint on my laptop for a few years now.

Ah, my condolences

When setting up machines I frequently open folders as root to edit files or to be allowed to copy files to that folder.

Use the terminal instead: it is faster, less buggy and more secure.

This! Or copy the file to a local folder, edit it there, and copy it back where it came from in the terminal as sudo or as root. You can do all this stuff in the terminal--probably faster than going through a GUI.

The "Edit as Root" option is some extra goody added by Mint. If you know what action they added to what file manager, you could reproduce it in Debian. We have as a custom action for Thunar in MX Linux, or for Dolphin and Konqueror with a "kde-servicemenu-rootactions" package that uses pkexec.

[Dinosaur]

Hi All

Sorry for the late response, must see if I can enable email notification on this forum.

I have solved it in a round about way and still stick to the gui.

Open debian menu and drag the users & groups to the dektop.
Then using the file manager browse to the Desktop.
Browser option /Tool/Open as root opens the desktop folder as root.
Then any icon you click will execute in root. (carefully of course).

REgards
Many thanks for the replies.

[GarryRicketson]

must see if I can enable email notification on this forum.

It is not listed as expected, but under "How to subscribe to a topic",
if you subscribe to a topic, then you should receive a e-mail notice when there are replies
At the bottom, when you are posting, check the box for : Notify me when a reply is posted

http://forums.debian.net/faq.php#f8r1