GNOME-SESSION(1)					      General Commands Manual						  GNOME-SESSION(1)

NAME

       gnome-session - Start the GNOME desktop environment

SYNOPSIS

       gnome-session [-a|--autostart=DIR] [--session=SESSION] [--failsafe|-f] [--debug] [--whale]

DESCRIPTION

       The  gnome-session  program  starts up the GNOME desktop environment. This command is typically executed by your login manager (either gdm,
       xdm, or from your X startup scripts). It will load either your saved session, or it will provide a default session for the user as  defined
       by the system administrator (or the default GNOME installation on your system).

       The  default  session  is  defined  in  gnome.session,  a .desktop-like file that is looked for in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnome-session/sessions,
       $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/gnome-session/sessions and $XDG_DATA_DIRS/gnome-session/sessions.

       When saving a session, gnome-session saves the currently running applications in  the  $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnome-session/saved-session  direc-
       tory.

       gnome-session is an X11R6 session manager. It can manage GNOME applications as well as any X11R6 SM compliant application.

OPTIONS

       The following options are supported:

       --autostart=DIR
	      Start  all  applications defined in DIR, instead of starting the applications defined in gnome.session, or via the --session option.
	      Multiple --autostart options can be passed.

       --session=SESSION
	      Use the applications defined in SESSION.session. If not specified, gnome.session will be used.

       --failsafe
	      Run in fail-safe mode. User-specified applications will not be started.

       --debug
	      Enable debugging code.

       --whale
	      Show the fail whale in a dialog for debugging it.

SESSION DEFINITION

       Sessions are defined in .session files, that are using a .desktop-like format, with the following keys in the GNOME Session group:

       Name   Name of the session. This can be localized.

       RequiredComponents
	      List of component identifiers (desktop files) that are required by the session. The required components will always run in the  ses-
	      sion.

       Here is an example of a session definition:

	   [GNOME Session]
	   Name=GNOME
	   RequiredComponents=gnome-shell;gnome-settings-daemon;

       The   .session	files	are   looked   for   in   $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnome-session/sessions,   $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/gnome-session/sessions   and
       $XDG_DATA_DIRS/gnome-session/sessions.

ENVIRONMENT

       gnome-session sets several environment variables for the use of its child processes:

       SESSION_MANAGER

	      This variable is used by session-manager aware clients to contact gnome-session.

       DISPLAY

	      This variable is set to the X display being used by gnome-session. Note that if the --display option is used this might be different
	      from the setting of the environment variable when gnome-session is invoked.

FILES

       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/config/autostart $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/config/autostart /usr/share/gnome/autostart

	      The applications defined in those directories will be started on login.  gnome-session-properties(1) can be used to easily configure
	      them.

       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnome-session/sessions $XDG_CONFIG_DIRS/gnome-session/sessions $XDG_DATA_DIRS/gnome-session/sessions

	      These directories contain the .session files that can be used with the --session option.

       $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/gnome-session/saved-session

	      This directory contains the list of applications of the saved session.

BUGS

       If you find bugs in the gnome-session program, please report these on https://bugzilla.gnome.org.

SEE ALSO

       gnome-session-properties(1) gnome-session-quit(1)

								       GNOME							  GNOME-SESSION(1)