KDE System Administration

    From KDE TechBase


    This section provides system administrators who are rolling out new or managing existing KDE deployments in their organization with the information they need to do so effectively.

    File System

    Configuration File Syntax
    KDE configuration files are text-based. They contain groups of key-value pairs. This section explains their syntax. It covers:
    • localization,
    • shell variables,
    • complete or partial lock-down of configuration files,
    • editor utilities,
    • other advanced features.
    KDE Hierarchy
    This article describes how KDE uses the filesystem, where it looks for files, and where it stores them. It explains how to change these locations. There is also a brief overview of the default settings used by major OS vendors.
    XDG Hierarchy
    Supplementing the KDE filesystem hierarchy, KDE also uses various directories, as defined by XDG specifications on freedesktop.org. This article documents the paths used and their purposes.

    Desktop Sessions

    Environment Variables
    A variety of environment variables documented in this article are available to influence aspects of KDE and the runtime behavior of KDE applications.
    Desktop Startup Sequence
    During startup, KDE starts the visible desktop components as well as several services that run in the background. This article describes the startup sequence, gives an overview of some of the services started, and explains how to make changes.
    Login Manager
    The KDE Display Manager (KDM) provides services commonly associated with a login manager. The first contact your users have with a KDE system is usually the KDM login screen. This section covers the basics of setting up KDM, plus advanced topics such as remote login, automatic login, and more.
    Plasma Desktop Scripting
    The KDE Plasma Desktop provides means to manage the desktop shell (desktop, panels, widget) via scripts written in JavaScript. This article describes how to take advantage of this feature set as well as documents the full API.
    Plasma Desktop Scripting
    The Plasma Two and KF5 version of the desktop scripting tutorial

    User & Group Profiles

    Introduction to Kiosk
    The Kiosk framework provides a set of features that makes it possible to easily and powerfully restrict the capabilities of a KDE environment based on user and group credentials. In addition to an introductory overview, this article covers configuration setting lock down, action and resource restrictions, assigning profiles to users and groups and more.
    Kiosk Keys
    This document details known global and application-specific kiosk keys for action, resource and URL restrictions, making it a handy reference guide when setting up a Kiosk profile.
    Additional Resources
    Links to tools, mailing lists and additional documentation relevant to user and group profiles in KDE.

    Tools

    KioskTool
    A graphical application that helps manage KDE Kiosk user and group profiles.
    Desktop Sharing
    The KDE Desktop Sharing capabilities make it possible to share your desktop remotely with others. Among other uses, this feature allows support staff to give direct assistance to users.
    Using KDE Dialogs in Shell Scripts
    You can use KDialog shell scripts to show various KDE dialogs. This gives you seamless integration of your own custom GUI enhancements.
    Controlling Access to Content Provided By Get New Stuff
    Give information on how to control content downloaded from the Internet by the Get New Stuff feature of KDE.