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gdm should use systemd-userdbd #458058

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gdm should use systemd-userdbd#458058
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0.kind: enhancementAdd something new or improve an existing system.6.topic: GNOMEGNOME desktop environment and its underlying platform6.topic: systemdSoftware suite that provides an array of system components for Linux operating systems.
@jtojnar

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@jtojnar
jtojnar
opened on Nov 3, 2025

In GNOME 49, GDM started to default to using systemd-userdbd to dynamically create users for each greeter instance. Unfortunately, I did not manage to make it work in time so I had to resort to hardcoding the greeter users:

nixpkgs/nixos/modules/services/display-managers/gdm.nix

Lines 189 to 222 in 4639179

users.users.gdm-greeter = {
isSystemUser = true;
uid = 60578;
group = "gdm";
home = "/run/gdm";
};
users.users.gdm-greeter-1 = {
isSystemUser = true;
uid = 60579;
group = "gdm";
home = "/run/gdm-1";
};
users.users.gdm-greeter-2 = {
isSystemUser = true;
uid = 60580;
group = "gdm";
home = "/run/gdm-2";
};
users.users.gdm-greeter-3 = {
isSystemUser = true;
uid = 60581;
group = "gdm";
home = "/run/gdm-3";
};
users.users.gdm-greeter-4 = {
isSystemUser = true;
uid = 60582;
group = "gdm";
home = "/run/gdm-4";
};

Tested with systemd 257.9 and #205121 but it always failed on various PAM issues.

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    0.kind: enhancementAdd something new or improve an existing system.6.topic: GNOMEGNOME desktop environment and its underlying platform6.topic: systemdSoftware suite that provides an array of system components for Linux operating systems.

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