A question I have seen around a bit is how to remove the user list from the GDM login screen, as for many supplying the names of users at login on shared computers is a security issue. After all, someone trying to log in just needs to figure out a password (while that’s the hard part, the security-minded look at that as already half way into the system).
For most of us, the user list is not needed anyway, as single users can opt to boot straight to the desktop, and users of shared computers don’t need a menu reminding them of what their names are. So, to remove the user menu from your login, enter the following in a terminal:
sudo gconftool-2 --
direct --
config-source xml:readwrite:/etc/gconf/gconf.xml.mandatory --
type Boolean --
set /apps/gdm/simple-greeter/disable_user_list True
No user names will be displayed, and everyone logging in will have to type their user names rather than pick them from a menu.
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Read this for an Alternative Command for Disabling the User List, as well as one to Re-Enable it
… or this if you want to Remove a Specific User
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Is there a way to just remove a single user from the list? I have given the family several machines with their names on the list; but so is mine. I admin from afar, and would like to just have their names on the GDM login list.
OK, you can try a new feature of Gnome that should work, at least in 10.04. Basically, before it was actually added word got out, because it hadn’t been removed from the documentation, so people complained it didn’t work. So the Gnome devs had to do something quickly, and I believe if you are running the latest Gnome in 10.04, it will work. Just enter the following into a terminal, replacing the last bit with your actual username:
sudo -u gdm gconftool-2
--
type list--
list-type=string--
set /apps/gdm/simple-greeter/exclude ‘[insertusernamehere]’Let me know how it goes.
Doesn’t look like it did anything. No errors, it just popped down to the next line. So I re-booted (could have just logged out or /etc/init.d/gdm restart I guess) but my name is still there. It isn’t a huge deal; I just thought it would be nicer for them to only see their names.
Thank you for the really quick reply :)
Oh well, it should work in the future. Are you running an updated 10.04?
Oh, have you tried the following:
sudo usermod -u 999 [username]
Users with IDs under 1000 will not be displayed, and shouldn’t cause any problems. The only thing you would want to watch for is duplicate IDs, which won’t happen, since the other IDs will be over 1000 (hence being displayed in the user list).
PS: I just copied both those commands from this thread on the subject:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9439011#post9439011
… and since I just realised that, as far as I know, the last command shouldn’t have [] around the username, I am wondering if the previous command also shouldn’t have those. I would try the 1st command again, minus the [] (then even try minus the quotes around that, if all else fails).
You should join the forum thread (I’ve just restarted the conversation, so hopefully more answers will come in).
Right on; the usermod command worked like a champ (no []). Normally don’t like messing with my UID but in this case I will probably only be logging into their box once a year or when ever they call with an issue. Makes me wonder if I could have got NFS working between my *nix boxes and my wife’s OS X stuff (always had UID issues).
Thanks again; awesome good.
Great! Glad to help! And yeah, also read in the thread about perhaps needing to change the UID of every file the user owns (not sure about that one) but I don’t think that should affect you since, as you say, you only ever log in remotely to do some admin stuff, and not that often.
I created a user account for others to use this computer and have since deleted it only, the user-name still appears on the login screen and as an option to switch to in the options.
How can I remove this user-name/account, even though the account has already been deleted?
Good question, especially since any user I’ve deleted has gone for good. I’ll have to have a look at this one when I have some spare time.
OK, since I gather you deleted the account the correct way, via the Administration menu, I guess just try:
sudo userdel usernameyouwanttodelete
See if it makes a difference.
Well, for some reason, after a few reboots, the name is gone from my login screen.
I honestly didn’t do anything. It seems like 10 is a little buggy…
Numerous settings reset themselves in this system as well. My wireless will shut off and then I have to re-enter the WEP, the desktop background will revert back, and the hibernate/sleep features freeze the computer up.
Normal?
Well, some settings here and there might be reset with an upgrade (I’ve come across a few), but I’d look into all these things turning themselves on and off. For the most of us (I think) 10.04 is stable and hasn’t caused any (or many) problems. So rather than just put up with Ubuntu being “buggy” I’d try to find out what is casuing these inconsistencies (the forum is a good place to start; lots of people talking WiFi problems, etc). All the best, and hopefully you find ways to fix these things. Cheers.
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