Chapter 9. Customizing GNOME desktop features 9.1. Changing the language by using desktop GUI You can change the system language using the desktop GUI. Prerequisites Required language packages are installed on your system Procedure Open the Settings application from the system menu by clicking on its icon. In Settings , choose Region & Language from the left vertical bar. Click the Language menu. Select the required region and language from the menu. If your region and language are not listed, scroll down, and click More to select from available regions and languages. Click Done . Click Restart for changes to take effect. Note Some applications do not support certain languages. The text of an application that cannot be translated into the selected language remains in US English. Additional resources Launching applications in GNOME 9.2. Enabling the Ctrl+Alt+Backspace shortcut The Ctrl + Alt + Backspace shortcut key combination is used for terminating the X.Org display server. You might want to terminate X.Org especially when: A program caused X.Org to stop working. You need to switch from your logged-in session quickly. You have launched a program that failed. You cannot operate in the current session. Your screen freezes. Procedure Create a local database for machine-wide settings in /etc/dconf/db/local.d/00-input-sources : Override the user's setting, and prevent the user from changing it in /etc/dconf/db/local.d/locks/input-sources : Update the system databases for the changes to take effect: Users must log out and back in again before the system-wide settings take effect. If the Ctrl + Alt + Backspace key combination is enabled, all users can terminate X.Org , which brings them back to the login prompt. 9.3. Disabling command-line access To disable command-line access for a desktop user, you need to make configuration changes in a number of different contexts: Section 9.3.1, "Setting the org.gnome.desktop.lockdown.disable-command-line Key" Section 9.3.2, "Disabling virtual terminal switching on X.Org" Remove Terminal and any other application that provides access to the terminal from the Applications menu and the Activities Overview in GNOME Shell. This is done by removing menu items for those applications. Note The following steps do not remove the desktop user's permissions to access a command line, but rather remove the ways that the desktop user could access command line. 9.3.1. Setting the org.gnome.desktop.lockdown.disable-command-line Key This approach prevents the user from: Accessing the terminal Specifying a command line to be executed by using the Alt + F2 command prompt Procedure Create a local database for machine-wide settings in /etc/dconf/db/local.d/00-lockdown : Override the user's setting and prevent the user from changing it in /etc/dconf/db/local.d/locks/lockdown : Update the system databases: Users must log out and back in again before the system-wide settings take effect. 9.3.2. Disabling virtual terminal switching on X.Org With the X.Org display server, users can normally use the Ctrl + Alt + function key shortcuts to switch from the GNOME Desktop and X.Org to a virtual terminal. You can disable access to all virtual terminals by modifying the X.Org configuration. Important You cannot apply the procedure if GNOME Shell on Wayland is used as the display server. Procedure Create or edit an X configuration file in the /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ directory: Note By convention, these host-specific configuration file names start with two digits and a hyphen and always have the .conf extension. Thus, the following file name can be /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-xorg.conf . Restart the X.Org display server for the changes to take effect. 9.4. Preventing the computer from suspending when closing the lid When closing the lid of your laptop, the computer by default suspends in order to save power. You can prevent the computer from suspending when closing the lid by changing the setting for that behavior. Warning Some laptops can overheat if they are left running with the lid closed, especially if they are in a confined place. Therefore, consider whether changing the default setting from suspend to an other option is beneficial in your case. Procedure Open the /etc/systemd/logind.conf file for editing. Find the HandleLidSwitch=suspend line in the file. If it is quoted out with the # character at the start, unquote it by removing # . If the line is not present in the file, add it. Replace the default suspend parameter with: lock for the screen to lock ignore for nothing to happen poweroff for the computer to switch off For example: Save your changes, and close the editor. Run the following command so that your changes preserve the restart of the system: Warning Restarting the service forcibly interrupts any currently running GNOME session of any desktop user who is logged in. This can result in users losing unsaved data. For more information about the /etc/systemd/logind.conf file, see the logind.conf man page on your system. 9.5. Changing the power button behavior When you press the power button on your computer, it suspends or shuts down the system by default. You can customize this behavior according to your preferences. 9.5.1. Changing the behavior of the power button when pressing the button and GNOME is not running When you press the power button in a non-graphical systemd target, it shuts down the system by default. You can customize this behavior according to your preferences. Prerequisites Administrative access. Procedure Edit the /etc/systemd/logind.conf configuration file and set the HandlePowerKey=poweroff variable to one of the following options: poweroff Shut down the computer. reboot Reboot the system. halt Initiate a system halt. kexec Initiate a kexec reboot. suspend Suspend the system. hibernate Initiate system hibernation. ignore Do nothing. For example, to reboot the system upon pressing the power button, use this setting: 9.5.2. Changing the behavior of the power button when pressing the button and GNOME is running On the graphical login screen or in the graphical user session, pressing the power button suspends the machine by default. This happens both in cases when the user presses the power button physically or when pressing a virtual power button from a remote console. You can select a different power button behavior. Procedure Create a local database for system-wide settings in the /etc/dconf/db/local.d/01-power file with the following content: Replace <value> with one of the following power button actions: nothing Does nothing . suspend Suspends the system. hibernate Hibernates the system. interactive Shows a pop-up query asking the user what to do. With interactive mode, the system powers off automatically after 60 seconds when pressing the power button. However, you can choose a different behavior from the pop-up query. Optional: Override the user's setting, and prevent the user from changing it. Enter the following configuration in the /etc/dconf/db/local.d/locks/01-power file: Update the system databases: Log out and back in again for the system-wide settings to take effect.

Commands:
Enable Ctrl-Alt-Backspace for all users xkb-options=['terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp']
Lock the list of enabled XKB options /org/gnome/desktop/input-sources/xkb-options
dconf update
Disable command-line access disable-command-line=true
Lock the disabled command-line access /org/gnome/desktop/lockdown/disable-command-line
dconf update
Section "Serverflags" Option "DontVTSwitch" "yes" EndSection
[Login] HandleLidSwitch=lock
systemctl restart systemd-logind.service
HandlePowerKey=reboot
[org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power] power-button-action=<value>
/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/power/power-button-action
dconf update