qtile installer and configuration for Qubes OS.
Installation is generally expected in dom0 as GUI VM, but should also work in GUI VM templates or standalone VMs.
- Install some dependencies in your GUI VM:
sudo qubes-dom0-update pango python3-pip dex-autostart google-noto-sans-mono-fonts(command for dom0 as GUI VM) - Download this repository in a VM and switch to its directory via e.g.
cd qubes-qtile. - (Optional) Download a current or more trustworthy version of
qtileand its dependencies viarm -f pkgs/* && pip3 download --destination-directory ./pkgs qtile qtile-extras dbus-fast. - Move the repository to your GUI VM, e.g. to
~/qubes-qtile, and make sure the directory persists across VM restarts. - Run
~/qubes-qtile/installer install. - Choose
qtileas window manager inlightdmthe next time you login.
- Run
~/qubes-qtile/installer uninstall. - Remove
~/qubes-qtile.
Your own custom config.py can be placed at ~/.config/qtile/config.py. It'll overwrite the example configuration shipped for Qubes OS at /etc/xdg/qtile/config.py, i.e. you may want to base your changes on that configuration.
The configuration provided in this repository will autostart *.desktop files in /etc/xdg/autostart/ via dex-autostart.
It'll also execute ~/.config/qtile/autostart_once.sh and ~/.config/qtile/autostart.sh, if any of these exist. The former is executed on the first qtile start after boot only; the latter is executed on every qtile start.
Feel free to use any of these methods to autostart your own custom applications.
The installer also creates /etc/xdg/qtile/autostart*.sh scripts for its own use. Please do not modify those.
If you see an error such as "XFCE PolicyKit error: An authentication agent already exists" on boot, remove /etc/xdg/autostart/xfce-polkit.desktop in your GUI VM/dom0.
The configuration shipped with this repository is hardened against focus steals using the methods mentioned in this section.
We'll define wanted focus changes as one of the following:
- mouse move & click afterwards
- workspace/group change
- pre-defined key combinations for focus changes (e.g. Mod-j & Mod-k)
- focused window moved to other group 1
- focused window closed 1
- new window created in a workspace with only unfocused windows or in an empty workspace
(1 These are allowed to cause a focus switch to another window according to a predefined algorithm as otherwise no window would be focused.)
Everything else is considered an unwanted focus steal.
In particular the following events are not meant to cause a focus change:
- new window created in a workspace with a focused window
- unfocused window closed
- unfocused window moved to another workspace
- application request
- mouse move without click (sloppy focus)
For the below example other requests from applications to the window manager are meant to be ignored in general as well, e.g.:
- windows shouldn't be able to maximize themselves without the user giving a respective command to the WM (simple test: Firefox F11 next to another window)
- windows shouldn't be able to change their size themselves
- windows shouldn't be able to modify their borders in any way
Users may want to adjust their definitions and respective implementations according to their needs.
By default qtile passes the focus to newly created windows. We can disable that via:
@hook.subscribe.client_new
def decide_focus(win):
win.can_steal_focus = FalseThe config.py shipped with this repository provides a slightly more complex variant, which allows a focus steal under certain circumstances.
It is easily possible to disable the focus following the mouse movements via follow_mouse_focus = False.
It is necessary to explicitly set auto_fullscreen = False as windows may otherwise fullscreen themselves. In Qubes OS windows should never be able to hide the security relevant-borders of other windows by themselves.
This can easily be set via focus_on_window_activation = "never".
© 2024 David Hobach
qubes-qtile is released under the GPLv3 license; see LICENSE for details.