Preface
This Wiki aims to be a complete guide to creating a functional and usable desktop experience, starting from a headless server install.
You can totally install i3 alongside an existing GNOME or KDE, but this may not be ideal if you have super low-end specs, or simply want to avoid bloat. For me, I don’t like the elements of other WMs being cross-contaminated into my i3 environment.
i3 is highly customizable and can be riced out to be “F***ing Gorgeous!”. While I will cover some basics, I will leave the ricing to those more qualified. Links below.
Table of Contents
Example System Used for this Wiki
This guide assumes you are familiar with Linux and have already installed your preferred distro.
This guide is basically applicable to all distros, but for the creation of this Wiki, I will be using Fedora Server 32; running inside VirtualBox.
In my case, I chose the standard server install, created a user account, and made said user an administrator.
After finishing the install and rebooting, I logged in with my user and installed updates. (My machine was already connected to the internet via a virtual NIC, which was setup during the install process.)
Installing Xwindows (Xorg)
Installing Xwindows
At this point, our OS is connected to the internet, updated, and awaiting our commands. We need to install X server for i3 to function.
Use the command below to install both xorg-x11-server-Xorg and xorg-x11-xinit
sudo dnf -y install xorg-x11-server-Xorg xorg-x11-xinit
for Ubuntu:
sudo apt install -y xorg --no-install-recommends --no-install-suggests
If your machine uses and AMD or NVIDIA graphics card, you’ll need to install the correct display driver. (fill this in later)
Installing i3wm and it's Components
Installing i3wm
i3, by itself, is a little too bare bones. Because of that, I’m also going to install a few other features designed to improve it’s functionality. I’m going to install dmenu and i3status, alongside i3wm.
sudo dnf -y install i3 i3status dmenu
i3status displays a bar along the bottom of the screen. It has useful information like day/time, network connection, battery level, screen brightness, etc…
dmenu provides a way of searching and launching applications without relying on a terminal.
You could install all of your desired applications at this point, but for the sake of this Wiki, we are more concerned with achieving a functional GUI. For now, this is all we need.
It is also recommended to update at this time.
Configuring Xorg to Start i3
Starting i3
With both i3 and Xorg installed, we need a way to initiate the X session and launch i3.
To do this, we must create/edit a file named .xinitrc in the user’s home directory.
vim .xinitrc
We only need to add one line to this file.
exec i3
By default there will be no terminal emulator installed so you should install one before launching i3.
Now we can launch i3 at any time simply by using:
startx
Behold! The glory that is a tiling window manger! Well not exactly, we have some more work to do. If you’re lost at this point, I have a section on i3 keyboard shortcuts that covers basic navigation.
If you selected the default settings at startup the ‘superkey’ will be configured as ‘Alt’, you can select to set it to your command or windows key on config.
For now, if you want, you can exit i3 by pressing and holding superkey ( also known as the Windows key) + shift + e. A popup appears, and you can click “exit”.
Installing a Desktop Manager (optional)
Desktop Manager
Installing a desktop manager (DM) is not required, and I will not be using one in my example. Logging in from the console and typing startx to launch i3 works just fine for me.
That being said, these are the instructions to install one, if you so desire.
Setting up GUI Network Tools
Network Tools
texty text
Setting up Multi Monitors and Screen Resolution
Multi Monitors and Screen Resolution
xrandr can temporarily change your screen resolution until the X session ends.
Setting up Audio/Video Playback
Video and Audio Playback
RPM fusion
ffmpeg
gstreamer1
Audio Playback
This command installs the pulseaudio system, along with both the CLI and GUI versions of the alsa sound mixer.
sudo dnf -y install pulseaudio pulseaudio-utils alsamixer alsamixergui
Next we need to add our user(s) to the pulseaudio group.
sudo usermod -aG pulse,pulse-access “username”
Start the pulseaudio service with:
pulseaudio -D
Choosing Programs that Complement a Tiling WM
Installing Programs
Any program will usually function with a tiling window manager, but some don’t mix as well. Sometimes functionally, but usually just cosmetically. To keep the desktop light-weight and still somewhat theme-able, we’ll be focusing mainly on text-based applications.
Ranger
Vifm
Midnight Commander
cmus
moc
weechat (I mean, who uses IRC anymore, besides me)
Customizing
Customizing
Since our i3 session is running on X server, most of our customizing can be defined in ~/.Xresources and ~/.Xdefaults.
The easiest way to go about this is to download pre-made dot files from GitHub. I’ll be using Solarized Dark.
This command downloaded both light and dark Solarized themes.
Entering the xresources folder, we can copy the contents of Xresources.dark to the .Xresources file.
The easiest way to change wallpapers on i3 is by using the tool feh.
feh /path/to/image
Additional Features
Additional Featuress
Talk about redshift and f.lux, or whatever it was. Nobody’s gonna read this anyway.
xbacklight
Overview of i3 Specific Keyboard Shortcuts.
Keyboard Functions
List provided by: https://i3wm.org/docs/refcard.html
| Moving Around | |
|---|---|
Superkey + Enter
|
Open new Terminal |
Superkey + ( j / ← ) |
Focus left |
Superkey + ( k / ↓ ) |
Focus down |
Superkey + ( l / ↑ ) |
Focus up |
Superkey + ( ; / → ) |
Focus right |
Superkey + Shift + ( j / ← ) |
Move window left |
Superkey + Shift + ( k / ↓ ) |
Move window down |
Superkey + Shift + ( l / ↑ ) |
Move window up |
Superkey + Shift + ( ; / → ) |
Move window right |
Superkey + Shift + q
|
Kill a window |
Superkey + Shift + <Number>
|
Move window to another workspace |
| Changing Container Modes | |
|---|---|
Superkey + e
|
Default |
Superkey + h
|
Stacking |
Superkey + w
|
Tabbed |
Superkey + Shift , f
|
Global fullscreen |
Superkey + f
|
Toggle fullscreen |
Superkey + Shift , Space
|
Toggle floating |
Superkey + <Mouse>
|
Drag floating |
| Opening Other Application | |
|---|---|
Superkey + d
|
Open application launcher (dmenu) |
| Using Workspaces | |
|---|---|
Superkey + <Number>
|
Switch to workspace num |
| Restarting i3 Inplace | |
|---|---|
Superkey + Shift + r
|
Restart i3 inplace |
| Exiting i3 | |
|---|---|
Superkey + Shift + e
|
Exit i3 |
Links
i3wm Keyboard Shortcuts: https://i3wm.org/docs/refcard.html
GitHub Solarized Xresources Theme: https://github.com/solarized/xresources.git
Ricing
See Below
Configuring i3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-S0cWnLBKg
Customizing i3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARKIwOlazKI
URxvt Customizing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kjbj-Ez1vU
