Gnome-shell extension to easily switch between connected users using an icon on the panel which lists the users currently logged in. It is similar to using Ctrl+Alt+Fn but the extension will identify the appropriate Virtual terminal for each user and provides the ability to do it directly from the gnome panel.
Note that is a user is not logged in, its name will not appear. You can then use the "Login Screen" option to go to the login screen and log this user in.
This is loosely inspired by https://github.com/HROMANO/fastuserswitch in terms of functionality but uses an alternative method by simulating Ctrl+Alt+Fx to switch Virtual Terminal by running the loginctl command (or chvt as optional alternative).
Alternatively, it can run the chvt command but this requires the chvt command to be added to the sudoers file (See preferenced to change method). This can be achieved by creating a file in your etc/sudoers.d folder and include the list of users who require using chvt as follows:
user1,user2,user3 ALL=(ALL:ALL) NOPASSWD: /usr/bin/chvt
- To install the extension locally (ie ~/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/):
./auto_install.sh - Restart gnome-shell, using Alt+F2 then
r+Enter with Xorg or logout/login with Wayland. - Enable the extension through your extensions manager or by running
gnome-extensions enable easyuserswitch@batwam.corp
run ./auto_install.sh --help for a full list of installation options available.
Alternative installation options include:
- Enable an extension for all users (system-wide)
run
sudo ./auto_install.sh --system - Show debug messages for testing purposes (requires Debug Mode on in the Preferences)
run
sudo ./auto_install.sh --debug
- Disable the extension
gnome-extensions disable easyuserswitch@batwam.corp
Delete the installed files either manually or by using the following commands:
- For Local installation:
rm -rf "$HOME/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/easyuserswitch@batwam.corp - For System wide installation:
sudo rm -rf /usr/share/gnome-shell/extensions/easyuserswitch@batwam.corp
Restart gnome-shell, using Alt+F2 then r+Enter with Xorg or logout/login with Wayland.
Recommended system settings can be set in the Settings panel for the extension accessible through right click on the icon
- An option is included to Enable/Disable the screen lock due to inactivity. This is a built-in gnome option which is only included in the Preferences for convenience
- An option to lock the session when switching. If disabled, the user can easily switch between sessions, however, this also means that the second user can switch back to the first user's session as it will not be locked. Consider your own privacy objectives when activating this.
- When Debug Mode is enabled in preferences, you can check the logs by running
journalctl --follow -o cat /usr/bin/gnome-shell GNOME_SHELL_EXTENSION_UUID="easyuserswitch@batwam.corp"