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The graphical desktop is disabled by default to improve the overall performance of this workshop in the public cloud. If you have access to the console, as the root user you can switch-on the graphical desktop with 'systemctl isolate'. Make the change permanent with 'systemctl set-default' option. Enable the Graphical Desktop systemctl isolate graphical.target systemctl set-default graphical.target |
Wayland is a compositor protocol and library implementation of that protocol. Wayland replaces the legacy X11 protocol with the primary benefit being that it is easier to develop and maintain. Meaning, Wayland drops many of the X11 specifications that are no longer in use.
That said, Wayland also enables features that are hard or impossible to support under X:
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input transformation
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transparent hardware overlays
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direct rendering
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isolating clients (sandboxing)
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… and plenty more ( GNOME Wiki Wayland )
Wayland was born and raised in the X community, and has strong support.
First introduced to the Fedora community back in version 25, Wayland has been under developemnt for several years before it’s introduction in RHEL 8. Wayland is the new standard in graphical desktop environments.
For more information, see the resources listed below.
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X11 is still shipped with RHEL 8, but requires manual installation as it is not the default installed compsitor protocol |
The graphical desktop is included by default in a "Workstation" installation of RHEL 8, but this is not the case in a "Server" installation.
For today’s lab this has already been done for you. In the event you installed a text based RHEL 8 host on your own, you can load and enable Wayland with the following simple steps:
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Native command(s) to install Wayland yum groupinstall Workstation systemctl set-default graphical reboot |
Please proceed to log into the GUI console of workstation.example.com as the user student. The password should be provided by your instructor.
After successfully signing in as student, you should notice that you have an amazingly clean desktop as shown below.
Let us begin our exploration of Wayland by customizing a few things.
First, we will configure your desktop to have a menu system.
Click → “Activities”
Shown below is the Activities Overview page.
Now enter a search string for the utlity we want.
Select the Search Bar near the top center, and enter the following:
Search gnome-tweaks
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the package gnome-tweaks was pre-installed during the workshop preparation scripts |
Now launch the tool so we can make a few changes to the desktop functionality and appearance.
Click →
Tweaks
Enable a more traditional cascading applications menu in the top bar.
Click →
Extensionson the leftEnable →
Applications Menuon the right
Now activate the Title Bar Maximize and Minimize buttons for all windows.
Click →
Windowson the leftEnable →
Maximizeon the rightEnable →
Minimizeon the right
Close the the Tweaks interface by clicking on the X in the upper right hand corner
Now you have an Applications menu system in Gnome!
Launch the calculator utility to verify that windows have maximize and minimize buttons in the title bar.
Click → Applications
Click → Accessories
Click → Calculator
Notice that apps now have a maximize and minimize button.
You can close the Calculator.
Click → X in the title bar
Next we will install a package using the Package Manager. Start on the desktop as shown below.
Click →
Activitiesnear the top left cornerClick →
Activities Overviewnear the bottom left
Now that we are back on the Activities Overview page, we search for a package.
In the Search Bar near the top center, enter the following:
Search firewall
The search will result in a link to the package installer.
Click →
Firewall Configuration
This will bring up the Gnome Software package installation GUI along with a description of the utility. Now let us proceed with installation.
Click →
Firewall
Now you are on the details page of the utlity. You can scroll down and read more about the tool, see reviews and ratings. Time to install the Firewall Configuration tool.
Click →
Install
Now that it is installed, proceed to launch the tool and explore the firewall configuration.
Click →
Launch
You’ll be prompted for the password for student - enter the password. Because the user student is a member of the wheel group, you will be able to perform most administrator tasks.
Feel free to browse the interface but don’t make any changes. When you are done exploring close the Firewall Configuration tool
Click → X in the titlebar
That is all for this quick first time introduction to Wayland.
Red Hat Documentation
Wayland Related Sites