If your Xubuntu virtual machine boots directly to the desktop without showing a login screen, automatic login is probably enabled.
This guide shows how to create a new user called user1, set a password for the account,
and disable automatic login so that Xubuntu displays the login screen whenever the VM starts.
Creating a New User in Xubuntu
1. Create the User
Open a Terminal and run:
sudo adduser user1Follow the prompts to create the account. You will be asked to enter a password and some optional information about the user.
You can press Enter to skip optional information such as the full name, room number, and phone number.
2. Set or Change the Password for user1
If you need to set a password for user1 later, or simply want to change the existing
password, run:
sudo passwd user1You should see prompts similar to:
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: password updated successfullyWhen entering a password in the Linux Terminal, nothing will appear on the screen. You will not see characters, dots, or asterisks while typing. This is normal behavior.
3. Give user1 Sudo Privileges (Optional)
By default, the new account does not necessarily have administrative privileges. If you want
user1 to be able to execute commands using sudo, run:
sudo usermod -aG sudo user1
This step is optional. If user1 should remain a normal user without administrator
privileges, you can skip it.
Enabling the Xubuntu Login Screen
4. Check the Display Manager
Xubuntu commonly uses LightDM to provide its graphical login screen. You can check which display manager is currently configured by running:
cat /etc/X11/default-display-managerOn a typical Xubuntu installation, the output should be:
/usr/sbin/lightdm
If you see /usr/sbin/lightdm, the following LightDM configuration steps apply to your
system.
5. Check Whether Automatic Login Is Enabled
Search the LightDM configuration files for settings related to automatic login:
grep -R "autologin" /etc/lightdm/You may find configuration similar to:
[Seat:*]
autologin-user=myuser
autologin-user-timeout=0The important setting is:
autologin-user=myuserThis tells LightDM to automatically log in to the specified account instead of displaying the normal graphical login screen.
6. Disable Automatic Login
If the automatic-login configuration is located in /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf, open the
file using Nano:
sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.confLook for configuration similar to:
[Seat:*]
autologin-user=myuser
autologin-user-timeout=0Comment out the automatic-login lines:
[Seat:*]
#autologin-user=myuser
#autologin-user-timeout=0Alternatively, you can remove the automatic-login lines completely.
If the earlier grep command shows that the settings are stored in another file under
/etc/lightdm/, edit that file instead.
When using Nano:
- Press Ctrl+O to save the file.
- Press Enter to confirm the filename.
- Press Ctrl+X to exit Nano.
Testing the New User Account
7. Test user1 from the Terminal
Before rebooting the virtual machine, you can verify that the new account and password work correctly. Run:
su - user1
Enter the password that you configured for user1.
If authentication succeeds, the shell will switch to the new user's environment. You can verify the current username with:
whoamiThe output should be:
user1To return to your original account, run:
exitRebooting and Verifying the Login Screen
8. Reboot Xubuntu
After creating the user and disabling automatic login, reboot the virtual machine:
sudo rebootWhen Xubuntu starts again, LightDM should display the graphical login screen instead of automatically opening the desktop.
You should now be able to select your existing account or user1 and log in using the
corresponding password.
Quick Command Reference
# Create a new user
sudo adduser user1
# Set or change the user's password
sudo passwd user1
# Optional: give user1 sudo privileges
sudo usermod -aG sudo user1
# Check the current display manager
cat /etc/X11/default-display-manager
# Find LightDM automatic-login settings
grep -R "autologin" /etc/lightdm/
# Edit the main LightDM configuration
sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
# Test the new account
su - user1
# Check the current username
whoami
# Reboot Xubuntu
sudo rebootConclusion
If Xubuntu boots directly to the desktop, automatic login is usually enabled in the display manager. Creating another user alone does not necessarily cause the login screen to appear.
After creating user1, setting its password, and disabling the
autologin-user option in LightDM, the graphical login screen should appear whenever
Xubuntu starts. You can then choose which account to use each time the virtual machine boots.
