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i3lock

i3lock is the software that allows you to lock your session when you are AFK, to take a break or talk with someone else. First-year are prayed to learn to lock their session by heart.

Customization

You want to change the wallpaper of your i3lock screen?

There is the “synopsis” of the i3lock command:

i3lock [-v] [-n] [-b] [-i image.png] [-c color] [-t] [-p pointer] [-u] [-e] [-f]

As you can see, you are able to change the color or the background image of your i3lock screen. If you need further information about i3lock command, you can prompt man i3lock.

warning

Some i3lock options are disabled by EPITA, like -u that disables the unlock indicator.

Preparation​

We need to get you a wallpaper! Search a wallpaper or create one on your computer. But, be careful! Your wallpaper need to respect two criteria:

  • Full HD size, meaning 1920px × 1080px
  • PNG file

https://www.photopea.com/ is your best friend if you want to create a wallpaper or edit an image. https://convertio.co/ is too, if you want to convert image.

If you have a file that’s not a PNG file, convert it. If your image is too short, try to get an another one. If your image is too big, resize it. Each problem have a solution!

danger

DO NOT CHANGE FILE EXTENSION BY RENAME IT.

When you have your image, save it in your afs directory. Give it a nice name like i3lock.png or something like that. Just remember the path (from your home directory) where are located your image, we will need it after.

Testing​

The worst part of coding ? Nah I’d win.

To know if your image respect criteria and are confortable with you, what is better than test it ? Just very easy, type :

i3lock -i "[path].png"

Again : If you have a file that’s not a PNG file, convert it. If your image is too short, try to get an another one. If your image is too big, resize it. Each problem have a solution !

Setup​

To custom your i3lock wallpaper, we need to input options/arguments that we are not able to run through classic NixOS’ dmenu. Because i3lock is stupid, we need to tell him every time to display our wallpaper. Three possible way are given to you : Run i3lock through…

  1. A keyboard shortcut (like MOD + L / classical way)
  2. ~~dmenu alias~~ (more complicated / research ongoing)
  3. Command typing (most unfair)

Keyboard shortcut​

The most efficient way! Good choice.

To define keyboard shortcut, there exist a hidden file in your home directory (~) named config (yes, EPITA lies to you when they says that servers only save afs directory, but it’s for safety!)

We need to edit this file to be able to create our magic shortcut!

  1. Open ~/.config/i3/config with your preferred text editor (nano or vim)

  2. Go at the bottom of your config file and type:

    bindsym <keysym> exec i3lock -i "[path].png"
    tip

    Example with $mod+l

    bindsym $mod+l exec i3lock -i "i3lock.png"

    Notice that $mod+l shortcut is already defined in the config file. We need to disable the old useless shortcut to have a correct config.

    The $mod+l is defined at the line 68, just comment it with a # .

    # bindsym $mod+l ...
    warning

    Do not forget the space between the registry and the #, else i3 will start crying that your config is broken.

  3. Disconnect and reconnect your session and try it! And your done! 🎉

dmenu alias (research ongoing)​

Command typing​

You decided to suffer? Ok, well… You will need to type, every time you need to lock your computer, this command:

i3lock -i "[path].png"