Chapter 4. LCDproc Configuration
4.1. Configure LCDd
As mentioned in the introduction LCDd, the LCDproc server, now (with version 0.4.3 of LCDproc) has its own configuration file, which is normally /etc/LCDd.conf.
 | If you have not installed LCDproc from the sources the configuration file might have a different location. You should find it when making your system's package manager list all the files in the LCDproc package. |
The format of the /etc/LCDd.conf is ini-file-like.
It is divided into sections that start at markers that look like [section]. Comments are all line-based comments, and are lines that start with '#' or ';'.
The server has a 'central' section named [server]. Further each driver has a section which defines how the driver acts. Those sections start with [drivername].
The drivers are activated by specifiying them in a driver= line in the server section, like:
This tells LCDd to use the curses driver. The first driver specified here that is capable of output functionality will be used as 'the' output driver. All extra drivers can only serve as input. The default driver to use is curses.
 | If LCDd is started automatically by an init-script using the curses driver will lock /dev/tty1! So, be careful about what you are doing here. |
The drivers can read their own options from the config file, but most of them don't do this yet. They expect 'command-line'-format parameters that were previously placed on the command line. These parameters can be given to the driver in the following way:
Example 4-2. LCDd.conf: Compatibility mode for drivers written for 0.4.1
Arguments="place arguments here"
The arguments between the quotes are passed to the driver. As said before these are the same arguments that would have been passed to the driver using the old command line format of
LCDd -d driver "driverargs"
| The -d option still works, but does not allow driverargs any more. If -d is specified on the command line, the Driver= options in the config file are ignored. |
4.1.1. LCDd.conf: The [server] Section
The [server] section of the LCDd.conf contains the settings for the LCDproc server LCDd.
- Driver=
Tells the server which driver(s) to use. See above for details
The default setting is Driver=none which makes the server exit right after the start. This is neccessary to avoid trouble with package installations.
- Bind=
Tells the server to bind to the given interface. Defaults to Bind=127.0.0.1 which is actually the safest variant.
- Port=
Tells the server to listen to this specified port. Defaults to 13666.
- ReportLevel=
Sets the reporting level. Defaults to 2 (warnings and errors only).
- ReportToSyslog=
Should we report to syslog instead of stderr ? Defaults to no.
- WaitTime=
Sets the default time in seconds to display a screen.
- User=
User to run as. LCDd will drop its root privileges, if any, and run as this user instead. Defaults to User=nobody.
If you want to use the server menu, to shutdown or reboot your system, you will have to set this to root. Otherwise LCDd does not have the privileges to run commands like init 6.
- ServerScreen=
Enables the server screen even when other screens are active. Defaults to no.
- Foreground=
The server will stay in the foreground if set to true. Otherwise the server will fork to background and report to syslog. Defaults to yes.
4.1.2. LCDd.conf: The [input] Section
The [input] section enables you to set some general ("global") options related to the way LCDd handles input "events".
Table 4-1. The Standard LCDd Input Keys
| Keyname | Function | |
|---|---|---|
| Normal context | Menu context | |
| PauseKey | Pause/Continue | Enter/select |
| BackKey | Back (Go to previous screen) | Up/Left |
| ForwardKey | Forward (Go to next screen) | Down/Right |
| MainMenuKey | Open main menu | Exit/Cancel |
| The way input keys are handled will change completely in LCDproc 0.5. |
4.1.2.1. LCDd.conf: [input] Section: The Free*Key Options
The Free*Key Options are interesting for those users whose keypad (or other input source) has got only four (or less) keys. In this case LCDd would normally use all those keys to enable you to control the server menu and the other server functions (like switching to the next screen). If these keys are used by a client to do anything but noticing that the user has e.g. entered the menu or switched to another screen, this will probably cause trouble, as one keypress has several effects at the same time.
The Free*Key options enable you to influence this behaviour.
- FreePauseKey=
If set to yes, this prevents LCDd from handling the PauseKey itself. Then a client can request the key 'A' and handle it.
- FreeBackKey=
If set to yes, this prevents LCDd from handling the BackKey itself. Then a client can request the key 'B' and handle it.
- FreeForwardKey=
If set to yes, this prevents LCDd from handling the ForwardKey itself. Then a client can request the key 'C' and handle it.
- FreeMainMenuKey=
If set to yes, this prevents LCDd from handling the MainMenuKey itself. Then a client can request the key 'D' and handle it.
Even if you "free" the above keys, you can still use the menu provided you set FreeMainMenuKey to no.
4.1.3. LCDd.conf: The Drivers Section
As mentioned earlier, each driver has its own section in the LCDd.conf.
The settings are more or less self-explanatory. So, read through the section of your driver and change everything neccessary.