A Slackware Desktop Enhancement Guide
A More Aesthetic Runlevel 3 Login Screen
© Copyright Darrell Anderson.
Out of the box Slackware is hum-drum and boring. No questions asked. One easy way to add some life to Slackware is to modify the runlevel 3 login screen. Some simple colorization creates a login screen that tells users that somebody cares.
Two text files modify the login screen: /etc/issue and /etc/issue.net. The former file is used for all login attempts and the latter is used only for external or remote logins. For local logins the login command displays the former file. For remote logins the login command displays the latter file and then the former file. Thus, the two files need not be identical.
Some distro providers update these two text files during every boot. For server environments this practice probably is a reasonable strategy as those boxes seldom are rebooted. For local desktop workstations, however, those text files probably are static and need updating only during major updates of a system. A shell script can automate the task of updating the /etc/issue and /etc/issue.net text files. For people with static desktop systems that script can be run manually. For people with more dynamic systems, that script could be run automatically from within the /etc/rc.d/rc.local script.
Because of the administrative nature of the script used to create these login screens, the script probably should be stored in the /usr/local/sbin directory. Name the script something like update-issue.
The script merely extracts system information and then creates the /etc/issue and /etc/issue.net files. A local workstation screen could look something like this:
![[Image: Screen capture of a local runlevel 3 login screen.]](../images/login-1.png)
Notice the login screen informs users of the box name and virtual terminal they are using. A remote login screen could contain the same information, but provide a wee bit more notice to remote users:
![[Image: Screen capture of a remote runlevel 3 login screen.]](../images/login-2.png)
People who use ssh to remotely login to their computers might also be interested in modifying the Banner directive in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file. Minimally, use the Banner to point to the /etc/issue.net file—or point to a different text file.
When customizing these login screens remember that the /etc/motd (message of the day) file plays a role too. By design, during shutdown the Slackware rc.S script creates a bare-bones motd file. To prevent that script from modifying your motd file, simply insert a hash mark (#) to comment out those lines. The login command displays the motd file. To completely disable the motd file during login, edit the /etc/login.defs configuration file. With root privileges, insert a hash mark to comment out the MOTD_FILE directive.
A copy of a script to automatically update /etc/issue and /etc/issue.net is available here: update-issue. Modify the script as necessary to find the local text file that provides the distro version information.
The file that provides colorization is available here: functions-colors.
Finis.