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# Slock

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Related articles

- Session lock
- List of applications/Security#Screen lockers

Slock, or the "Simple X display locker", is a display locker for X that aims to be minimal, fast, and lightweight.[1].

## Installation

Install the slock or slock-gitAUR package.

## Configuration

Configuration is done by editing the `config.h` header file and then recompiling the package. After configuration you should create a package.

## Usage

Simply run `slock` to lock the screen. You can also provide an argument to be run after the screen has been locked:

    $ slock cmd [arg ...]

To unlock the screen, just type your password.

## Tips and tricks

### Lock on suspend

Create the following service which turns off the monitor and locks the screen.

    /etc/systemd/system/slock@.service

    [Unit]
    Description=Lock X session using slock for user %i
    Before=sleep.target

    [Service]
    User=%i
    Environment=DISPLAY=:0
    ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/xset dpms force suspend
    ExecStart=/usr/bin/slock

    [Install]
    WantedBy=sleep.target

Enable the `slock@user.service` systemd unit for it to take effect for the username user.

### Block VT switching and prevent killing X

slock recommends blocking VT switching so that the screen lock cannot be bypassed. For the same reason, slock recommends preventing users from killing the X server. See Xorg#Block TTY access and Xorg#Prevent a user from killing X.

## See also

- Official homepage

Categories:

- X server
- Suckless