Set wallpaper from terminal in xfce4 on linux mint
I want to set the wallpaper from terminal on a Linux 18.1 with xfce4:
I've tried setting it using xfconf-query
:
xfconf-query \
--channel xfce4-desktop \
--property /backdrop/screen0/monitor0/image-path \
--set /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg
Indeed, when I later query the same setting with:
xfconf-query \
--channel xfce4-desktop \
--property /backdrop/screen0/monitor0/image-path
it returns the string:
/usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg
However, this setting seems to have no bearing on anything, the visible wallpaper stays the same. How do I change the actual background from terminal? Thanks.
Additional information:
$ xfconf-query --version
xfconf-query 4.12.0
Solution 1:
The correct setting can be found out using the -m
flag (short for --monitor
). First, start xfconf-query
in monitoring mode:
$ xfconf-query -c xfce4-desktop -m
Start monitoring channel "xfce4-desktop":
set: /backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace0/last-image
set: /backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace0/last-image
set: /backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace0/last-image
set: /backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace0/last-image
set: /backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace0/last-image
When you then go into the GUI and change the background there, the console application will print lines starting with set:
, which show which properties have been changed.
Now, using
$ xfconf-query \
--channel xfce4-desktop \
--property /backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace0/last-image \
--set /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-blue.jpg
you can set the wallpaper from terminal.