"Run terminal" does not run TERMINAL

[qubist]

Hi,

Looking at the code of /usr/bin/qubes-run-terminal, I notice that it is possible to set default terminal through environment variable TERMINAL. I set that to xterm in .bashrc and it works fine as long as I run qubes-run-terminal directly, e.g. through another terminal window.

However, whenever I try to “Run terminal” from qui-domains, it launches xfce4-terminal, not what is set in TERMINAL.

What is the reason for that and how to make it work as expected?

[barto]

@qubist

What is the reason for that and how to make it work as expected?

I think this has been discussed before, see this thread:

Choose terminal when using qube widget "Run terminal"

At least in its Feb 18 incarnation, /usr/bin/qubes-run-terminal has this order hard-coded (regardless of any environment variables): x-terminal-emulator ptyxis gnome-terminal kgx then a list of “xfce4-terminal konsole urxvt rxvt termit terminator Eterm aterm roxterm termite lxterminal mate-terminal terminology st xterm” So… hard-coded. It is a Bash script, you can read it too. Maybe the solution is to change the “alternatives” (in the template) of x-terminal-emulator to point to gno…

[barto]

And… on Fedora-based qubes, you have “alternatives” to fiddle with the defaults. Also covered in the thread linked above.

[qubist]

Thanks for the feedback.
I wonder if this is a bug.

[Atrate]

My solution is to simply symlink the terminal binary that I prefer to /usr/bin/gnome-terminal. Is that a clean solution? No, not really, but as long as you don’t use the GNOME templates, you should be fine.

[Atrate]

@qubist

Looking at the code of /usr/bin/qubes-run-terminal, I notice that it is possible to set default terminal through environment variable TERMINAL. I set that to xterm in .bashrc and it works fine as long as I run qubes-run-terminal directly, e.g. through another terminal window.

However, whenever I try to “Run terminal” from qui-domains, it launches xfce4-terminal, not what is set in TERMINAL.

Setting it in .bashrc only applies to shells launched by user user. If you set it in /etc/environment in the template it may work.

[rustybird]

Or if you want to set it in an individual AppVM, use ~/.config/environment.d/*.conf or /usr/local/lib/environment.d/*.conf

https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/latest/environment.d.html

[qubist]

I added in template:

# cat /etc/environment.d/99-terminal.conf 
export TERMINAL=xterm

but it seems to have no effect. TERMINAL does not show in printenv in AppVMs.

[rustybird]

Without export

[qubist]

Without export

I tried that first. Then with it. - Same.

[Atrate]

Try putting it in the /etc/environment file like

TERMINAL=xterm

[rustybird]

@qubist

Without export

I tried that first. Then with it. - Same.

Odd. Works for me (after restarting the AppVM)

[qubist]

@rustybird

Odd. Works for me (after restarting the AppVM)

What template? I am testing on debian-13-xfce.

@Atrate

What you suggested works. But why doesn’t /etc/environment/*.conf?

[rustybird]

@qubist

Odd. Works for me (after restarting the AppVM)

What template? I am testing on debian-13-xfce.

Same.

Maybe try it with a freshly installed, unmodified fedora-43-xfce-4.3.0-202601041226 and a new AppVM?

@qubist

But why doesn’t /etc/environment/*.conf?

Double check that it’s /etc/environment.d/*.conf

[qubist]

Double double checked.

This worked:

# cat /etc/profile.d/default-terminal.sh 
export TERMINAL=xterm

[qubist]

user@vm:~ > grep -r TERM /etc/profile.d
/etc/profile.d/96-default-terminal.sh:export TERMINAL=xterm
/etc/profile.d/97-color-xterm.sh:export TERM=xterm-256color

user@vm:~ > printenv | grep -E '^TERM(INAL)?'
TERMINAL=xterm
TERM=xterm

Why does TERM’s value change from ‘xterm-256color’ to just ‘xterm’?

[rustybird]

xterm by default does not run a login shell, so bash does not use /etc/profile(.d/) and TERM is set by xterm itself.

[rustybird]

If you’re wondering why environment variables from /etc/profile(.d/) other than TERM do appear in the xterm shell’s environment: It’s because qrexec uses a non-interactive login shell to run xterm, which overrides TERM and then runs the interactive non-login shell.

[qubist]

Hm. Then I guess the way to have xterm-256color is to set it in .bashrc and forget about 256 colors unless bash is started first?

[rustybird]

Setting it in xterm’s termName X resource seems like the right place