# Cairo-Dock

Cairo-Dock is a highly customizable dock written in C.

## Installation

Install cairo-dock from the official repositories. The core package provides only the strict minimum to run Cairo-Dock - to use applets, animations, views, effects and dialogs you will also need cairo-dock-plugins.

You can also try the latest BZR unstable snapshot packages: cairo-dock-bzr and cairo-dock-plugins-bzr.

### Plugin dependencies

The applets in cairo-dock-plugins require quite a lot of dependencies, therefore all of them have been made optional not to bloat your system if you don't use a particular applet. Please refer to the optdepends list and install those you need.

Note: If for some reason an applet is not working, make sure you have GVFS installed, it is required for several applets as well as GNOME, XFCE and KDE integration.

## Configuration

### Running the dock

Run the dock in the background:

    $ cairo-dock &

This will generate a startup message that will ask you to choose a backend for the current session (OpenGL or Cairo). There is an option to remember the choice and if not choosing to remember the choice, a startup message will be generated each time Cairo-Dock is run without backend options. To supress the startup message, you can specify which backend to use when running Cairo-Dock by specifying it as an option.

Run the dock with OpenGL backend:

    $ cairo-dock -o &

Run the dock with Cairo backend:

    $ cairo-dock -c &

Tip: All using ATI graphics cards should use this option. Some cards/drivers do not support OpenGL, which may prevent Cairo-Dock from running correctly.

### Running the dock at startup

This depends on which desktop environment or window manager that is being used and which backend Cairo-Dock should be run with. The following section shows how to run Cairo-Dock at startup without forcing a backend.

#### Cairo-Dock method

Run Cairo-Dock and right-click the dock and go to Cairo-Dock > Launch Cairo-Dock on startup. The settings will be stored in `~/.config/autostart/` and sourced the next time you login.

#### Openbox/Fluxbox

Add the following to `~/.config/openbox/autostart` or `~/.fluxbox/startup` accordingly:

    cairo-dock &

#### Xfce

If you have `xfce4-autostart-editor` installed, simply run it and add an entry for Cairo-Dock. If you're not using a session manager you can add the following to `~/.config/xfce4/xinitrc` or `~/Desktop/Autostart`:

    cairo-dock &

#### GNOME

Add a Cairo-Dock entry to Startup Programs using

    $ gnome-session-properties

### Configuring the dock

To configure the dock, right-click the dock and go to Cairo-Dock > Configure.

## Troubleshooting

### Two Cairo-Docks are running

This is most likely a result of saved sessions being runned at login. If you are using a desktop environment like GNOME, KDE or Xfce you need to disable automatic startup of sessions in your session manager settings. You may also need to delete the sessions cache:

    $ rm ~/.cache/sessions/x*

If you are not using a desktop environment with a session manager or choose to have Cairo-Dock startup by itself, you need to remove autostart files generated by Cairo-Dock:

    $ rm ~/.config/autostart/cairo-dock*

### The background is black

This is most likely caused by not running a composite manager, like Xcompmgr or Cairo Compmgr. Cairo-Dock uses the transparency feature of the composite manager to display the dock, and without it the dock will be displayed with a black background. If you are using a desktop environment, simply enable the composite manager or desktop effects in the settings.

An alternative solution that does not require a composite manager is to enable fake transparency in Cairo-Dock. To do this, right-click the dock and go to Cairo-Dock > Configure > Advanced Mode > System > Composition. Then enable both Emulate composition with fake transparency and Make the config panel transparent.

## See also

- glx.org
- launchpad

Categories:

- Application launchers
- Eye candy