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ICEWMBG(1) User Commands ICEWMBG(1)
NAME
icewmbg - a desktop background image manager for IceWM
SYNOPSIS
icewmbg [OPTIONS] [ARGUMENTS]
DESCRIPTION
icewmbg can assign a colour or image to the X11 desktop background.
Common image formats are supported. Each icewm(1) workspace can have
its own background.
When the background image changes, icewmbg can be notified to update
the background. When switching workspaces, it checks the image file
modification time. If it has changed, it reloads the image.
icewmbg supports semitransparency. Semitransparent background images
and colours can be configured.
It uses RandR or Xinerama to support backgrounds on all connected
monitors. When monitors appear/disappear, or change their resolution,
icewmbg will adjust. It supports an option for one large background
over all monitors.
It will update the "_ICEWMBG_IMAGE" property of the root window to the
path of the background image whenever it changes the desktop
background.
icewmbg is started automatically by icewm-session(1). If there is just
a single background for all workspaces, icewmbg may conclude that it
can safely exit after setting the desktop background, to free its
system memory. If the screen size changes, icewm will then attempt to
restart icewmbg, preferably via icewm-session.
ARGUMENTS
SPECIFIC OPTIONS
Where multiple values can be given for images or colours, they are
separated by comma's. Each such value may be enclosed in double
quotes. If FILE is a directory, all images from that directory are
used in sorted order. If the value starts with an exclamation mark, as
in !FILE, the images from the directory FILE are permuted randomly.
Image file names or directory names may have glob(7) wildcards, or they
may start with a tilde or environment variable.
-f, --fork
Fork into the background and detach from the terminal.
-p, --replace
Replace an existing icewmbg. If there is a running icewmbg, it is
instructed to quit. The new icewmbg will take over.
-q, --quit
Tell the running icewmbg to quit. This option is used by
icewm-session(1) when icewm(1) exits.
-r, --restart
Tell the running icewmbg to restart itself. This is useful when
settings in have changed. If no icewmbg is active, it starts one.
-u, --shuffle
Shuffle the list of background images randomly. This option may be
given again whenever the running icewmbg should reshuffle its list
of background images.
-c, --config=FILE
Load preferences from FILE.
-t, --theme=THEME
Use the theme named THEME.
-i, --image=FILE[,FILE]*
Load background images from each FILE. This overrules the
"DesktopBackgroundImage" preference. When more than one image is
given, they are assigned to each workspace in the given order.
-k, --color=COLOR[,COLOR]*
Use background colours from each COLOR. This overrules the
"DesktopBackgroundColor" preference.
-s, --semis=FILE[,FILE]*
Load transparency images from each FILE. This overrules the
"DesktopTransparencyImage" preference.
-x, --trans=NAME[,NAME]
Use transparency colours for each NAME. This overrules the
"DesktopTransparencyColor" preference.
-e, --center={0|1}
Disable/Enable centring background. This overrules the
"DesktopBackgroundCenter" preference.
-a, --scaled={0|1}
Disable/Enable scaling background. This overrules the
"DesktopBackgroundScaled" preference.
-m, --multi={0|1}
Disable or enable a single background over all monitors. This
overrules the "DesktopBackgroundMultihead" preference.
-y, --cycle=SECONDS
Cycle over the list of background images every SECONDS. This
overrules the "CycleBackgroundsPeriod" preference.
-o, --output=FILE
Redirect all output to FILE. A leading tilde or environment
variable is expanded.
--postpreferences
Print a list of all preference values that icewmbg will use.
--verbose
Print a log of actions and some events.
GENERAL OPTIONS
-d, --display=DISPLAY
Use DISPLAY to connect to the X server. Otherwise use DISPLAY from
the environment.
-h, --help
Print a brief usage statement to stdout and exit.
-V, --version
Print the program version to stdout and exit.
-C, --copying
Print copying permissions to stdout for the program and exit.
--sync
Use a slow synchronous mode to communicate with the X11 server.
--verbose
Report on some of the activities.
FILES
Additional arguments, which either are a path or which have an image
extension, are assumed to be background image files or directories.
PREFERENCES
By default icewmbg loads settings from the icewm(1) preferences file.
See icewm-preferences(5) for details. The settings read are:
DesktopBackgroundCenter - Display desktop background centered
DesktopBackgroundScaled - Display desktop background scaled
DesktopBackgroundColor - Desktop background color(s)
DesktopBackgroundImage - Desktop background image(s)
ShuffleBackgroundImages - Shuffle the list of background images
SupportSemitransparency - Support for semitransparent terminals
DesktopTransparencyColor - Semitransparency background color(s)
DesktopTransparencyImage - Semitransparency background image(s)
DesktopBackgroundMultihead - One background over all monitors
CycleBackgroundsPeriod - Seconds between cycling over backgrounds
If these settings are set in the preferences file, they can be
overridden by the theme in the theme defaults file. To enforce a
certain setting, set it in the prefoverride file instead. See
icewm-prefoverride(5).
WORKSPACES
Each workspace can have a unique image. Specify multiple images to
DesktopBackgroundImage separated by comma's. Or give at least one
directory with images. The images are assigned to each workspace in the
order given. When icewm changes workspace, the running icewmbg will
adapt the desktop background to the assigned image.
If you specify more images then there are workspaces, then
CycleBackgroundsPeriod can set a period. When the period expires,
icewmbg will switch to the next set of images. If you give less images
than there are workspaces, then icewmbg will reuse previous images for
the remaining workspaces.
IMAGE SCALING
Often a background image has a different width or height than the
screen. The image can then be replicated (tiled), centered or scaled.
This is controlled by "DesktopBackgroundCenter" and
"DesktopBackgroundScaled". What happens for their combination is given
by the following table:
center:0 scaled:0 = The background is replicated in both directions.
center:1 scaled:0 = The background is centered, but not scaled.
center:1 scaled:1 = Fill one dimension and preserve the aspect ratio.
center:0 scaled:1 = Fill both dimensions and preserve the aspect ratio.
EXAMPLES
# For four unique desktop backgrounds for four workspaces do:
icewmbg -f -p -i image0,image1,image2,image3
# Or create a directory with the four images and do:
icewmbg -f -p -i /path/to/directory
# The images should have proper image filename extensions.
SIGNALS
icewmbg supports the following signals:
SIGHUP
icewmbg will restart itself.
SIGINT, SIGTERM
icewmbg will terminate.
SIGUSR1
icewmbg will reshuffle the list of background images and update the
backgrounds of all workspaces.
SEE ALSO
icewm(1), icewm-preferences(5), icewm-prefoverride(5), wmsetbg(1),
xsetbg(1), xwallpaper(1).
BUGS
Please report bugs at <https://github.com/bbidulock/icewm/issues>.
AUTHOR
Brian Bidulock <mailto:bidulock@openss7.org>.
See --copying for full copyright notice and copying permissions.
LICENSE
IceWM is licensed under the GNU Library General Public License. See
the COPYING file in the distribution or use the --copying flag to
display copying permissions.
icewm 3.9.0 2025-08-31 ICEWMBG(1)
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