Type in a terminal (e.g. Xubuntu, Ubuntu Server with XCFE (e.g. Raspberry PI 3):
sudo -e /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
(Better than sudo nano /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
or sudo mousepad /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
, see below the reasoning* - Thank you red_trumpet for the hint)
Add these lines to the file:
[Seat:*]
autologin-session=xubuntu
autologin-user=YourDesiredAutoLoginUserName
autologin-user-timeout=0
You could use e.g. file /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf.d/autologin-xubuntu.conf, instead, but then you should make sure settings in another file in that directory or in file /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf do not override it.
For GDM-Users
The config file is located /etc/gdm3/custom.conf
(according to the other answer, please vote Arbuntu's answer up if you found it helpful):
sudo -e /etc/gdm3/custom.conf
Uncomment the following lines (delete the #
) and fill in your user name:
# Enabling automatic login
AutomaticLoginEnable = true
AutomaticLogin = YourDesiredAutoLoginUserName
Extra:
To remove password on resume, right-click the system tray power icon then Preferences. This brings up the XFCE power manager (Alternatively you can navigate to XFCE/Settings/Settings Manager/Power Manager). Click Extended in the left pane. Uncheck Lock screen when going for suspend/hibernate.
The last place is XFCE/System/Users and Groups. If it's set "Password: Asked on login" you can change it, and thereafter, if you logout or switch user, you can get back without entering password.
*Reason for using sudo -e instead of the editor directly:
sudo -e copies the file with user privileges, and opens it with your preferred editor. After saving, the file gets copied back to the original file. In this way, the editor does not obtain root privileges, which is a security improvement. (And if configured correctly, your preferred editor is chosen automatically, which is quite convenient).
Sources: lightdm/Read.me, Ubuntu Forum, SuperUser