Arch Linux

How to Customize the Wallpaper in Arch Linux

The Linux operating system is based extensively on the command-line structure. That makes it difficult to download a customized wallpaper for your system. Using a desktop environment changes this, though highly professional programmers do not generally opt for the desktop environment and consider it instead for beginners only in the world of programming.

That being the case, every IT programmer is not a professional, so a desktop environment can be of much assistance. This guide shows you how to download distinctive wallpapers on your Arch Linux system using a desktop environment. Different desktop environments encompass particular methods for downloading custom wallpapers. You can also use the wallpaper manager to find new and visually appealing wallpapers for your desktop. The wide variety of wallpapers available can make your system screen look more eye-catching.

Wallpapers for Desktop Environments

This article shares the procedure for downloading custom wallpapers in three premier desktop environments. Most Arch Linux users are inclined towards these cardinal desktop environments to effectively manage programming without inputting so many codes in the terminal system. Three of the most prominent desktop environments for the Arch Linux operating system include the following:

  • The GNOME desktop environment
  • The KDE Plasma desktop environment
  • The Xfce4 desktop environment

GNOME

If you are a GNOME user, then you are probably aware of how easy it is to set or customize the wallpaper for Arch Linux through the GNOME desktop environment. There are two ways to set up a wallpaper in GNOME. You can either opt for an already-existing wallpaper, or you can customize an image into a wallpaper. Both methods follow easy steps that do not require you to issue complex codes. In fact, you do not need to input any code at all. Simply right-click on your desktop screen, then choose the “change background” option. The screen will lead you to the background settings. Just choose whichever background attracts your attention or feels pleasant to your eyes. This way, you can set the background for the home screen and lock screen of your system. For a customized wallpaper, go to the image that you wish to customize, right-click on the image, and select the “set as wallpaper” option.

KDE Plasma

The KDE Plasma desktop environment also covers a similar approach to set wallpapers. Simply right-click on the screen of your desktop, and then pick the “configure desktop” option. The screen will then take you to the background images. Select the one you want to set as a background and click “OK.” To opt for a customized background, click “add image,” navigate to your desired image, and click “open” to set the image as your wallpaper.

Xfce4

To change the wallpaper in the Xfce4 desktop environment, simply right-click on the screen and opt for the desktop setting. The screen will show you the desktop setting with a variant range of default wallpapers. If you do not like any of the pre-installed wallpapers, you can also extract a customized wallpaper by selecting Xfce4 in the section of the file. Then, select your desired image and set the image as the wallpaper.

Wallpaper Manager for Arch Linux

When changing the wallpaper of your desktop environment, the best choice is to opt for the Wonderwall wallpaper manager, a wallpaper manager for the Arch Linux desktop. Wonderwall is inherently a service program that entitles the user to customize the desktop wallpaper from a wide range of distinctive background images. Wonderwall also allows you to download or browse images to set a unique and visually appealing wallpaper for your Arch Linux system.

The attributes and features of Wonderwall cover a wide range of unique wallpapers, as well as dynamic filtration tools that grant you access to unlimited wallpapers through their respective search tags, colors, and patterns. You can search and select the wallpapers through Wonderwall, depending on the image’s resolution, specific categories, popularity among other users, online rating, and number of views. Wonderwall will assist you in selecting the best wallpaper to set up a stunning desktop environment.

Installation of Wonderwall

The installation of Wonderwall in Arch Linux is a very simple and quick process. Although the installation requires some coding to successfully launch and run the software on your system, in general, the codes are not complex, and even a beginner can effectively perform the installation using these simple codes. To efficiently install Wonderwall on your Arch Linux system, perform the following two basic steps:

  • Step 1: Enable Snapd
  • Step 2: Install Wonderwall

Prerequisites

The prerequisites that are required to install Wonderwall involve the availability of AUR on your system, along with its credential tools, to download snapd onto your server.

Enable Snapd

Once you ensure that the prerequisites to install snapd are available in their updated form on your system, you install snapd using the following commands.

$ git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/snapd.git

$ cd snapd

$ makepkg -si

After successfully installing snapd, all that remains is to enable the unit in the system. The chief function of this unit is to effectively manage the core of the snap communication socket. Run the following command in your terminal system to enable the socket

$ sudo systemctl enable --now snapd.socket

Once you have the unit for snap communication, generate a virtual link among /snap and /var/lib/snapd/snap to the classic snap base.

$ sudo ln -s /var/lib/snapd/snap /snap

To verify whether the snap’s path has been properly updated, you can either select the restart button, or you can simply log out from your server and then log back in to ensure that the process for updating snapd has been completed successfully.

Install Wonderwall

To obtain unlimited wallpapers to beautify your desktop screen, you just need to install Wonderwall on your system. Issue the following command to install the software on your system:

$ sudo snap install wonderwall

You can explore many wonderful wallpapers for your system after installing Wonderwall.

Conclusion

This guide covers all that you need to know to set up a custom wallpaper on your Arch Linux OS. Now, you can get yourself some interesting wallpapers with the wallpaper manager. You do not need to input complex codes to get a new wallpaper. Instead, follow the easy steps provided in this article to set up a beautiful wallpaper on your desktop environment.

About the author

Younis Said

I am a freelancing software project developer, a software engineering graduate and a content writer. I love working with Linux and open-source software.