Cairo-Dock is a desktop interface that takes the shape of docks, desklets, panel and applets. It is designed to be light, fast and customizable, and is desktop-agnostic. It has a powerful DBus interface, to be controlled from a terminal or another application. Features can be added by plug-ins or applets, and applets can be written in C or in any language. Most actions can be done from keyboard. It is compatible with Compiz-Fusion, Beryl, Compiz and Xcompmgr, but it can also run without a composite manager (using fake transparency). Cairo-Dock can run under GNOME, KDE and XFCE.
Install Cairo-Dock in Kali Linux
To install cairo-dock you need to do the followings:
- Install Cairo Dock from Kali Repo
- Install Cairo-dock from Cairo-docks repo
- Add Cairo-Dock repo in Kali Linux sources.list file
- Add GPG Keys
- Update package list via apt-get
- Install Cairo-Dock and Plugins
- Run Cairo-Dock
Install Cairo-Dock from Kali Linux Repo
If you’ve used the official Kali Linux repository, then you can install Cairo-Dock and all it’s requirements directly from Kali Linux repository.
Use the following command to install Cairo-Dock in Kali Linux from Official Kali Linux repository:
aptitude -r install cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins
This will install all cairo-dock, it’s plugins and any recommended packages. Move to Running Cairo-Dock section from there.
Install Cairo-dock from Cairo-docks repo
In case you don’t want to install Cairo-dock from Kali Linux’s official repository, you can always add the repository for Cairo-dock and install from there.
Add Cairo-Dock repo in Kali Linux
First you need to edit /etc/apt/sources.list file
vi /etc/apt/sources.list
add the following line
deb http://download.tuxfamily.org/glxdock/repository/debian stable cairo-dock
Save and exit the file
Install GPG key
wget -q http://download.tuxfamily.org/glxdock/repository/cairo-dock.gpg -O- | apt-key add -
Update package list
Update source list
apt-get update
Install Cairo-Dock and Plugins
Run the following command to install Cairo-Dock and plugins
apt-get install cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins
Run Cairo-Dock
Now you can launch Cairo-dock from
Applications —> System tools —> cairo-Dock
Conclusion
Cairo-Dock is a nice tool to have and it adds some color to your Kali Linux’s boring desktop. I like monitoring and weather applets. They also got many theme’s that you can play with.
In fact since writing this post, I’ve done some more editing and ended up having a great Desktop. I’ve used black-element theme, conky-color and cairo-dock. Wallpaper was downloaded from Wallpaperswide. What a great community! Here’s a new screenshot of this desktop.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy and share.
43 comments
Hi..i followed the steps and got this error msg after running apt-get install cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins
root@kali:~# apt-get install cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
cairo-dock-plug-ins : Depends: libdbusmenu-glib4 (>= 0.4.2) but it is not installable
Depends: libdbusmenu-gtk3-4 (>= 0.4.2) but it is not installable
Depends: libetpan15 (>= 1.0) but it is not installable
Depends: libindicator3-7 but it is not installable
Depends: libzeitgeist-1.0-1 (>= 0.3.2) but it is not installable
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.
How do i resolve this?
Thanks in Advance :)
Hey Rashed,
Check your policy:
apt-cache policy cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins
apt-cache show cairo-dock-plug-ins
See solution here: http://glx-dock.org/bg_topic.php?t=6840
You might want to switch to a different repo.. Cairo dock is available from mutiple repo.
A detailed installation instruction can be found here:
http://glx-dock.org/ww_page.php?p=From%20the%20repository&lang=en
You could also try adding the following lines:
Create a file like this:
vi /etc/apt/preferences.d/cairo-dockand paste the lines below in that
Package: cairo-dock* libgldi*
Pin: origin download.tuxfamily.org
Pin-Priority: 990
Save and do
apt-get updateThen install Cairo Dock
apt-get install cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-insIt’s pretty simple … BMO used the generic installation instructions that suits everyone’s need, if you added broken package that means you have a custom installation … more work is needed …. :) I love Cairo Dock .. it’s like having a MAC without wasting the $$… Kali is too boring for me
its not working even after allowing unstable packages
Thank you for all your info on this website. This site has been a life savor many times. I was wondering if you could explain to us the commands on how to set up a compiz manger >I have been trying to get one installed now for a day and keep messing up my Resp. in Kali. I know it seems to sounds easy to install but I am having trouble and cant figure out why. so maybe along with this section you could add instructions on the comp manger thank you. if just msg me with detail ins. on how to. any help I would love. Thanks guys.
Hi morrisonm6,
That’s very kind of you, thank you! I only posted guides/issues that I’ve tried/experienced myself. I’ll get back on Compiz when I’m done testing. Thanks.
-BMO
Hey BMO!
After we install dock, the bottom task bar gets disappeared or not?
Hello iamsarhakjoshi,
No it wont. You need to delete bottom taskbar. Cairo dock will ask you if you want to start it with every boot, so if you select yes, you get all your shortcut icons in there. Hope that helps.
Thanks,
-BMO
Thank You BMO! I will give it a try :)
When I try to run cairo-docks, nothing happens. When I run cairo-docks in the terminal I get the following:
root@unknown:~# cairo-dock
cairo-dock: Symbol `myContainersMgr’ has different size in shared object, consider re-linking
cairo-dock: Symbol `myDocksMgr’ has different size in shared object, consider re-linking
cairo-dock: symbol lookup error: cairo-dock: undefined symbol: myShortkeysMgr
root@unknown:~#
Hi Rob,
Have you tried running non-openGL Cairo dock? It sound’s like you either have updated some lib files and/or have a non-standard Kali Linux installation. (i.e. Debian repo, Kali Bleeding edge repo, non-standard PPA’s etc. etc.)
Cairo Dock community is also very responsive, perhaps try their forum for more in depth help? Link to their forum:
http://glx-dock.org/bg_forumlist.php
Another option would be install Cairo-Dock from source-code. See here:
http://glx-dock.org/ww_page.php?p=By%20compiling&lang=en
ATI Cards also causes bunch of issues if you haven’t installed latest drivers properly. See here:
http://glx-dock.org/ww_page.php?p=Recurrents%20problems&lang=en
Good luck.
Many thanks for the advice. Going to try again from a fresh install of Kali. Think I didn’t read your instructions properly and tried to use both methods for installing cairo dock. Will only take me an hour or so to get things back to the same standard. Will let you known how it goes.
Cheers!
I followed your posted guide to install Cairo-Dock and it failed during the install. After running Synaptic, fixing broken package, and completing the Cairo install everything is working as it should. I ran into this on a prior machine with backtrack.
I thought it maybe worth mentioning as some of the other fixes are a bit more complicated.
Great site you have here :)
Thanks. Could it because you have debian, ppa and custom repositories enabled along with multi arch(I.e. i386 on 64bit or vice versa)?
Hi man.. how do you put transparency on the terminal to show the window behind and not the wallpaper of kali??
Hi Daniel,
If I remember correctly, it’s part of black-element theme. There’s two theme’s you can play with, GTK Theme and Window theme. You should be able to control transparency from Advanced Settings Window. Cheers,
-BMO
Hi thanks for the reply!!! Can you tell me witch theme i need to install?? what theme do i need to have the black-element theme??
Hi Daniel,
I’ve put that in the last paragraph.. Here’s the link again:
black-element theme – http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php/black-element?content=124850
conky-color – http://helmuthdu.deviantart.com/art/CONKY-COLORS-244793180
and cairo-dock.
Cheers,
-BMO
HIce todo lo que está en tu manual pero no se pudo , al final me sale esto .
root@kali:~# apt-get install cairo-dock-plug-ins cairo-dock
Leyendo lista de paquetes… Hecho
Creando árbol de dependencias
Leyendo la información de estado… Hecho
E: No se ha podido localizar el paquete cairo-dock-plug-ins
E: No se ha podido localizar el paquete cairo-dock
BlackMORE ops U r really a super creature. I was not interested in Kali @ first place cz of its look up and lacked some tools but now you have open it up and now its my main OS now. Keep on posting and dont die early. I cud have make a party with you had it been we r so close.
Thanks. Glad you found the guide useful.
BlackMoreOps you’ve really helped me out here so thank you. I didn’t comment there but also wanted to say I found your guide to installing the nvidia proprietary drivers very helpful. I’m having a bit of trouble however with Cairo not replacing the taskbar from gnome. Is that normal? Is there a way I can get rid of it?
Just realised that Alt-Right click and I can do exactly what I need but thanks again for the guide’s they are much appreciated
How to remove the taskbar and black rectangle? I saw cairodock that to remove black rectangle tick mark this but the black rectangle doesnt go off. And how can i remove the taskbar?
thanks for your time :)
Can u post how to use Conky > Conky manager?
About to do it today. Thanks for the tip.
Hello! First at all Im sorry for my bad english (not my native language). I want to congratulate you for you amazing web page. It’s a must-read for me. I write this reply because I would like to know how did you configure all the applets you got in your screenshot (Im specially interested in those about monitoring but I dont know how to install them from Cairo dock… Are they even from Cairo?) Thank you so much for your help.
Hi Carlos,
Yes, all applets in the bottom dock are from Cairo dock. The Conky applet on the right is something I created. Keep an eye on the website as I am about to post a guide on conky-manager.
Thanks,
-BMO
Hello again, my friend.
Thanks for your new post, it was interesting and useful as always. However, unfortunately I managed to install conky colors just like you did but Im having a little problem: I have my applets running like your but Im having a problema with the icons on the left side. I mean those like the HDD, little calendar, RAM memory, and others. I really can’t find any solution. I was reading on internet and found that it could be a font problem. I would really appreciate your help with this matter. I was thinking about installing some repository which I can use to get proper font but I don’t think it is the easiest way. So, before doing anything stupid, I rather wait for your kindly reply.
Best regards,
Carlos.
P.S.: I attach a link to a screenshot of my applet running. Hope it helps. If it is ok for you, we can talk via email.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n6tk32ukoszvzxf/Captura%20de%20pantalla%20de%202014-07-30%2000%3A11%3A03.png
Update:
Im almost sure by now that Im missing font-awesome fonts (http://fortawesome.github.io/Font-Awesome/). That would be the reason why I cannot get the icons in a proper way. However, I can’t find a way to install it (there is a download link in their webpage with a .zip file, but I also found a .tar.gz file in other website).
I’m trying to solve this problem installing conky-symbols but it seems that conky-colors do not recognize it…
Just made a new post on how to install Fonts on Linux.
Hello,
Great site, I use this all the time for all things tweaking Kali.
I’ve used Cairo-Dock on Ubuntu with no issues, and other installs of Debian. However, when I install on the latest version of Kali i’m getting a black box around the dock when the dock shows. The transparency doesn’t seem to be working. After some Google-Foo I’ve tried several things with to avail. A common suggestion is going to the system settings and turning on transparency, but that must be for an older version as the transparency setting is no longer there.
I’ve tested this on a fresh install of Kali in Vmware from ISO, and the downloadable VMware image. Still having the same problem.
Anyone else having this issue?
bahansen.us,
Running
metacity -cshould fix it. Cheers,-BMO
Excellent suggestion!
I had to do
metacity --replace, but it worked like a charm. Thank you.Hi, could you kindly share your conkyrc config for a result like the one in your screenshot above? It’s beautiful.
Thanks for your very helpful articles.
Cheers
I’ve followed your instructions, and after installing this software and after restarting the computer I wasn’t able to log in to X-server, I’ve only got textual mode.
Now, what should I do maestro?
Easy to fix. CTRL + ALT + F2 and you get tty login. Then kill cairo-dock, uninstall if you feel like or check logs to troubleshoot.
killall cairo-dock
apt-get remove cairo-dock
service gdm restart (replace gdm with your dm).
ALT + CTRL + F7 to get back into default dm.
## Kali Regular repositories
deb http://http.kali.org/kali kali main non-free contrib
deb http://security.kali.org/kali-security kali/updates main contrib non-free
## Kali Source repositories
deb-src http://http.kali.org/kali kali main non-free contrib
deb-src http://security.kali.org/kali-security kali/updates main contrib non-free
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
://download.tuxfamily.org/glxdock/repository/debian stable cairo-dock HOW DO I SAVE?
hey i did all steps to add cairo but when i add apt get update this messeage is shown plz help me out …
” :~# wget -q http://download.tuxfamily.org/glxdock/repository/cairo-dock.gpg -O- | apt-key add –
OK
root@:~# apt-get update
E: Type ‘Cairo-Dock’ is not known on line 10 in source list /etc/apt/sources.list
E: The list of sources could not be read.”
thanks in advance
hello when i try this i have give error after this command
apt-get install cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins
error is==>
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
E: Unable to locate package cairo-dock
E: Unable to locate package cairo-dock-plug-ins
Please help me.
apt (1.2~exp1) experimental; urgency=medium
[ Automatic removal of debs after install ]
After packages are successfully installed by apt(8),
the corresponding .deb package files will be
removed from the /var/cache/apt/archives cache directory.
This can be changed by setting the apt configuration option
“APT::Keep-Downloaded-Packages” to “true”. E.g:
# echo ‘APT::Keep-Downloaded-Packages “true”;’ \
Please note that the behavior of apt-get is unchanged. The
downloaded debs will be kept in the cache directory after they
are installed.
[ Compressed indices ]
If you use Acquire::gzipIndexes, or any other compressed index targets,
those will now be compressed with the fastest supported algorithm,
currently lz4.
— Michael Vogt mvo@debian.org Tue, 05 Jan 2016 19:22:16 +0100
apt (1.1~exp9) experimental; urgency=medium
:
why ADMIN?
Hi Blackmore, i’m not sure it works today with the 2.0 repository, some guys on the french kali forum broke their installation adding.
I really love that desktop environement but i’m a bit afraid to try it…Just a little doubt but what i can say when, all i know right now on Kali is because of you and Coyotus? :)
Sorry for my bad english. Just hope you understand! At least, take the compliment!
Right bro, i’m a Stack’ and BlackLab user since 7-8 years from now + 2 years on BlackBox and thats with you two, i learned the most! Nice site, nice explications, not too long and boring, serious, i love your site…Hope you continue again for 50 years!
Salutations from the Quebec Family!
#OpIsis
#OpOperadoras
We have a collection of independent Delhi Model girls from Delhi, India. They like to travel, meet new people & love to visit at new locations.
hi bmo i m not able to process this command “aptitude -r install cairo-dock cairo-dock-plug-ins” when i type this command it shows bash: aptitude: command not found what to do pls help me