== Configuring xmonad == xmonad is configured by creating and editing the file: ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs xmonad then uses settings from this file as arguments to the window manager, on startup. For a complete example of possible settings, see the file: man/xmonad.hs Further examples are on the website, wiki and extension documentation. http://haskell.org/haskellwiki/Xmonad == A simple example == Here is a basic example, which overrides the default border width, default terminal, and some colours. This text goes in the file $HOME/.xmonad/xmonad.hs : import XMonad main = xmonad $ defaultConfig { borderWidth = 2 , terminal = "urxvt" , normalBorderColor = "#cccccc" , focusedBorderColor = "#cd8b00" } You can find the defaults in the file: XMonad/Config.hs == Checking your xmonad.hs is correct == Place this text in ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs, and then check that it is syntactically and type correct by loading it in the Haskell interpreter: $ ghci ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs GHCi, version 6.8.1: http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ :? for help Loading package base ... linking ... done. Ok, modules loaded: Main. Prelude Main> :t main main :: IO () Ok, looks good. == Loading your configuration == To have xmonad start using your settings, type 'mod-q'. xmonad will then load this new file, and run it. If it is unable to, the defaults are used. To load succesfully, both 'xmonad' and 'ghc' must be in your $PATH environment variable. If GHC isn't in your path, for some reason, you can compile the xmonad.hs file yourself: $ cd ~/.xmonad $ ghc --make xmonad.hs $ ls xmonad xmonad.hi xmonad.hs xmonad.o When you hit mod-q, this newly compiled xmonad will be used. == Where are the defaults? == The default configuration values are defined in the source file: XMonad/Config.hs the XConfig data structure itself is defined in: XMonad/Core.hs == Extensions == Since the xmonad.hs file is just another Haskell module, you may import and use any Haskell code or libraries you wish. For example, you can use things from the xmonad-contrib library, or other code you write yourself.