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Lock down specific settings

By using the lockdown mode in dconf, you can prevent users from changing specific settings. Without locking down the system settings, user settings take precedence over the system settings.

To lock down a dconf key or subpath, you will need to create a locks subdirectory in the keyfile directory. The files inside this directory contain a list of keys or subpaths to lock. Just as with the keyfiles, you may add any number of files to this directory.

Lock a setting

  1. Before you can lock down a key or subpath, you need to set it. This example shows how to lock a background setting once it has been set.

    At this point, you should have a user profile and a keyfile with the settings that you want to lock down.

  2. Create a directory named /etc/dconf/db/local.d/locks.

  3. Create a file in the /etc/dconf/db/local.d/locks/ directory and list one key or subpath per line. For example, create /etc/dconf/db/local.d/locks/00_default-wallpaper:

    # prevent changes to the background
/org/gnome/desktop/background/picture-uri
/org/gnome/desktop/background/picture-options
/org/gnome/desktop/background/primary-color
/org/gnome/desktop/background/secondary-color

  4. Update the system databases:

    # dconf update