GNOME is the default desktop environment on AlmaLinux, but only if you opt for the full installation of the operating system. Other installations don’t include any GUI by default. If you’ve chosen a minimal install but don’t want to be limited to just the command line, you can install the GNOME desktop environment in a few simple commands.
In this guide, we’ll show you the step by step instructions to install the GNOME GUI on AlmaLinux. Follow along with us on your own system to get it setup.
In this tutorial you will learn:
- How to install GNOME desktop environment on AlmaLinux
- How to make GNOME launch by default upon system boot
| Category | Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used |
|---|---|
| System | AlmaLinux |
| Software | GNOME GUI |
| Other | Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command. |
| Conventions |
# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user |
How to install GNOME desktop environment
- Once your system is booted up and you’ve logged in, we can use a
yum groupinstallcommand to install a GUI. To see the packages available, execute the following command.# yum group list
- Next, let’s install the
Server with GUIpackage with the command below. This will begin to install all the necessary packages for the GNOME desktop environment.# yum groupinstall "Server with GUI"
- Once installation has finished, we can make GNOME start every time the system boots up by changing the default systemd target to use a graphical interface.
# systemctl set-default graphical.target
- Finally, reboot the system for all changes to take effect. When AlmaLinux finishes loading back up, you should be welcomed by the GNOME login screen. If you only have a root user account, you’ll be prompted to create a new regular user when GNOME first loads.
# reboot
Closing Thoughts
In this guide, we saw how to install the GNOME GUI on AlmaLinux. This is for users that have chosen a minimal install, but later decided that they want to use a graphical interface. AlmaLinux makes the task rather streamlined by using groupinstall and using a systemctl command to change the default systemd target.