How to install KDE on CentOS

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By default, the CentOS Linux distribution sports the GNOME desktop environment, or no GUI at all. If you would like to change things up and install KDE Plasma instead, the GUI can be downloaded and installed directly from CentOS’ package repositories.

This can be done whether you are switching from GNOME to KDE Plasma, or you currently are running command line interface only and wish to install a graphical desktop environment. KDE Plasma is a great choice that comes with all the tools you will need to administrate your CentOS system.

In this tutorial, we will go through the step by step instructions to install the KDE Plasma GUI desktop environment on a CentOS Linux system.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to enable EPEL repository
  • How to install KDE Plasma Desktop on CentOS
  • How to enable graphical target in systemd
  • How to disable GDM and enable SDDM window manager
  • How to load into alternative desktop environment at lock screen
How to install KDE on CentOS
How to install KDE on CentOS
Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
Category Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System CentOS Linux
Software KDE Plasma, SDDM window manager
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 KDE on CentOS step by step instructions

  1. Installing KDE desktop environment is rather easy, the first thing we need to do is open a command line terminal and enable the EPEL repository. 
    $ sudo dnf install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm
  2. Next, type the following dnfcommand to install the KDE Plasma Workspaces and base-x group packages. It is also recommended to make sure your system is completely up to date before installing the GUI. 
    $ sudo dnf update -y
$ sudo dnf --enablerepo=epel,powertools group -y install "KDE Plasma Workspaces" "base-x"
  3. After the installation is complete, you may need to set your CentOS system to boot into a graphical target by default. This should only be necessary if you previously did not have any GUI installed. Execute the command below: 
    $ sudo systemctl set-default graphical.target
  4. You will also need to enable sddm window manager to start up automatically. Before doing that, make sure that gdm window manager is disabled (assuming that you currently have GNOME installed). 
    $ sudo systemctl disble gdm
$ sudo systemctl enable sddm
  5. Afterwards, you can reboot your system and load into your newly installed KDE Plasma desktop environment. 
    $ reboot
  6. That’s all there is to it. Your system should load into the KDE lock screen when it boots back up.
    Loading into KDE Plasma desktop environment after reboot
    Loading into KDE Plasma desktop environment after reboot
  7. Keep in mind you can always load GNOME at the lock screen by clicking on the desktop environment drop down menu at the bottom of your screen.

    Selecting a different desktop environment
    Selecting a different desktop environment

Loaded into the KDE Plasma GUI desktop on CentOS Linux
Loaded into the KDE Plasma GUI desktop on CentOS Linux

Closing Thoughts

In this tutorial, we saw how to install the KDE Plasma desktop environment GUI on CentOS Linux. KDE is a speedy and responsive desktop environment, which comes loaded with a lot of its own applications, such as the Dolphin file manager, to make your system administration that much easier. CentOS and KDE Plasma is a great combination that you are sure to enjoy – I personally like it a lot better than the default GNOME environment on CentOS.

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