GDM

GDM (GNOME Display Manager) is GNOME's display manager.

Installation
You should have X properly running and gnome in working order. Now install :

For eyecandy, also install:

Note that you'll need the USE flag for some themes.

Configuration
You'll want to edit your or  to let it know to use GDM as the display manager

Add xdm to the default run-level

GUI
GDM login screens usually include a button to access the theme manager. If you cannot reach this, you can also launch the GUI using:

Manually
GDM's theme can be modified. If you want to do this, your main editing happens in. In that file, change the variables GtkRC and (maybe) GtkTheme. For example:

Then restart xdm.

>gdm-2.28
Extended code modification resulted in removal of gdm-setup, as well as incompatibility of earlier themes. Gdm settings can be changed like those of a regular gnome session, so as root, copy or link the gnome-control-center.desktop to gdm's autostart directory.

Then logout, the appearance properties windows will show up in the GDM screen for you to configure.

When Finish, login normally and delete what you just add.

To change the background image I edited the following file, after several experiments with failed.

Selecting a Window Manager
After a successful login, the script will execute the file. Users can define this script to launch their favorite window manager and X applications. When this script exits the user is logged out. Here's a sample :

Make sure that this file is executable:

Advanced Configuration
Other configuration options (like auto-login) are available with gdmsetup utility.

Can't find the gdm user
This problem occurs when the user gdm or the group gdm couldn't be found in or, respectively. Solution: Add the gdm user / group