Install LXDE

In some situations, you'll want to install an X11 desktop in Dom0 (which can be used to run virt-manager or XCP-XAPI GUIs)

> apt-get install xorg lxde

This will take a while - be patient!

Start the graphical environment:

> service lightdm start

You should now be able to login to the graphical environment as the “user_name” user. You can get a shell window using Start > Accessories > LXTerminal.

You can also switch between text and graphical consoles using Ctrl-Alt-F1 and Ctrl-Alt-F7 respectively.

LXDE can be launched using GDM / KDM or LightDM, please refer to https://wiki.debian.org/LXDE for more on this.

As you are working with a desktop install, disable “Network Manager” (UNTESTED)

> stop network-manager
> gedit /etc/NetworkManager/NetworkManager.conf

Now make sure the “managed” line contains “managed=false” Save and exit

This doesn't seem to work. When in the GUI keyboard keeps on US layout.

First of all, you need to add the necessary keyboard layouts into the /etc/default/keyboard config file (see also: Keyboard in Debian Wiki).

You can change your keyboard settings by:

> dpkg-reconfigure keyboard-configuration
> service keyboard-setup restart

http://www.xfree86.org/current/XKB-Config.html This works issuing the command line, still looking for a way to make it persistent.

Issue the following command:

> setxkbmap -rules xfree86 -model pc104 -layout fr -option ""

Here is an example with 5 layouts (US English, Ukrainian, Russian, German and French) and <Alt>+<Shift> as a layout changer key combination:

> nano /etc/default/keyboard

# KEYBOARD CONFIGURATION FILE

# Consult the keyboard(5) manual page.

XKBMODEL="pc105"
XKBLAYOUT="us,ua,ru,de,fr"
XKBVARIANT=""
XKBOPTIONS="grp:alt_shift_toggle"

BACKSPACE="guess"

For the changes to take affect, you need to execute the following command:

> udevadm trigger --subsystem-match=input --action=change

or to reboot the system.

After that, you can add a Keyboard Layout Switcher applet onto the LXPanel and finally test it.

Also you could add the fcitx package to enhance the Keyboard Layout Switcher possibilities, amongst other displaying of the selected keyboard layout.

> sudo apt-get install fcitx
> im-config

At this point, you need to restart your X session to get the config working, rebooting might also do the trick.

DO NOT INSTALL virt-manager if you plan on using XCP-XAPI

> apt-get install virt-manager

This installs a lot of extra packages because it depends on a lot of graphics libraries.

> usermod -G libvirt -a user_name

Test you have access (logged in as user_name):

> virsh -c quemu:///system list

In the meantime, right-click on your desktop and select the image to use.