Openbox

🪟 Openbox Configuration Guide

Openbox is a lightweight and highly configurable window manager that provides a simple yet powerful environment for managing windows in your desktop. With its flexibility and extensive customization options, Openbox allows you to create a personalized and efficient workflow.

Tip

Everything in this setup is fully customizable. Whether it's the appearance, keybindings, or behavior — you have full control. All configuration files live in your dotfiles repo, versioned with chezmoi, and changes can be applied with chezmoi apply.

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🗂️ Configuration Files Location

Your Openbox configuration files are located at:

~/.config/openbox

These files are managed via chezmoi. To edit them:

chezmoi edit ~/.config/openbox --source ~/.dotfiles

After editing, apply your changes with:

chezmoi apply

And restart Openbox for the modifications to take effect.

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🔧 What You Can Customize

• Window behavior (e.g., focus models, stacking order)
• Keybindings (move, resize, switch windows, custom shortcuts)
• Menus (right-click desktop menus, application launchers)
• Autostart applications (programs that run when Openbox starts)
• Appearance and theming

📂 Key Configuration Files

• rc.xml: Main configuration file for keybindings and window behavior
• menu.xml: Right-click desktop menu definition
• autostart: List of applications to run on Openbox startup

Tip

Use chezmoi diff to preview changes before applying.

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🖼️ Graphical Configuration with obconf

To simplify configuration, you can use obconf, a GUI configuration tool for Openbox.

If it's available in your package manager, install it:

# Example for Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S obconf

Then launch it:

obconf

You can adjust:

• Themes and styles
• Window decorations
• Mouse behavior
• Desktops and workspaces

✨ Great for quick changes without editing XML files.

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🧩 Integration & Tips

• Use in combination with Polybar, Rofi, and Zsh for a full personalized desktop experience
• You can dynamically generate menus or autostart entries via scripts
• Combine with tools like xrandr, feh, or picom for wallpapers, transparency, and compositor support

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🆘 Need Help?

If you get stuck or want to learn more:

• Refer to Openbox documentation
• Ask questions in the Discussions section

Unleash the power of Openbox and create a unique desktop environment that reflects your style and optimizes your daily tasks!