creating a custom session for gnome to only run awn

This how to is reproduced in full cause it is so use full, follow the links to go to the original. 

Run AWN / Dock in Natty Narwhal, instead of Gnome Panel or Unity Launcher/Panel

If you want to use Avant Window Navigator (AWN) or another dock instead of the default panels/launcher in Natty Narwhal, there are multiple approaches to achieve that.

The best way is to add a custom session option, because it would leave the default session options in their original state, so that you could easily use them as well, and it wouldn't get reset by an upgrade of the respective packages.

Installation

If you don't have AWN installed yet, run these commands in the Terminal, this will add its own PPA to your sources to ensure you always have the most recent version of it:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:awn-testing/ppa
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install avant-window-navigator-trunk

If you already installed AWN through the official repos, remove it before:

sudo apt-get purge avant-window-navigator
sudo apt-get autoremove

Once it is installed, you will find it under "Applications > Accessories" in classic Gnome, or by typing its name into the Unity Dash.

Sessions

Notice that the 'required components' that were specified in Gconf in previous releases of Ubuntu are now specified by the session settings in "/usr/share/gnome-session/sessions".

Modify the red marked entries to use another dock than AWN.

Custom Session

1. Create the .desktop file:

gksudo gedit /usr/share/xsessions/dock.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Name=AWN
Comment=This session logs you into GNOME with the dock of your choice
Exec=gnome-session --session=dock
TryExec=gnome-session
Icon=
Type=Application
X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=gnome-session-2.0

Note: What you put as the value for "Name=" here, will be shown as the name of the new session option.

2. Create the session settings:

gksudo gedit /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/dock.session

[GNOME Session]
Name=Dock
Required=windowmanager;panel;filemanager;
Required-windowmanager=gnome-wm
Required-panel=avant-window-navigator
Required-filemanager=nautilus
DefaultApps=gnome-settings-daemon;

Classic Gnome Session, "Ubuntu Classic"

Modify "/usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/classic-gnome.session":

gksudo gedit /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/classic-gnome.session

[GNOME Session]
Name=Classic GNOME
Required=windowmanager;panel;filemanager;
Required-windowmanager=gnome-wm
Required-panel=avant-window-navigator
Required-filemanager=nautilus
DefaultApps=gnome-settings-daemon;
IsRunnableHelper=/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test --compiz
FallbackSessionsID=GNOME2d
GNOME2d=2d-gnome

Unity Session, "Ubuntu"

1. Disable the "Ubuntu Unity Plugin" in "CompizConfig Settings Manager".

2a. Add "avant-window-navigator" to "Startup Applications"

2b. or modify "/usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/ubuntu.session":

gksudo gedit /usr/share/gnome-session/sessions/ubuntu.session

[GNOME Session]
Name=Ubuntu
Required=windowmanager;panel;filemanager;
Required-windowmanager=compiz
Required-panel=avant-window-navigator
Required-filemanager=nautilus
DefaultApps=gnome-settings-daemon;
IsRunnableHelper=/usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test
FallbackSessionsID=FallbackUnity2d;FallbackClassicGnome
FallbackUnity2d=2d-ubuntu
FallbackClassicGnome=classic-gnome
FallbackClassicGnomeMessage=It seems that you do not have the hardware required to run Unity. Please choose Ubuntu Classic at the login screen and you will be using the traditional environment.

Tips

You should place launchers on your desktop in case you need to restart the one, AWN or another dock:

avant-window-navigator

or you want to run the other, Gnome Panel:

gnome-panel

If your dock is also capable to host the Notification Area, like AWN does, then remove those from your Gnome Panel. Otherwise, the respective AWN applet gets killed each time you start Gnome Panel.

I myself find it very handy to have the ability to fire up Gnome Panel occasionally. Mostly for UF support reasons, otherwise not really.

Run Dialog (Alt+F2)

Since the usual Run Dialog's are either provided by Gnome Panel or the Unity Dash, Alt+F2 will stop working when you run only AWN.

AWN's Cairo Menu applet includes a "Launch..." menu item, but those needs to be 'filled' with a replacement for the Run Dialog.

XFRun4

The best replacement in terms of style and integration compared to Gnome Panel's Run Dialog is XFRun4. It's included by the package "xfce4-utils", which is provided by the official repos. To avoid the installation of unnecessary additional packages, if you don't have XFCE installed parallelly, use the "--no-install-recommends" option of 'apt-get':

sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends xfce4-utils

After the installation, you can either run it through the mentioned "Launch..." menu item in Cairo Menu, or create a keyboard shortcut in CCSM for the command "xfrun4". If you choose the set the key combination to Alt+F2, you will get a conflict dialog, then choose "Disable Run Dialog" (that option is included by the "Gnome Compatibility" plugin).

Synapse

Another great alternative to Gnome Panel's Run Dialog and Unity's Dash is Synapse. It can not only run commands, but also installed applications, which you would otherwise have to run through the menu of classic Gnome, Cairo Menu of AWN, or the Dash of Unity. And similar to the latter makes it use of the Zeitgeist engine to also give you quick access to any kind of recently accessed stuff.

See this guide about further information and how to install it:

http://www.tuxgarage.com/2011/05/synapse-alternative-to-run-dialog-dash.html

Troubleshooting

If Gnome Panel is still getting run at login, alongside to your dock or instead of it:

- Remove the content of "~/.config/gnome-session/saved-session":

rm -f ~/.config/gnome-session/saved-session/*

- Remove the now obsolete Gconf keys:

gconftool-2 --unset /desktop/gnome/session/required_components_list
gconftool-2 --recursive-unset /desktop/gnome/session/required_components

- Check if Gnome Panel is listed/enabled in "Startup Applications", and if so, disable it.

If your dock doesn't get run at login:

- Remove "panel" from the line "Required=" in the concerning session settings:

Required=windowmanager;filemanager;

- Add the command for your dock to "Startup Applications":

avant-window-navigator