<!--
.. title: Simple multiseat setup on Fedora 17
.. slug: simple-multiseat-setup-on-fedora-17
.. date: 2012/06/17 21:15:00
.. tags: fedora
.. type: text
-->

Fedora 17 (Beefy Miracle) adds rudimentary
[support for multi-seat configurations](
http://0pointer.de/blog/projects/multi-seat.html). However,
[documentation](http://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/systemd/multiseat)
on setting up multi-seat configurations is rather sparse. The following guide
should get you started. This guide assumes that you are comfortable working on
the command line and that you know how to change init levels.

<!-- TEASER_END -->

> Multi-seat support on Linux is essentially at a beta state. While we think
  that the risk is small, please be aware that you can damage your system.

### Hardware requirements

 * Two video cards
 * Two mice
 * Two keyboards

On the test system, we will use an ASRock motherboard with two ATI/AMD RadeonHD
video cards: HD6850 and HD2400XT. The 6850 is on the PCIe x16 slot and the 2400
is on the PCIe x4 slot.

### Step 1: Identifying hardware

Once all hardware is installed and Fedora 17 is running on your primary monitor,
reboot and enter into run-level 3 by adding the number 3 in grub2 (note
artificial line-breaks inserted for formatting and not needed in actual
command-line):

```sh
linux   /vmlinuz-3.4.0-1.fc17.x86_64 \
  root=UUID=c0db7f1b-8622-4d30-9f98-47c806f6c79f ro rd.md=0 rd.lvm=0 \
  rd.dm=0  KEYTABLE=us quiet SYSFONT=latarcyrheb-sun16 rhgb rd.luks=0 \
  LANG=en_US.UTF-8 3
```

Upon booting into a virtual terminal, login as `root`. By default, all hardware
is assigned to a special seat called `seat0`. We can now list all the hardware
available on the machine:

```sh
[root@kaito ~]$ loginctl seat-status seat0
seat0
        Sessions: *11
         Devices:
                  ├ /sys/devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXPWRBN:00/input/input1
                  │ (input:input1) "Power Button"
                  ├ /sys/devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0C0C:00/input/input0
                  │ (input:input0) "Power Button"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:03:00.0/drm/card0
                  │ (drm:card0)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:03:00.0/graphics/fb0
                  │ (graphics:fb0) "radeondrmfb"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:03:00.1/sound/card1
                  │ (sound:card1) "Generic"
                  │ └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:03:00.1/sound/card1/input15
                  │   (input:input15) "HD-Audio Generic HDMI/DP,pcm=3"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:11.0/ata4/host3/target3:0:0/3:0:0:0/block/sr0
                  │ (block:sr0)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:11.0/ata4/host3/target3:0:0/3:0:0:0/scsi_generic/sg2
                  │ (scsi_generic:sg2)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.0/usb3
                  │ (usb:usb3)
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.0/usb3/3-1/3-1:1.2/0003:046D:C52B.0006/input/input5
                  │ │ (input:input5) "Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:101b"
                  │ └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.0/usb3/3-1/3-1:1.2/0003:046D:C52B.0006/input/input6
                  │   (input:input6) "Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:200a"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4
                  │ (usb:usb4)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.2/usb1
                  │ (usb:usb1)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb5
                  │ (usb:usb5)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.1/usb6
                  │ (usb:usb6)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.2/usb2
                  │ (usb:usb2)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0
                  │ (sound:card0) "SB"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input10
                  │ │ (input:input10) "HDA ATI SB Front Headphone"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input11
                  │ │ (input:input11) "HDA ATI SB Line Out Side"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input12
                  │ │ (input:input12) "HDA ATI SB Line Out CLFE"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input13
                  │ │ (input:input13) "HDA ATI SB Line Out Surround"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input14
                  │ │ (input:input14) "HDA ATI SB Line Out Front"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input7
                  │ │ (input:input7) "HDA ATI SB Line"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input8
                  │ │ (input:input8) "HDA ATI SB Front Mic"
                  │ └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input9
                  │   (input:input9) "HDA ATI SB Rear Mic"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.5/usb7
                  │ (usb:usb7)
                  ├ /sys/devices/virtual/misc/kvm
                  | (misc:kvm)
                  ├ -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.0/drm/card1
                  │ (drm:card1)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.0/graphics/fb1
                  │ (graphics:fb1) "radeondrmfb"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card2
                  │ (sound:card2) "HDMI"
                  │ └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card2/input16
                  │   (input:input16) "HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=3"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.0/input/input2
                  │ (input:input2) "CHESEN PS2 to USB Converter"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.1/input/input3
                  │ (input:input3) "CHESEN PS2 to USB Converter"
                  └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/input/input4
                    (input:input4) "Microsoft Microsoft 3-Button Mouse with IntelliEye(TM)"

```

The list above has been rearranged and modified for ease of presentation: the
hardware list has been separated into two with a separator line. We will use all
the hardware below the line as part of a second seat that we will `seat2`.

We will assume that we are initially connected to the system on seat0 via the
6850 and using the _Logitech Unifying Device_ as our keyboard and mouse. Please
ensure that you are not currently using hardware on `seat0` that will be mapped
to `seat2`. Note that the session index may be different on your system.

### Step 2: Assigning devices to the second seat

In order to test that multi-seat deployment works correctly, we will first
assign hardware manually to the second seat; eventually, we will automate it
using udev. Seats are created based on graphics cards. Hence we will start by
assigning a graphics card:

```sh
loginctl attach seat2 /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.0/drm/card1
loginctl attach seat2 /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.0/graphics/fb1
```

Let us then add the sound card and the input devices:

```sh
loginctl attach seat2 /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card2/input16
loginctl attach seat2 /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card2
loginctl attach seat2 /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.0/input/input2
loginctl attach seat2 /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.1/input/input3
loginctl attach seat2 /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/input/input4
```

Now, if everything went well, you should be able to see that the hardware has
been partitioned into two seats:

```sh
[root@kaito ~]$ loginctl seat-status seat0
seat0
        Sessions: *11
         Devices:
                  ├ /sys/devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXPWRBN:00/input/input1
                  │ (input:input1) "Power Button"
                  ├ /sys/devices/LNXSYSTM:00/device:00/PNP0C0C:00/input/input0
                  │ (input:input0) "Power Button"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:03:00.0/drm/card0
                  │ (drm:card0)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:03:00.0/graphics/fb0
                  │ (graphics:fb0) "radeondrmfb"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:03:00.1/sound/card1
                  │ (sound:card1) "Generic"
                  │ └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:03:00.1/sound/card1/input15
                  │   (input:input15) "HD-Audio Generic HDMI/DP,pcm=3"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:11.0/ata4/host3/target3:0:0/3:0:0:0/block/sr0
                  │ (block:sr0)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:11.0/ata4/host3/target3:0:0/3:0:0:0/scsi_generic/sg2
                  │ (scsi_generic:sg2)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.0/usb3
                  │ (usb:usb3)
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.0/usb3/3-1/3-1:1.2/0003:046D:C52B.0006/input/input5
                  │ │ (input:input5) "Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:101b"
                  │ └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.0/usb3/3-1/3-1:1.2/0003:046D:C52B.0006/input/input6
                  │   (input:input6) "Logitech Unifying Device. Wireless PID:200a"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4
                  │ (usb:usb4)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.2/usb1
                  │ (usb:usb1)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.0/usb5
                  │ (usb:usb5)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.1/usb6
                  │ (usb:usb6)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:13.2/usb2
                  │ (usb:usb2)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0
                  │ (sound:card0) "SB"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input10
                  │ │ (input:input10) "HDA ATI SB Front Headphone"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input11
                  │ │ (input:input11) "HDA ATI SB Line Out Side"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input12
                  │ │ (input:input12) "HDA ATI SB Line Out CLFE"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input13
                  │ │ (input:input13) "HDA ATI SB Line Out Surround"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input14
                  │ │ (input:input14) "HDA ATI SB Line Out Front"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input7
                  │ │ (input:input7) "HDA ATI SB Line"
                  │ ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input8
                  │ │ (input:input8) "HDA ATI SB Front Mic"
                  │ └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.2/sound/card0/input9
                  │   (input:input9) "HDA ATI SB Rear Mic"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:14.5/usb7
                  │ (usb:usb7)
                  └ /sys/devices/virtual/misc/kvm
                    (misc:kvm)
[root@kaito ~]$ loginctl seat-status seat2
seat2
        Sessions: *12
         Devices:
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.0/drm/card1
                  │ (drm:card1)
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.0/graphics/fb1
                  │ (graphics:fb1) "radeondrmfb"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card2
                  │ (sound:card2) "HDMI"
                  │ └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:04.0/0000:02:00.1/sound/card2/input16
                  │   (input:input16) "HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=3"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.0/input/input2
                  │ (input:input2) "CHESEN PS2 to USB Converter"
                  ├ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4/4-1/4-1:1.1/input/input3
                  │ (input:input3) "CHESEN PS2 to USB Converter"
                  └ /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:12.1/usb4/4-2/4-2:1.0/input/input4
                    (input:input4) "Microsoft Microsoft 3-Button Mouse with IntelliEye(TM)"
```

If your display manager is set to GDM, start runlevel 5, and you should see
an independent login screen on each monitor. GDM does tend to be flaky and you
may need to switch a couple of times between runlevels 3 and 5 before you see
login screens on both seats.

### Next steps

If everything above worked, we can
[automate the process](
using-udev-to-configure-fedora-multi-seat-automatically.html).