Programmatically configuring appmenus for dispvm templates

[Emma Borhanian]

Hi, I'm trying to programmatically configure the appmenus for a dispvm
template.

`qvm-appmenus --get-whitelist / --set-whitelist /
--set-default-whitelist` seems out-of-sync with what I configure in Qube
Manager, and neither --set-whitelist or --set-default-whitelist work for
dispvm templates. I'm also confused why there's no
`--get-default-whitelist`.

I considered just manually copying over the .desktop files, but the
`apps.templates` directory is empty and doesn't populate when I run
`qvm-sync-appmenus`. Are they put somewhere else?

[Emma Borhanian]

Nevermind, my problem was trying to run `qvm-appmenus` from sudo.

Still unfortunate there's no --get-default-whitelist though.

[Emma Borhanian]

Multiple other problems:
* do not run qvm-appmenus or qvm-sync-appmenus as root, this will create
entries in other XDG_DATA_DIRS/XDG_DATA_HOME that cannot be deleted
through the UI, which you have to delete manually
* sometimes the list of available applications just keeps disappearing?
I'm not sure what's doing this. qvm-sync-appmenus fixes it but I keep
having to run it over and over.
* entries in dmenu keep randomly all disappearing, being replaced by
only Qube Settings. the whitelist files look fine, but they get deleted
from the qubes-appmenus/applications directory
* when I run many qvm-appmenus in parallel in my dom0 salt config, the
stderr for some is getting output from other qvm-appmenus runs!?

Maybe there's some sort of race condition in qvm-appmenus?

Also a significant portion of the time, trying to launch an application
from dmenu causes it to never start.

Also I'm getting System tray icons disappearing constantly, especially wifi:
https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/2242

I'm starting to regret thinking I could configure my system entirely
idempotently with salt.

[unman]

Hi Emma

The convention here is not to top-post.
Please scroll to the bottom of the message before you start typing. Or
reply inline. (Even for your own messages.)
It only takes you seconds, makes it much easier to follow threads, and
cumulatively saves your fellow users hours.

In general, it's a dreadful idea to run *any* qubes tools as root,
because (as you've discovered) permissions.

I cant help with dmenu. What WM are you using?

What do you think `--get-default-whitelist` would do? Restore the
application list to default settings? I dont believe that information is
stored anywhere.
Do you still see a discrepancy between the qvm-appmenus output and what
you have configured in Qube Manager?

On the salt front, it would be helpful if you could post a snippet of
your state file, so we can see exactly is going on.

unman