How to use change desktop wallpaper using Python in Ubuntu 14.04 (with Unity)

Question

I tried this code:

import os
os.system("gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri file:///home/user/Pictures/wallpapers/X")

where user is my name and X is the picture.

But instead of changing the background to the given picture, it set the default Ubuntu wallpaper.

What am I doing wrong?

score 7 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:29

7

First of all, make sure the file path is correct. Execute this line in a terminal:

ls /home/user/Pictures/wallpapers/X

Did the file get listed? If so, move on to the next step.

Make sure that you know where the gsettings command is. In the terminal, run:

which gsettings

That should get you the full path to gsettings. If nothing is displayed, the directory containing gsettings isn't in your $PATH variable.

Let's say the path is /usr/bin/gsettings. Try to execute this in a terminal:

/usr/bin/gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri /home/user/Pictures/wallpapers/X

If it works, pass the same string to os.system():

import os
os.system("/usr/bin/gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri /home/user/Pictures/wallpapers/X")

edited May 23 '17 at 12:29

Community

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answered Aug 28 '15 at 06:53

Michael Laszlo

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when I run it in python the output is 0 but nothing happen – Ali Faki Aug 28 '15 at 07:11
Did you try it out on the command line? If it works there, it should work in Python. – Michael Laszlo Aug 28 '15 at 07:35
Please see my revised answer for information on checking the file path and the `gsettings` path. Does that work? – Michael Laszlo Aug 28 '15 at 08:02

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 28 '15 at 06:58

1

Try this:

import os
os.system("gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri file:/home/user/Pictures/wallpapers/picture_name")

answered Aug 28 '15 at 06:58

afwanwh

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score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 28 '15 at 07:05

Try this one:

import subprocess
subprocess.Popen("DISPLAY=:0 GSETTINGS_BACKEND=dconf /usr/bin/gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri file://{0}".format(picture_path), shell=True)

it will works even when you use it in cron. I'v written a script that download bing images and then set as wallpaper.

also you could try the following commands:

feh --bg-fill picture_path
hsetroot  -extend  picture_path

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 28 '15 at 09:33

To set a specific wallpaper, the command is:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri 'file:///home/user/Pictures/wallpapers/apple.jpg'

The command to see (get) what is the current wallpaper:

gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri

How to use change desktop wallpaper using Python in Ubuntu 14.04 (with Unity)

4 Answers4