weston

Reference Wayland compositor

TLDR

Start Weston compositor (requires seat access)

$ weston

Start with a specific backend

$ weston --backend=[drm|wayland|x11]

Start with a specific shell

$ weston --shell=[desktop|fullscreen|kiosk]

Start in windowed mode under X11

$ weston --backend=x11-backend.so

Start nested inside another Wayland compositor

$ weston --backend=wayland-backend.so

Specify display socket name

$ weston --socket=[wayland-1]

Start with specific configuration file

$ weston --config=[path/to/weston.ini]

SYNOPSIS

weston [--backend=backend] [--shell=shell] [--socket=name] [--config=file] [options]

Weston is the reference Wayland compositor, serving as both a display server and window manager. It demonstrates Wayland protocol capabilities and provides a functional desktop environment for testing and embedded systems.
Weston supports multiple backends for different deployment scenarios: DRM for native Linux framebuffer access, X11 or Wayland backends for running nested inside other display servers, and headless/RDP/VNC backends for remote or testing purposes.
Different shells provide various user interface styles: desktop shell for traditional workstation use, fullscreen shell for single-application kiosks, and IVI shell for in-vehicle infotainment systems. Configuration is done through weston.ini.
Weston requires access to input devices and display hardware through a seat manager (seatd or elogind). For native mode, the user must have appropriate permissions via the seat mechanism.

PARAMETERS

--backend=backend

Compositor backend: drm (native), x11, wayland, headless, rdp, vnc, pipewire.

--shell=shell

Shell plugin: desktop (default), fullscreen, kiosk, ivi.

--socket=name

Wayland socket name for clients to connect.

--config=file

Path to configuration file. Default is /etc/xdg/weston/weston.ini.

--modules=module

Load additional modules.

--no-config

Do not read configuration file.

--log=file

Log file path.

--width=pixels

Initial output width (for windowed backends).

--height=pixels

Initial output height (for windowed backends).

--scale=factor

Output scale factor.

-h, --help

Display help message.

--version

Display version information.

CAVEATS

Requires Linux kernel mode setting (KMS) for native operation. Running directly requires seat management setup (seatd or elogind). Some features depend on GPU driver support for EGL and DRM. weston-launch is deprecated since version 10.0.0.

HISTORY

Weston was developed alongside the Wayland protocol at freedesktop.org, with initial development led by Kristian Høgsberg starting around 2010. It served as the proving ground for Wayland concepts and remains the reference implementation. While production desktops typically use compositors like GNOME's Mutter or KDE's KWin, Weston continues development for testing, embedded systems, and automotive applications.