lidctl

A one-click desktop toggle for Ubuntu 24.04 (GNOME) that disables/enables laptop lid-suspend behaviour — useful when you want to close the lid and keep a server, Docker container, or download running without the machine going to sleep.

On Ubuntu 24.04, systemd-logind handles the lid switch directly, which means the lid-close action can be inconsistent through GNOME Settings or extensions. This project edits /etc/systemd/logind.conf directly and reloads systemd-logind, so it works regardless of desktop-environment quirks.

What it does

Toggles three related settings at once, so it works correctly whether the laptop is on battery, on AC power, or docked to an external monitor:

• HandleLidSwitch
• HandleLidSwitchExternalPower
• HandleLidSwitchDocked

Disabled (Docker-ready): closing the lid does nothing — screen may turn off, but the system keeps running.

Enabled (normal): closing the lid suspends the machine as usual.

Design notes / why it's built this way

• No wildcard sudo. Early versions of this script granted passwordless sudo to /bin/sed with no fixed arguments, which is a serious privilege-escalation hole (it lets any file be edited as root). This version locks the sudoers rule to one exact script with exactly two allowed arguments (enable / disable) — nothing else is passwordless.
• Reload, not restart. systemctl restart systemd-logind while a GUI session is active can drop the session's seat and crash the display. This script uses systemctl kill -s HUP systemd-logind instead, which just makes logind re-read its config file safely, without disturbing the running session.
• All three lid-switch keys are set together. Only setting HandleLidSwitch looks like it works until the laptop is plugged into AC power — at that point HandleLidSwitchExternalPower is what actually governs lid behaviour, and if it's left on suspend the laptop will sleep anyway.

Installation

git clone https://github.com/suneththivanka128/lidctl.git
cd lidctl
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

This installs:

File	Installed to	Purpose
lid-toggle-root.sh	/usr/local/sbin/lid-toggle.sh (root:root, 750)	Does the actual privileged config edit + logind reload
(sudoers rule)	/etc/sudoers.d/lid-toggle	Lets your user run the above passwordless, and only the above
lid-toggle.sh	~/toggle-lid.sh	Detects current state, calls the root script, shows a notification
LidToggle.desktop	~/Desktop/LidToggle.desktop	Double-click launcher

After installing, right-click the LidToggle icon on your Desktop and choose "Allow Launching" (GNOME blocks execution of new .desktop files by default for security).

Usage

• Before running Docker / a long task with the lid closed: double-click the desktop icon. A notification confirms "Lid Suspend DISABLED (Docker Ready)". Close the lid — the machine keeps running.
• Back to normal: double-click again. Notification confirms "Lid Suspend ENABLED (Normal Sleep)". Closing the lid will now suspend as usual.

Verifying it worked

grep -i handle /etc/systemd/logind.conf

All three HandleLidSwitch* keys should show ignore (disabled) or suspend (enabled) consistently.

To confirm the machine truly isn't suspending (rather than just the screen turning off), ping or SSH into it from another device after closing the lid.

Uninstalling

sudo rm /usr/local/sbin/lid-toggle.sh
sudo rm /etc/sudoers.d/lid-toggle
rm ~/toggle-lid.sh ~/Desktop/LidToggle.desktop

Then optionally reset the lid settings in /etc/systemd/logind.conf back to commented-out defaults and reload:

sudo sed -i '/^HandleLidSwitch/d' /etc/systemd/logind.conf
sudo systemctl kill -s HUP systemd-logind

Security notes

• The sudoers rule only ever allows running one specific, root-owned script with one of two fixed arguments — it cannot be used to run arbitrary commands as root.
• The wrapper script only ever touches /etc/systemd/logind.conf and only ever writes one of two known-safe values to three known keys.

License

MIT — do whatever you want with it.