Ubuntu tip of the day: Getting a menu in Fluxbox

So I installed Ubuntu 7.04 in anticipation of the release of Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy, which is now a mere seven days away (see the counter below -- great marketing, Ubuntu).

I wanted to add the Fluxbox lightweight window manager (not the entire Fluxbuntu package, just the window manager itself).

I added Fluxbox in Synaptic, but when I clicked on Options on the sign-on screen (GDM for those who know it), changed my session from GNOME to Fluxbox, then logged on, I had a Fluxbox screen with no menu. I couldn't even get a terminal open.

What to do?

I hit ctrl-alt-backspace to kill X. That took me back to the sign-on screen. I changed session again. I could've gone into GNOME and done what was needed, but I decided to opt for the "failsafe" terminal instead. Once I changed session to the Failsafe terminal, I logged on.

At the prompt, to create menus for Fluxbox, you usually do the following at the prompt:

fluxbox-generate_menu

But that didn't work.

I found the answer, and it's doing this at the command prompt instead:

sudo update-menus

When prompted, I entered my password, then hit return.

Then ctrl-alt-backspace to get back to the login screen. I went to Options, changed my session to Fluxbox and logged on.

Once in Fluxbox (damn, it's fast!), a right-click anywhere on the screen brought up a fully populated menu.

Thanks, Ubuntu community!