Sabayon is a system administration tool you can use to create and apply desktop environment profiles. A profile is a collection of default settings and restrictions that can be applied to either individual users or groups of users. Sabayon lets you edit GConf defaults and mandatory keys using a graphical tool.

Profile definition is done through a graphical session similar to the one a user would be running, only inside a desktop window. You can change properties (such as the desktop background, toolbars, and available applets) in the usual way. Sabayon also detects changes to the default settings in most desktop applications.

Files or documents that are left in the simulated home directory or on the desktop are included in the finished profile. This includes many application-specific databases, such as Tomboy notes. Using this mechanism, it is easy to supply introductory notes or templates in a manner easily accessible to new users.

A user profile can inherit its settings from a parent profile, overriding or adding specific values. This enables hierarchical sets of settings. For example, you can define an Employee profile and derive Artist and Quality Assurance profiles from that.

In addition to providing defaults, Sabayon can also lock down settings. This makes the setting resistant to change by users. For instance, you can specify that the desktop background cannot be changed to something other than the default you provide. It prevents casual tampering with settings, potentially reducing the number of helpdesk calls, and enabling kiosk-like environments. However, it does not provide absolute security and should not be relied on for such.

Sabayon also provides a list of settings for applications and generic user interface elements that have built-in lockdown support, including Epiphany, OpenOffice.org, and the GNOME panel. For example, the panel can be set up to allow only specific applets to be added to it and prevent changing its location or size on the screen. Likewise, the Save menu items can be disabled across all applications that use it, preventing users from saving documents.

The profiles are transferable to other computers. They reside in /etc/opt/gnome/desktop-profiles/, and each profile is saved in a separate ZIP file.