Q:

Modify gnome-flashback panels in ubuntu 20.04 LTS from the terminal

I have a fresh installation of 20.04 LTS, I have installed gnome-flashback with:
sudo apt-get install gnome-session-flashback -qq
After logging in in the gnome-flashback Xsession I would like to execute three actions from the command line:  

Remove the whole bottom panel
Add a Trash icon to the top panel (placed at the left, before the left-bar)
Add "Window List" to the top panel (placed at the right, after the main menu)

Screenshot of a virtual machine with desired output:

I think this should be possible to achieve with gsettings, right?
I have been playing around with manual adjusting the panel elements and simultaneous inspecting the changes with dconf watch /, however, I was not able to replicate the commands that would lead to the desired acion...

A:

One way could be to start with existing layout file - /usr/share/gnome-panel/layouts/ubuntu.layout. Copy that layout as my-layout.layout in same directory.
Edit layout file to match your needs:
- Remove whole [Toplevel bottom-panel] group;
- Remove [Object show-destkop] group;
- Remove [Object workspace-switcher] group;
- Under [Object window-list] group change toplevel-id from bottom-panel to top-panel;
Above should give you only top panel with menu-bar, window-list and indicators applets.
To add trash applet you will need following changes:
- Make sure gnome-applets are installed;
- Add new group:
[Object trash]
object-iid=TrashAppletFactory::TrashApplet
toplevel-id=top-panel
pack-type=end
pack-index=1

When layout file is ready do following things:
- gnome-panel --replace & to "detach" panel from session;
- killall gnome-panel to kill/stop it. Without above it will be restarted automatically.
- dconf reset -f /org/gnome/gnome-panel/ to remove existing configuration;
- Change default layout with gsettings set org.gnome.gnome-panel.general default-layout "my-layout".
Now you can restart panel with gnome-panel & or reboot. You should get your layout if I have not made some mistake. Sorry, this is untested!

