In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> you write: >How is the X authorization set up in Debian? > >I am running xdm and I discovered that only the login user can >start an X window.
The 'MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE' authentication method is being used; only X clients with access to the appropriate 'cookie' (an automatically generated password) can connect to the server. I suggest you read the Xsecurity manpage in the xmanpages package for more information. The xauth and Xserver manpages are also relevant. >There are 2 situations when I cannot start a >X window: >(1) when I try to start a window after 'su' to root. I discovered this > can be fixed if I do 'xhost +mymachinename'. How to this automatically? > A line in Xaccess or some /etc/X11/X???.hosts file? You should set up a script to be run by root to copy the cookie from the user's .Xauthority file to root's .Xauthority. >(2) after establishing a PPP connection to my service provider and > changing my hostname (I have only a dynamic IP address from my ISP). > Here I suppose there is nothing I can do except do xhost from my ip-up > script after fixing (1). What is your DISPLAY variable being set to? If it's hostname:0.0 (or similar) then the connection from the X client to the server will be made by TCP using the cookie listed for TCP. If it's just :0.0 then the connection will be made using a Unix-domain socket, and the cookie listed for that connection method. (The cookie will have the same value, just a different name). If all you're worried about is getting X clients on your local machine to start up on your own display, I'd recommend having DISPLAY set to :0.0, so changes in hostname or IP address won't matter. Steve Early
