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XSERVER(1)							    XSERVER(1)

NAME
       Xserver - X Window System display server

SYNOPSIS
       X [option ...]

DESCRIPTION
       X  is  the  generic name for the X Window System display server.	 It is
       frequently a link or a copy of the appropriate server binary for	 driv‐
       ing the most frequently used server on a given machine.

STARTING THE SERVER
       The  X  server  is  usually  started from the X Display Manager program
       xdm(1) or a similar display manager program.  This utility is run  from
       the  system  boot  files	 and takes care of keeping the server running,
       prompting for usernames and passwords, and starting up  the  user  ses‐
       sions.

       Installations  that run more than one window system may need to use the
       xinit(1) utility instead of a display manager.  However, xinit is to be
       considered  a tool for building startup scripts and is not intended for
       use by end users.  Site administrators are strongly urged to use a dis‐
       play manager, or build other interfaces for novice users.

       The  X  server  may  also  be started directly by the user, though this
       method is usually reserved for testing and is not recommended for  nor‐
       mal  operation.	 On some platforms, the user must have special permis‐
       sion to start the X server, often because  access  to  certain  devices
       (e.g. /dev/mouse) is restricted.

       When  the  X server starts up, it typically takes over the display.  If
       you are running on a workstation whose console is the display, you  may
       not be able to log into the console while the server is running.

OPTIONS
       Many X servers have device-specific command line options.  See the man‐
       ual pages for the individual  servers  for  more	 details;  a  list  of
       server-specific manual pages is provided in the SEE ALSO section below.

       All  of	the X servers accept the command line options described below.
       Some X servers may have alternative ways of  providing  the  parameters
       described  here,	 but  the values provided via the command line options
       should override values specified via other mechanisms.

       :displaynumber
	       The X server runs as the given displaynumber, which by  default
	       is  0.	If  multiple  X servers are to run simultaneously on a
	       host, each must have a unique display number.  See the  DISPLAY
	       NAMES  section  of the X(7) manual page to learn how to specify
	       which display number clients should try to use.

       -a number
	       sets pointer acceleration  (i.e.	 the  ratio  of	 how  much  is
	       reported to how much the user actually moved the pointer).

       -ac     disables	 host-based access control mechanisms.	Enables access
	       by any host, and permits any host to modify the access  control
	       list.   Use with extreme caution.  This option exists primarily
	       for running test suites remotely.

       -audit level
	       sets the audit trail level.  The default level  is  1,  meaning
	       only  connection rejections are reported.  Level 2 additionally
	       reports all successful connections and  disconnects.   Level  4
	       enables	messages  from	the  SECURITY  extension,  if present,
	       including generation and revocation of authorizations and  vio‐
	       lations	of  the	 security policy.  Level 0 turns off the audit
	       trail.  Audit lines are sent as standard error output.

       -auth authorization-file
	       specifies a file which contains a collection  of	 authorization
	       records	used  to authenticate access.  See also the xdm(1) and
	       Xsecurity(7) manual pages.

       -background none
	       Asks the driver not to clear the background on startup, if  the
	       driver supports that.  May be useful for smooth transition with
	       eg. fbdev driver.  For security reasons this is not the default
	       as the screen contents might show a previous user session.

       -br     sets  the  default  root	 window	 to solid black instead of the
	       standard root weave  pattern.	This  is  the  default	unless
	       -retro or -wr is specified.

       -bs     disables backing store support on all screens.

       -c      turns off key-click.

       c volume
	       sets key-click volume (allowable range: 0-100).

       -cc class
	       sets  the  visual  class	 for the root window of color screens.
	       The class numbers are as specified  in  the  X  protocol.   Not
	       obeyed by all servers.

       -core   causes the server to generate a core dump on fatal errors.

       -deferglyphs whichfonts
	       specifies  the  types  of  fonts	 for  which  the server should
	       attempt to use deferred glyph loading.  whichfonts can  be  all
	       (all fonts), none (no fonts), or 16 (16 bit fonts only).

       -dpi resolution
	       sets  the  resolution for all screens, in dots per inch.	 To be
	       used when the server cannot determine the screen	 size(s)  from
	       the hardware.

       dpms    enables	DPMS  (display	power management services), where sup‐
	       ported.	The default state is platform and  configuration  spe‐
	       cific.

       -dpms   disables DPMS (display power management services).  The default
	       state is platform and configuration specific.

       -extensionextensionName
	       disables named extension.   If an  unknown  extension  name  is
	       specified, a list of accepted extension names is printed.

       +extensionextensionName
	       enables	named  extension.    If	 an  unknown extension name is
	       specified, a list of accepted extension names is printed.

       -f volume
	       sets beep (bell) volume (allowable range: 0-100).

       -fc cursorFont
	       sets default cursor font.

       -fn font
	       sets the default font.

       -fp fontPath
	       sets the search path for fonts.	This path is a comma separated
	       list  of directories which the X server searches for font data‐
	       bases.  See the FONTS section of	 this  manual  page  for  more
	       information and the default list.

       -help   prints a usage message.

       -I      causes all remaining command line arguments to be ignored.

       -maxbigreqsize size
	       sets the maximum big request to size MB.

       -nocursor
	       disable the display of the pointer cursor.

       -nolisten trans-type
	       disables a transport type.  For example, TCP/IP connections can
	       be disabled with -nolisten tcp.	This option may be issued mul‐
	       tiple times to disable listening to different transport types.

       -noreset
	       prevents	 a  server  reset  when	 the last client connection is
	       closed.	This overrides	a  previous  -terminate	 command  line
	       option.

       -p minutes
	       sets screen-saver pattern cycle time in minutes.

       -pn     permits the server to continue running if it fails to establish
	       all of its well-known sockets (connection points for  clients),
	       but establishes at least one.  This option is set by default.

       -nopn   causes  the  server to exit if it fails to establish all of its
	       well-known sockets (connection points for clients).

       -r      turns off auto-repeat.

       r       turns on auto-repeat.

       -retro  starts the stipple with the classic stipple and cursor visible.
	       The  default  is to start with a black root window, and to sup‐
	       press display of the cursor until the first time an application
	       calls XDefineCursor().  For the Xorg server, this also sets the
	       default for the DontZap option to FALSE.	 For  kdrive  servers,
	       this implies -zap.

       -s minutes
	       sets screen-saver timeout time in minutes.

       -su     disables save under support on all screens.

       -seat seat
	       seat to run on. Takes a string identifying a seat in a platform
	       specific syntax. On platforms which support this	 feature  this
	       may  be used to limit the server to expose only a specific sub‐
	       set of devices connected to the system.

       -t number
	       sets pointer acceleration threshold in pixels (i.e.  after  how
	       many pixels pointer acceleration should take effect).

       -terminate
	       causes the server to terminate at server reset, instead of con‐
	       tinuing to run.	This overrides	a  previous  -noreset  command
	       line option.

       -to seconds
	       sets default connection timeout in seconds.

       -tst    disables	 all  testing extensions (e.g., XTEST, XTrap, XTestEx‐
	       tension1, RECORD).

       ttyxx   ignored, for servers started the ancient way (from init).

       v       sets video-off screen-saver preference.

       -v      sets video-on screen-saver preference.

       -wm     forces the default backing-store of all	windows	 to  be	 When‐
	       Mapped.	 This  is  a  backdoor way of getting backing-store to
	       apply to all windows.  Although all mapped  windows  will  have
	       backing	store,	the  backing store attribute value reported by
	       the server for a window will be the last value established by a
	       client.	 If it has never been set by a client, the server will
	       report the default value, NotUseful.  This behavior is required
	       by  the	X  protocol,  which  allows  the  server to exceed the
	       client's backing store expectations but does not provide a  way
	       to tell the client that it is doing so.

       -wr     sets  the  default  root	 window	 to solid white instead of the
	       standard root weave pattern.

       -x extension
	       loads the specified extension at init.  This  is	 a  no-op  for
	       most implementations.

       [+-]xinerama
	       enables(+)  or disables(-) the XINERAMA extension.  The default
	       state is platform and configuration specific.

SERVER DEPENDENT OPTIONS
       Some X servers accept the following options:

       -ld kilobytes
	       sets the data space limit of the server to the specified number
	       of  kilobytes.  A value of zero makes the data size as large as
	       possible.  The default value of -1 leaves the data space	 limit
	       unchanged.

       -lf files
	       sets the number-of-open-files limit of the server to the speci‐
	       fied number.  A value of zero makes the limit as large as  pos‐
	       sible.  The default value of -1 leaves the limit unchanged.

       -ls kilobytes
	       sets  the stack space limit of the server to the specified num‐
	       ber of kilobytes.  A value of zero  makes  the  stack  size  as
	       large  as  possible.   The default value of -1 leaves the stack
	       space limit unchanged.

       -render default|mono|gray|color sets the color allocation  policy  that
	       will be used by the render extension.

	       default selects	the  default  policy  defined  for the display
		       depth of the X server.

	       mono    don't use any color cell.

	       gray    use a gray map of 13  color  cells  for	the  X	render
		       extension.

	       color   use  a  color  cube of at most 4*4*4 colors (that is 64
		       color cells).

       -dumbSched
	       disables smart scheduling on platforms that support  the	 smart
	       scheduler.

       -schedInterval interval
	       sets the smart scheduler's scheduling interval to interval mil‐
	       liseconds.

XDMCP OPTIONS
       X servers that support XDMCP have the following	options.   See	the  X
       Display Manager Control Protocol specification for more information.

       -query hostname
	       enables	XDMCP  and  sends Query packets to the specified host‐
	       name.

       -broadcast
	       enable XDMCP and broadcasts BroadcastQuery packets to the  net‐
	       work.   The first responding display manager will be chosen for
	       the session.

       -multicast [address [hop count]]
	       Enable XDMCP and multicast BroadcastQuery packets to the	  net‐
	       work.   The  first responding display manager is chosen for the
	       session.	 If an address is specified, the multicast is sent  to
	       that  address.	If  no	address is specified, the multicast is
	       sent to the default XDMCP IPv6 multicast group.	If a hop count
	       is  specified, it is used as the maximum hop count for the mul‐
	       ticast.	If no hop count is specified, the multicast is set  to
	       a  maximum of 1 hop, to prevent the multicast from being routed
	       beyond the local network.

       -indirect hostname
	       enables XDMCP and send IndirectQuery packets to	the  specified
	       hostname.

       -port port-number
	       uses  the  specified  port-number for XDMCP packets, instead of
	       the default.  This option must be specified before any  -query,
	       -broadcast, -multicast, or -indirect options.

       -from local-address
	       specifies the local address to connect from (useful if the con‐
	       necting host has	 multiple  network  interfaces).   The	local-
	       address	may  be	 expressed  in any form acceptable to the host
	       platform's gethostbyname(3) implementation.

       -once   causes the server to terminate (rather  than  reset)  when  the
	       XDMCP session ends.

       -class display-class
	       XDMCP  has  an  additional  display  qualifier used in resource
	       lookup for display-specific options.   This  option  sets  that
	       value,  by  default  it is "MIT-Unspecified" (not a very useful
	       value).

       -cookie xdm-auth-bits
	       When testing XDM-AUTHENTICATION-1,  a  private  key  is	shared
	       between the server and the manager.  This option sets the value
	       of that private data (not that it is very private, being on the
	       command line!).

       -displayID display-id
	       Yet  another  XDMCP specific value, this one allows the display
	       manager to identify each display so  that  it  can  locate  the
	       shared key.

XKEYBOARD OPTIONS
       X  servers  that	 support the XKEYBOARD (a.k.a. "XKB") extension accept
       the following options.  All layout files specified on the command  line
       must be located in the XKB base directory or a subdirectory, and speci‐
       fied as the relative path from the XKB base directory.  The default XKB
       base directory is /usr/lib/X11/xkb.

       [+-]accessx [ timeout [ timeout_mask [ feedback [ options_mask ] ] ] ]
	       enables(+) or disables(-) AccessX key sequences.

       -xkbdir directory
	       base  directory	for keyboard layout files.  This option is not
	       available for setuid X servers (i.e., when the X server's  real
	       and effective uids are different).

       -ardelay milliseconds
	       sets  the autorepeat delay (length of time in milliseconds that
	       a key must be depressed before autorepeat starts).

       -arinterval milliseconds
	       sets the autorepeat interval (length of	time  in  milliseconds
	       that should elapse between autorepeat-generated keystrokes).

       -xkbmap filename
	       loads keyboard description in filename on server startup.

NETWORK CONNECTIONS
       The  X server supports client connections via a platform-dependent sub‐
       set of the following transport types: TCPIP, Unix Domain sockets,  DEC‐
       net,  and several varieties of SVR4 local connections.  See the DISPLAY
       NAMES section of the X(7) manual page to learn  how  to	specify	 which
       transport type clients should try to use.

GRANTING ACCESS
       The  X  server  implements a platform-dependent subset of the following
       authorization protocols: MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1, XDM-AUTHORIZATION-1,  XDM-
       AUTHORIZATION-2,	 SUN-DES-1,  and MIT-KERBEROS-5.  See the Xsecurity(7)
       manual page for information on the operation of these protocols.

       Authorization data required by the above protocols  is  passed  to  the
       server  in  a  private  file  named with the -auth command line option.
       Each time the server is about to accept the first  connection  after  a
       reset  (or  when	 the server is starting), it reads this file.  If this
       file contains any authorization records, the local host is not automat‐
       ically allowed access to the server, and only clients which send one of
       the authorization records contained in the file in the connection setup
       information  will  be  allowed  access.	 See the Xau manual page for a
       description of the binary format of this file.  See xauth(1) for	 main‐
       tenance of this file, and distribution of its contents to remote hosts.

       The  X  server  also uses a host-based access control list for deciding
       whether or not to accept	 connections  from  clients  on	 a  particular
       machine.	  If no other authorization mechanism is being used, this list
       initially consists of the host on which the server is running  as  well
       as  any	machines listed in the file /etc/Xn.hosts, where n is the dis‐
       play number of the server.  Each line of the file should contain either
       an  Internet  hostname  (e.g. expo.lcs.mit.edu) or a DECnet hostname in
       double colon format (e.g. hydra::) or a complete	 name  in  the	format
       family:name  as described in the xhost(1) manual page.  There should be
       no leading or trailing spaces on any lines.  For example:

	       joesworkstation
	       corporate.company.com
	       star::
	       inet:bigcpu
	       local:

       Users can add or remove hosts from this	list  and  enable  or  disable
       access  control	using  the  xhost command from the same machine as the
       server.

       If the X FireWall Proxy (xfwp) is  being	 used  without	a  sitepolicy,
       host-based  authorization  must	be turned on for clients to be able to
       connect to the X server via the xfwp.  If xfwp is run without a config‐
       uration	file  and thus no sitepolicy is defined, if xfwp is using an X
       server where xhost + has been run to turn off host-based	 authorization
       checks, when a client tries to connect to this X server via xfwp, the X
       server will deny the connection.	  See  xfwp(1)	for  more  information
       about this proxy.

       The  X protocol intrinsically does not have any notion of window opera‐
       tion permissions or place any restrictions on what a client can do;  if
       a  program  can connect to a display, it has full run of the screen.  X
       servers that support the SECURITY extension fare better because clients
       can  be designated untrusted via the authorization they use to connect;
       see the xauth(1) manual page for details.  Restrictions are imposed  on
       untrusted clients that curtail the mischief they can do.	 See the SECU‐
       RITY extension specification for a complete list of these restrictions.

       Sites that have better authentication and authorization	systems	 might
       wish  to	 make use of the hooks in the libraries and the server to pro‐
       vide additional security models.

SIGNALS
       The X server attaches special meaning to the following signals:

       SIGHUP  This signal causes the server to	 close	all  existing  connec‐
	       tions,  free  all  resources,  and restore all defaults.	 It is
	       sent by the display  manager  whenever  the  main  user's  main
	       application (usually an xterm or window manager) exits to force
	       the server to clean up and prepare for the next user.

       SIGTERM This signal causes the server to exit cleanly.

       SIGUSR1 This signal is used quite differently from either of the above.
	       When  the  server  starts, it checks to see if it has inherited
	       SIGUSR1 as SIG_IGN instead of the usual SIG_DFL.	 In this case,
	       the  server  sends a SIGUSR1 to its parent process after it has
	       set up the various connection schemes.  Xdm uses	 this  feature
	       to recognize when connecting to the server is possible.

FONTS
       The  X  server  can  obtain  fonts  from	 directories  and/or from font
       servers.	 The list of directories and font servers the  X  server  uses
       when trying to open a font is controlled by the font path.

       The	       default		   font		    path	    is
       /usr/share/fonts/X11/misc,/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyril‐
       lic,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi,/var/lib/defoma/x-
       ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType,built-ins .

       A special kind of directory can be specified using the catalogue:  pre‐
       fix.  Directories  specified  this way can contain symlinks pointing to
       the real font directories. See the FONTPATH.D section for details.

       The font path can be set with the -fp option or by  xset(1)  after  the
       server has started.

FONTPATH.D
       You  can	 specify  a  special  kind  of	font  path  in	the form cata‐
       logue:<dir>.  The directory specified after the catalogue: prefix  will
       be scanned for symlinks and each symlink destination will be added as a
       local fontfile FPE.

       The symlink can be suffixed by attributes  such	as  'unscaled',	 which
       will  be passed through to the underlying fontfile FPE. The only excep‐
       tion is the newly introduced 'pri' attribute, which will	 be  used  for
       ordering the font paths specified by the symlinks.

       An example configuration:

	   75dpi:unscaled:pri=20 -> /usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi
	   ghostscript:pri=60 -> /usr/share/fonts/default/ghostscript
	   misc:unscaled:pri=10 -> /usr/share/X11/fonts/misc
	   type1:pri=40 -> /usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1
	   type1:pri=50 -> /usr/share/fonts/default/Type1

       This  will  add	/usr/share/X11/fonts/misc  as  the  first FPE with the
       attribute 'unscaled', second FPE	 will  be  /usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi,
       also with the attribute 'unscaled' etc. This is functionally equivalent
       to setting the following font path:

	   /usr/share/X11/fonts/misc:unscaled,
	   /usr/share/X11/fonts/75dpi:unscaled,
	   /usr/share/X11/fonts/Type1,
	   /usr/share/fonts/default/Type1,
	   /usr/share/fonts/default/ghostscript

FILES
       /etc/Xn.hosts		     Initial access control list  for  display
				     number n

       /usr/share/fonts/X11/misc,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi
				     Bitmap font directories

       /usr/share/fonts/X11/TTF,/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1
				     Outline font directories

       /tmp/.X11-unix/Xn	     Unix domain socket for display number n

       /usr/adm/Xnmsgs		     Error log file for display	 number	 n  if
				     run from init(8)

       /usr/lib/X11/xdm/xdm-errors   Default  error  log file if the server is
				     run from xdm(1)

SEE ALSO
       General information: X(7)

       Protocols: X Window System Protocol, The X  Font	 Service  Protocol,  X
       Display Manager Control Protocol

       Fonts:  bdftopcf(1), mkfontdir(1), mkfontscale(1), xfs(1), xlsfonts(1),
       xfontsel(1), xfd(1), X Logical Font Description Conventions

       Keyboards: xkeyboard-config(7)

       Security: Xsecurity(7), xauth(1), Xau(1),  xdm(1),  xhost(1),  xfwp(1),
       Security Extension Specification

       Starting the server: startx(1), xdm(1), xinit(1)

       Controlling  the	 server	 once started: xset(1), xsetroot(1), xhost(1),
       xinput(1), xrandr(1)

       Server-specific	man  pages:  Xorg(1),  Xdmx(1),	 Xephyr(1),  Xnest(1),
       Xvfb(1), Xquartz(1), XWin(1).

       Server  internal documentation: Definition of the Porting Layer for the
       X v11 Sample Server

AUTHORS
       The sample server was originally written by Susan Angebranndt,  Raymond
       Drewry,	Philip Karlton, and Todd Newman, from Digital Equipment Corpo‐
       ration, with support from a large cast.	It has since been  extensively
       rewritten  by  Keith Packard and Bob Scheifler, from MIT.  Dave Wiggins
       took over post-R5 and made substantial improvements.

X Version 11		      xorg-server 1.12.4		    XSERVER(1)
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