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Explain how to start X > 3.3.6 as a non-root user.

Browse source 
PR:             docs/24517
Submitted by:   Dima Dorfman <dima@unixfreak.org>
This commit is contained in:
Nik Clayton 2001-02-02 03:16:45 +00:00
parent ff19b07c61
commit 3aed4f430f
Notes: svn2git 2020-12-08 03:00:23 +00:00 
svn path=/head/; revision=8745
2 changed files with 88 additions and 2 deletions
en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq
book.sgml
en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq
book.sgml

45
en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml
View file

@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
<corpauthor>The FreeBSD Documentation Project</corpauthor>
<pubdate>$FreeBSD: doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml,v 1.140 2001/01/18 01:14:24 brian Exp $</pubdate>
<pubdate>$FreeBSD: doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml,v 1.141 2001/01/31 12:12:13 ben Exp $</pubdate>
<abstract>
<para>This is the FAQ for FreeBSD versions 2.X, 3.X, and 4.X.
@ -7237,6 +7237,49 @@ ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure</programlisting>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="xfree86-root">
<para>I used to run XFree86 as a regular user, but now when
I start it it says I must be root!</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>All X servers need to be run as root in order to get direct
access to your video hardware. Older versions of XFree86
(&lt;= 3.3.6) installed all bundled servers to be automatically
run as root (setuid to root). This is obviously a security
hazard because X servers are large, complicated programs.
Newer versions of XFree86 do not install the servers setuid to
root for just this reason.</para>
<para>Obviously, running an X server as the root user is not
acceptable, nor a good idea security-wise. There are two ways
to be able to use X as a regular user. The first is to use
<command>xdm</command> or another display manager
(e.g., <command>kdm</command>); the second is to use the
<command>Xwrapper</command>.</para>
<para><command>xdm</command> is a daemon that handles graphical
logins. It is usually started at boot time, and is responsible
for authenticating users and starting their sessions; it is
essentially the graphical counterpart of
<command>getty</command> and <command>login</command>. For
more information on <command>xdm</command> see
<ulink url="http://www.xfree86.org/support.html">the XFree86
documentation</ulink>, and the <link linkend="xdm-boot">the FAQ
entry</link> on it.</para>
<para><command>Xwrapper</command> is the X server wrapper; it is
a small utility to enable one to manually run an X server while
maintaining reasonable safety. It performs some sanity checks
on the command line arguments given, and if they pass, runs the
appropriate X server. If you do not want to run a display
manger for whatever reason, this is for you. If you have
installed the complete ports collection, you can find the port in
<filename>/usr/ports/x11/wrapper</filename>.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="ps2-x">
<para>My PS/2 mouse doesn't behave properly under X.</para>

45
en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml
View file

@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
<corpauthor>The FreeBSD Documentation Project</corpauthor>
<pubdate>$FreeBSD: doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml,v 1.140 2001/01/18 01:14:24 brian Exp $</pubdate>
<pubdate>$FreeBSD: doc/en_US.ISO_8859-1/books/faq/book.sgml,v 1.141 2001/01/31 12:12:13 ben Exp $</pubdate>
<abstract>
<para>This is the FAQ for FreeBSD versions 2.X, 3.X, and 4.X.
@ -7237,6 +7237,49 @@ ttyvb "/usr/libexec/getty Pc" cons25 off secure</programlisting>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="xfree86-root">
<para>I used to run XFree86 as a regular user, but now when
I start it it says I must be root!</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>All X servers need to be run as root in order to get direct
access to your video hardware. Older versions of XFree86
(&lt;= 3.3.6) installed all bundled servers to be automatically
run as root (setuid to root). This is obviously a security
hazard because X servers are large, complicated programs.
Newer versions of XFree86 do not install the servers setuid to
root for just this reason.</para>
<para>Obviously, running an X server as the root user is not
acceptable, nor a good idea security-wise. There are two ways
to be able to use X as a regular user. The first is to use
<command>xdm</command> or another display manager
(e.g., <command>kdm</command>); the second is to use the
<command>Xwrapper</command>.</para>
<para><command>xdm</command> is a daemon that handles graphical
logins. It is usually started at boot time, and is responsible
for authenticating users and starting their sessions; it is
essentially the graphical counterpart of
<command>getty</command> and <command>login</command>. For
more information on <command>xdm</command> see
<ulink url="http://www.xfree86.org/support.html">the XFree86
documentation</ulink>, and the <link linkend="xdm-boot">the FAQ
entry</link> on it.</para>
<para><command>Xwrapper</command> is the X server wrapper; it is
a small utility to enable one to manually run an X server while
maintaining reasonable safety. It performs some sanity checks
on the command line arguments given, and if they pass, runs the
appropriate X server. If you do not want to run a display
manger for whatever reason, this is for you. If you have
installed the complete ports collection, you can find the port in
<filename>/usr/ports/x11/wrapper</filename>.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>
<qandaentry>
<question id="ps2-x">
<para>My PS/2 mouse doesn't behave properly under X.</para>