Xwrapper.config(5)                     File Formats Manual                     Xwrapper.config(5)



NAME
       Xwrapper.config - configuration options for X server wrapper

DESCRIPTION
       /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config  contains  a  set of flags that determine some of the behavior of
       Debian's X server wrapper, which is installed on the system as /usr/bin/X.  The purpose of
       the wrapper, and of this configuration file, is twofold.

       Firstly,  it  is  intended  to  implement  sound  security  practices.  Since the X server
       requires superuser privileges, it may be unwise to permit just any user on the  system  to
       execute  it.   Even if the X server is not exploitable in the sense of permitting ordinary
       users to gain elevated privileges,  a  poorly-written  or  insufficiently-tested  hardware
       driver for the X server may cause bus lockups and freeze the system, an unpleasant experi‐
       ence for anyone using it at the time.

       Secondly, a wrapper is a convenient place to set up an execution  environment  for  the  X
       server distinct from the configurable parameters of the X server itself.

       Xwrapper.config  may be edited by hand, but it is typically configured via debconf(7), the
       Debian configuration tool.  The X server wrapper is part of the x11-common Debian package;
       therefore, the parameters of Xwrapper.config may be changed with the command
              dpkg-reconfigure x11-common.
       See dpkg-reconfigure(8) for more information.

       The format of Xwrapper.config is a text file containing a series of lines of the form

       name=value

       where  name  is  a variable name containing any combination of numbers, letters, or under‐
       score (_) characters, and value is any combination of letters, numbers,  underscores  (_),
       or  dashes  (-).  value may also contain spaces as long as there is at least one character
       from the list above bounding the space(s) on both  sides.   Whitespace  before  and  after
       name,  value,  or  the equals sign is legal but ignored.  Any lines not matching the above
       described legal format are ignored.  Note that this specification  may  change  as  the  X
       server wrapper develops.

       Available options are:

       allowed_users
              may be set to one of the following values: rootonly, console, or anybody.  rootonly
              indicates that only the root user may start the X server;  console  indicates  that
              root,  or  any  user  whose  controlling  TTY is a virtual console, may start the X
              server; and anybody indicates that any user may start the X server.

AUTHORS
       The X server wrapper was written by Stephen Early, Mark Eichin, and Branden  Robinson  for
       the Debian Project, with valuable contributions from Erik Troan, Topi Miettinen, and Colin
       Phipps.  This manual page was written by Branden Robinson with  sponsorship  from  Progeny
       Linux Systems.

SEE ALSO
       debconf(7), dpkg-reconfigure(8)



Debian Project                              2004-10-31                         Xwrapper.config(5)