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Debian GNU/Linux Reference Guide
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9.4.12 Getting root in X

If a GUI program needs to be run with root privilege, use the following procedures to display program output on a user's X server. Never attempt to start an X server directly from the root account in order to avoid possible security risks.

Start the X server as a normal user and open an xterm console. Then:

     $ XAUTHORITY=$HOME/.Xauthority
     $ export XAUTHORITY
     $ su root
     Password:*****
     # printtool &

When using this trick to su to a non-root user, make sure ~/.Xauthority is group readable by this non-root user.

To automate this command sequence, create a file ~/.xsession from the user's account, containing the following lines:

     # This makes X work when I su to the root account.
     if [ -z "$XAUTHORITY" ]; then
             XAUTHORITY=$HOME/.Xauthority
             export XAUTHORITY
     fi
     unset XSTARTUP
     # If a particular window/session manager is desired, uncomment
     # the following and edit it to fit your needs.
     #XSTARTUP=/usr/bin/blackbox
     # This starts x-window/session-manager program
     if [ -z "$XSTARTUP" ]; then
       if [ -x /usr/bin/x-session-manager ]; then
         XSTARTUP=x-session-manager
       elif [ -x /usr/bin/x-window-manager ]; then
         XSTARTUP=x-window-manager
       elif [ -x /usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator ]; then
         XSTARTUP=x-terminal-emulator
       fi
     fi
     # execute auto selected X window/session manager
     exec $XSTARTUP

Then run su (not su -) in an xterm window of the user. Now GUI programs started from this xterm can display output on this user's X window while running with root privilege. This trick works as long as the default /etc/X11/Xsession is executed. If a user set up his customization using ~/.xinitrc or ~/.xsession, the above mentioned environment variable XAUTHORITY needs to be set similarly in those scripts.

Alternatively, sudo can be used to automate the command sequence:

     $ sudo xterm
     ... or
     $ sudo -H -s

Here /root/.bashrc should contain:

     if [ $SUDO_USER ]; then
         sudo -H -u $SUDO_USER xauth extract - $DISPLAY | xauth merge -
     fi

This works fine even with the home directory of the user on an NFS mount, because root does not read the .Xauthority file.

There are also several specialized packages for this purpose: kdesu, gksu, gksudo, gnome-sudo, and xsu. Some other methods can be used to achieve similar results: creating a symlink from /root/.Xauthority to the user's corresponding one; use of the script sux; or putting "xauth merge ~USER_RUNNING_X/.Xauthority" in the root initialization script.

See more on the debian-devel mailing list.


Debian GNU/Linux Reference Guide
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