Hi,

What's the right way to run more than one X server?

There don't seem to be any hooks in the /etc/init.d/*dm
scripts. (I thought maybe there'd be something in
/etc/default/, at least for gdm which IIRC has some
hooks for different configuration settings for different
DISPLAYs.)

I'm running etch, but if there's other work in Lenny/Sid
would like to know where Debian is going with this.

I could whack together something in inittab using startx
but would rather do things "the right way". If this is not
the place to ask where can I get an answer?

I want at least one X server to serve a client desktop
on the other side of the LAN, so that may mean executing
the Xserver directly and using the
-query argument. I've not made up my mind but
am leaning away from an xdmcp chooser on that display
because it's just another hassle to pass through at login.

Another Xserver will run nothing but xsane as a client
and act as a stand-alone copy machine. That one I'll
probably auto-login with gdm, or maybe not.

Thanks.

Karl <kop@meme.com>
Free Software: "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
-- Robert A. Heinlein


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On Sat, Jul 05, 2008 at 04:38:05PM -0500, Karl O. Pinc wrote:
> Hi,
>
> What's the right way to run more than one X server?

You will probably get a few different answers to this question as there
is no one true Right Way to do it. Here is a very simple one:

1. login at the console with the user for the first X
2. run 'startx'
3. switch to some other console and login as the user for the second
X (can also be the same user)
4. run 'startx -- DISPLAY=:1'

Regards,
Andrei
--
If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
(Albert Einstein)

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Karl O. Pinc wrote:
> Hi,
>
> What's the right way to run more than one X server?
>
> There don't seem to be any hooks in the /etc/init.d/*dm
> scripts. (I thought maybe there'd be something in
> /etc/default/, at least for gdm which IIRC has some
> hooks for different configuration settings for different
> DISPLAYs.)
>
> I'm running etch, but if there's other work in Lenny/Sid
> would like to know where Debian is going with this.
>
> I could whack together something in inittab using startx
> but would rather do things "the right way". If this is not
> the place to ask where can I get an answer?
>
> I want at least one X server to serve a client desktop
> on the other side of the LAN, so that may mean executing
> the Xserver directly and using the
> -query argument. I've not made up my mind but
> am leaning away from an xdmcp chooser on that display
> because it's just another hassle to pass through at login.
>
> Another Xserver will run nothing but xsane as a client
> and act as a stand-alone copy machine. That one I'll
> probably auto-login with gdm, or maybe not.
>

I run 2 xservers for two displays/keyboards/mice:

http://wiki.debian.org/Multi_Seat_Debian_HOWTO

Hugo


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On 07/06/2008 07:27:05 AM, Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:
> Karl O. Pinc wrote:

>> What's the right way to run more than one X server?
>>
>> There don't seem to be any hooks in the /etc/init.d/*dm
>> scripts. (I thought maybe there'd be something in
>> /etc/default/, at least for gdm which IIRC has some
>> hooks for different configuration settings for different
>> DISPLAYs.)
>
> I run 2 xservers for two displays/keyboards/mice:
>
> http://wiki.debian.org/Multi_Seat_Debian_HOWTO

Thanks. That's what I was looking for. I couldn't
figure out how to start 2 servers automatically.
(It's that grody .ini config file format. Is .ini
even documented anywhere?)

Why step 2, make softlinks to the X command?

What if I didn't want to use a *dm? On one DISPLAY
I want to go straight to the *dm of a remote box,
and on the other, the one used for a copy machine,
I don't want to authenticate at all. A *dm seems
a bit overkill, I _could_ just run X and startX
directly. Are there any out-of-the-box solutions
or should I just use inittab?

Karl <kop@meme.com>
Free Software: "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
-- Robert A. Heinlein


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Karl O. Pinc wrote:
>
> On 07/06/2008 07:27:05 AM, Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:
>> Karl O. Pinc wrote:
>
>>> What's the right way to run more than one X server?
>>>
>>> There don't seem to be any hooks in the /etc/init.d/*dm
>>> scripts. (I thought maybe there'd be something in
>>> /etc/default/, at least for gdm which IIRC has some
>>> hooks for different configuration settings for different
>>> DISPLAYs.)
>>
>> I run 2 xservers for two displays/keyboards/mice:
>>
>> http://wiki.debian.org/Multi_Seat_Debian_HOWTO
>
> Thanks. That's what I was looking for. I couldn't
> figure out how to start 2 servers automatically.
> (It's that grody .ini config file format. Is .ini
> even documented anywhere?)
>
> Why step 2, make softlinks to the X command?
>

http://www.linux.com/base/ldp/howto/...sym_links.html


> What if I didn't want to use a *dm? On one DISPLAY
> I want to go straight to the *dm of a remote box,
> and on the other, the one used for a copy machine,
> I don't want to authenticate at all. A *dm seems
> a bit overkill, I _could_ just run X and startX
> directly. Are there any out-of-the-box solutions
> or should I just use inittab?
>

How would you use startx on monitors other than the first one that has
the console output?

Hugo







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On 07/06/2008 08:31:35 AM, Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:
> Karl O. Pinc wrote:
>>
>> On 07/06/2008 07:27:05 AM, Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:
>>> Karl O. Pinc wrote:
>>
>>>> What's the right way to run more than one X server?

, I _could_
>>>> just run X and startX
>> directly. Are there any out-of-the-box solutions
>> or should I just use inittab?
>>
>
> How would you use startx on monitors other than the first one that
> has the console output?

In my case I'm thinking I wouldn't need more than "the first one",
if that. (My writing was not very clear, sorry.)

The thing is, the local machine is nothing more than a thin client.
The goal is to use a very minimal machine locally and have
all the compute power elsewhere.
Unless I really want to do _anything_ local, I don't need a
client side on the local machine at all. I can just run the server:

# this file is/etc/inittab

# console #8 disp0 connects to remote *dm via xdmcp
8:23:resspawn:X -query xclient.example.com -layout disp0
# console #9 disp1 connects to remote xsane front-end,
# started by a command=xsane in authorized_hosts,
# which in turns connects back to a local saned process
# to access a locally connected scanner.
9:23:resspawn:startx ssh -i /usr/local/etc/sanestuff/sanekey
saneuser@client.example.com 'DISPLAY=xserver.example.com:1 xsane'
-- -layout disp1

(I've not tested the above.)

So, all the applications run remotely, all the desktop eyecandy is
generated remotely, and all the scanner image processing is done
remotely. (And I'm hoping that if I do cups right all the
awful gostscript printer munging is done remotely too.)

The local box has video cards, a nic, and no fan excepting the PSU.
Silence. Yay!

Karl <kop@meme.com>
Free Software: "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
-- Robert A. Heinlein


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On 07/06/2008 08:31:35 AM, Hugo Vanwoerkom wrote:
> Karl O. Pinc wrote:
>>
>> Why step 2, make softlinks to the X command?
>>
>
> http://www.linux.com/base/ldp/howto/...sym_links.html

That does not explain much. Just says you have to do it.

Likewise, I found in "man xinit":

... However, servers are
usually named Xdisplaytype where displaytype is the
type of graphics display which is driven by this
server. The site administrator should, therefore,
make a link to the appropriate type of server on the
machine, ...

But that's also not an explanation.

I can see where it'd be nice to know what X server is doing
what when you look at ps output, but otherwise don't see the
point. I'm wondering if the symlink is some sort of
requirement, and if not what the purpose is.

Karl <kop@meme.com>
Free Software: "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
-- Robert A. Heinlein


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On Sunday 06 July 2008 02:49:07 am Andrei Popescu wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 05, 2008 at 04:38:05PM -0500, Karl O. Pinc wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > What's the right way to run more than one X server?
>
> You will probably get a few different answers to this question as there
> is no one true Right Way to do it. Here is a very simple one:
>
> 1. login at the console with the user for the first X
> 2. run 'startx'
> 3. switch to some other console and login as the user for the second
> X (can also be the same user)
> 4. run 'startx -- DISPLAY=:1'
>
> Regards,
> Andrei

(I hope this minor thread hijacking isn't resented too much)

I tried that, and every variation returns an error telling me that X is
already running, and I should try removing some lock file if I feel that this
message was received in error. I don't have any reason to need two X servers,
so am really just curious for my own edification. Is there some configuration
I need to tweak to allow more than one display?

--
Lee Glidewell | PGP key: D5D686A7
lee.glidewell@gmail.com |


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On Sun, Jul 06, 2008 at 08:58:16PM -0700, Lee Glidewell wrote:
> On Sunday 06 July 2008 02:49:07 am Andrei Popescu wrote:
> > On Sat, Jul 05, 2008 at 04:38:05PM -0500, Karl O. Pinc wrote:
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > What's the right way to run more than one X server?
> >
> > You will probably get a few different answers to this question as there
> > is no one true Right Way to do it. Here is a very simple one:
> >
> > 1. login at the console with the user for the first X
> > 2. run 'startx'
> > 3. switch to some other console and login as the user for the second
> > X (can also be the same user)
> > 4. run 'startx -- DISPLAY=:1'

> (I hope this minor thread hijacking isn't resented too much)
>
> I tried that, and every variation returns an error telling me that X is
> already running, and I should try removing some lock file if I feel that this
> message was received in error. I don't have any reason to need two X servers,
> so am really just curious for my own edification. Is there some configuration
> I need to tweak to allow more than one display?

Ooups, I wrote that out of memory (but I get "option unrecognized").
The correct command is

startx -- :1

Thanks for testing, I wouldn't want to spread wrong information

Regards,
Andrei
--
If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.
(Albert Einstein)

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