[SOLVED] OT: How to start Xnest (or Xephyr) as another user

Gerard Lally · 05-16-2017, 03:45 PM

I want to configure FVWM in a clean environment and thought the simplest way would be to start it as another user in Xnest. Is this possible? I tried logging in with su - user1 in xterm (KDE4) and running Xnest :1 -ac & but I get the following error:

user1@slackware:~$ No protocol specified
(EE)
Fatal server error:
(EE) Unable to open display ":0".
(EE)

bassmadrigal · 05-16-2017, 04:07 PM

While I'm not familiar with Xnest, you may just need to force the DISPLAY variable so it isn't looking for :0. So, after logging in, try running DISPLAY=:1 Xnest :1 -ac &

Gerard Lally · 05-16-2017, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassmadrigal

While I'm not familiar with Xnest, you may just need to force the DISPLAY variable so it isn't looking for :0. So, after logging in, try running DISPLAY=:1 Xnest :1 -ac &

No such luck. It doesn't seem to like me doing this as another user. Same with Xephyr. I'll probably set up XDMCP and login that way.

Gerard Lally · 05-16-2017, 05:40 PM

I found the solution here:

Briefly:

Code:

Xephyr -ac -screen 1600x900 -br -reset -terminate 2> /dev/null :1 &

DISPLAY=:1

su - user1 -c 'fvwm'

Gerard Lally · 05-17-2017, 05:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gerard Lally

I found the solution here:

Briefly:

Code:

Xephyr -ac -screen 1600x900 -br -reset -terminate 2> /dev/null :1 &

DISPLAY=:1

su - user1 -c 'fvwm'

fvwm accepts the display argument:

Code:

Xephyr -ac -screen 1600x900 -br -reset -terminate 2> /dev/null :1 &

su - user1 -c 'fvwm -display :1'