path: root/xvfb-run.1

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.\" Copyright 1998-2004 Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org>.
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.TH xvfb\-run 1 "2004\-11\-12" "Debian Project"
.SH NAME
xvfb\-run \- run specified X client or command in a virtual X server environment
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B xvfb\-run
[
.I options
]
.I command
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B xvfb\-run
is a wrapper for the
.BR Xvfb (1x)
command which simplifies the task of running commands (typically an X
client, or a script containing a list of clients to be run) within a virtual
X server environment.
.PP
.B xvfb\-run
sets up an X authority file (or uses an existing user\-specified one),
writes a cookie to it (see
.BR xauth (1x))
and then starts the
.B Xvfb
X server as a background process.
The process ID of
.B Xvfb
is stored for later use.
The specified
.I command
is then run using the X display corresponding to the
.B Xvfb
server
just started and the X authority file created earlier.
.PP
When the
.I command
exits, its status is saved, the
.B Xvfb
server is killed (using the process ID stored earlier), the X authority
cookie removed, and the authority file deleted (if the user did not specify
one to use).
.B xvfb\-run
then exits with the exit status of
.IR command .
.PP
.B xvfb\-run
requires the
.B xauth
command to function.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.B \-a\fR,\fB \-\-auto\-servernum
Try to get a free server number, starting at 99, or the argument to
.BR \-\-server\-num .
.TP
.BI \-e\  file \fR,\fB\ \-\-error\-file= file
Store output from
.B xauth
and
.B Xvfb
in
.IR file .
The default is
.IR /dev/null .
.TP
.BI \-f\  file \fR,\fB\ \-\-auth\-file= file
Store X authentication data in
.IR file .
By default, a temporary directory called
.IR xvfb\-run. PID
(where PID is the process ID of
.B xvfb\-run
itself) is created in the directory specified by the environment variable
.B TMPDIR
(or
.I /tmp
if that variable is null or unset), and the
.BR tempfile (1)
command is used to create a file in that temporary directory called
.IR Xauthority .
.TP
.B \-h\fR,\fB \-\-help
Display a usage message and exit.
.TP
.BI \-n\  servernumber \fR,\fB\ \-\-server\-num= servernumber
Use
.I servernumber
as the server number (but see the
.B \-a\fR,\fB \-\-auto\-servernum
option above).
The default is 99.
.TP
.B \-l\fR,\fB \-\-listen\-tcp
Enable TCP port listening in the X server.
For security reasons (to avoid denial\-of\-service attacks or exploits),
TCP port listening is disabled by default.
.TP
.BI \-p\  protocolname \fR,\fB\ \-\-xauth\-protocol= protocolname
Use
.I protocolname
as the X authority protocol to use.
The default is \(oq.\(cq, which
.B xauth
interprets as its own default protocol, which is MIT\-MAGIC\-COOKIE\-1.
.TP
.BI \-s\  arguments \fR,\fB\ \-\-server\-args= arguments
Pass
.I arguments
to the
.B Xvfb
server.
Be careful to quote any whitespace characters that may occur within
.I arguments
to prevent them from regarded as separators for
.BR xvfb\-run 's
own arguments.
Also, note that specification of \(oq\-nolisten tcp\(cq in
.I arguments
may override the function of
.BR xvfb\-run 's
own
.B \-l\fR,\fB \-\-listen\-tcp
option, and that specification of the server number (e.g., \(oq:1\(cq) may
be ignored because of the way the X server parses its argument list.
Use the
.B xvfb\-run
option
.BI \-n\  servernumber \fR,\fB\ \-\-server\-num= servernumber
to achieve the latter function.
The default is \(oq\-screen 0 640x480x8\(cq.
.TP
.BI \-w\  delay \fR,\fB\ \-\-wait= delay
Wait
.I delay
seconds after launching
.B Xvfb
before attempting to start the specified command.
The default is 3.
.SH ENVIRONMENT
.TP
.B COLUMNS
indicates the width of the terminal device in character cells.
This value is used for formatting diagnostic messages.
If not set, the terminal is queried using
.BR stty (1)
to determine its width.
If that fails, a value of \(oq80\(cq is assumed.
.TP
.B TMPDIR
specifies the directory in which to place
.BR xvfb\-run 's
temporary directory for storage of the X authority file; only used if the
.B \-f
or
.B \-\-auth\-file
options are not specified.
.SH "OUTPUT FILES"
.PP
Unless the
.B \-f
or
.B \-\-auth\-file
options are specified, a temporary
directory and file within it are created (and deleted) to store the X
authority cookies used by the
.B Xvfb
server and client(s) run under it.
See
.BR tempfile (1).
If \-f or \-\-auth\-file are used, then the specified X authority file is
only written to, not created or deleted (though
.B xauth
creates an authority file itself if told to use use that does not already
exist).
.PP
An error file with a user\-specified name is also created if the
.B \-e
or
.B \-\-error\-file
options are specifed; see above.
.SH "EXIT STATUS"
.B xvfb\-run
uses its exit status as well as output to standard error to communicate
diagnostics.
The exit status of \(oq1\(cq is not used, and should be interpreted as failure
of the specified command.
.TP
0
.B xvfb\-run
only uses this exit status if the
.B \-h\fR,\fB \-\-help
option is given.
In all other situations, this may be interpreted as success of the specified
command.
.TP
2
No command to run was specified.
.TP
3
The
.B xauth
command is not available.
.TP
4
The temporary directory that was going to be used already exists; since
.B xvfb\-run
produces a uniquely named directory, this may indicate an attempt by another
process on the system to exploit a temporary file race condition.
.TP
5
A problem was encountered while cleaning up the temporary directory.
.TP
6
A problem was encountered while using
.BR getopt (1)
to parse the command\-line arguments.
.SH EXAMPLES
.TP
.B xvfb\-run \-\-auto\-servernum \-\-server\-num=1 xlogo
runs the
.BR xlogo (1x)
demonstration client inside the
.B Xvfb
X server on the first available server number greater than or equal to 1.
.TP
.B xvfb\-run \-\-server\-args="\-screen 0 1024x768x24" ico \-faces
runs the
.BR ico (1x)
demonstration client (and passes it the
.B \-faces
argument) inside the
.B Xvfb
X server, configured with a root window of 1024 by 768 pixels and a color
depth of 24 bits.
.PP
Note that the demo X clients used in the above examples will not exit on
their own, so they will have to be killed before
.B xvfb\-run
will exit.
.SH BUGS
See
.URL "http://bugs.debian.org/xvfb" "the Debian Bug Tracking System" .
If you wish to report a bug in
.BR xvfb\-run ,
please use the 
.BR reportbug (1)
command.
.SH AUTHOR
.B xfvb\-run
was written by Branden Robinson and Jeff Licquia with sponsorship from
Progeny Linux Systems.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR Xvfb (1x),
.BR xauth (1x)
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