trunk/xorg-server/xvfb-run.1

.\" $Id: xvfb-run.1 2138 2005-01-17 23:40:27Z branden $
.\"
.\" Copyright 1998-2004 Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org>.
.\"
.\" This is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify
.\" it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
.\" published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2,
.\" or (at your option) any later version.
.\"
.\" This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
.\" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
.\" MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
.\" GNU General Public License for more details.
.\"
.\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License with
.\" the Debian operating system, in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL;  if
.\" not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place,
.\" Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
.\"
.\" We need the URL macro from groff's www macro package, but also want
.\" things to work all right for people who don't have it.  So we define
.\" our own URL macro and let the www macro package override it if it's
.\" available.
.de URL
\\$2 \(laURL: \\$1 \(ra\\$3
..
.if \n[.g] .mso www.tmac
.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)
.\" vim:set et tw=80:
1	.\" $Id: xvfb-run.1 2138 2005-01-17 23:40:27Z branden $
2	.\"
3	.\" Copyright 1998-2004 Branden Robinson <branden@debian.org>.
4	.\"
5	.\" This is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify
6	.\" it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
7	.\" published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2,
8	.\" or (at your option) any later version.
9	.\"
10	.\" This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
11	.\" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
12	.\" MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
13	.\" GNU General Public License for more details.
14	.\"
15	.\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License with
16	.\" the Debian operating system, in /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL; if
17	.\" not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place,
18	.\" Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
19	.\"
20	.\" We need the URL macro from groff's www macro package, but also want
21	.\" things to work all right for people who don't have it. So we define
22	.\" our own URL macro and let the www macro package override it if it's
23	.\" available.
24	.de URL
25	\\$2 \(laURL: \\$1 \(ra\\$3
26	..
27	.if \n[.g] .mso www.tmac
28	.TH xvfb\-run 1 "2004\-11\-12" "Debian Project"
29	.SH NAME
30	xvfb\-run \- run specified X client or command in a virtual X server environment
31	.SH SYNOPSIS
32	.B xvfb\-run
33	[
34	.I options
35	]
36	.I command
37	.SH DESCRIPTION
38	.B xvfb\-run
39	is a wrapper for the
40	.BR Xvfb (1x)
41	command which simplifies the task of running commands (typically an X
42	client, or a script containing a list of clients to be run) within a virtual
43	X server environment.
44	.PP
45	.B xvfb\-run
46	sets up an X authority file (or uses an existing user\-specified one),
47	writes a cookie to it (see
48	.BR xauth (1x))
49	and then starts the
50	.B Xvfb
51	X server as a background process.
52	The process ID of
53	.B Xvfb
54	is stored for later use.
55	The specified
56	.I command
57	is then run using the X display corresponding to the
58	.B Xvfb
59	server
60	just started and the X authority file created earlier.
61	.PP
62	When the
63	.I command
64	exits, its status is saved, the
65	.B Xvfb
66	server is killed (using the process ID stored earlier), the X authority
67	cookie removed, and the authority file deleted (if the user did not specify
68	one to use).
69	.B xvfb\-run
70	then exits with the exit status of
71	.IR command .
72	.PP
73	.B xvfb\-run
74	requires the
75	.B xauth
76	command to function.
77	.SH OPTIONS
78	.TP
79	.B \-a\fR,\fB \-\-auto\-servernum
80	Try to get a free server number, starting at 99, or the argument to
81	.BR \-\-server\-num .
82	.TP
83	.BI \-e\ file \fR,\fB\ \-\-error\-file= file
84	Store output from
85	.B xauth
86	and
87	.B Xvfb
88	in
89	.IR file .
90	The default is
91	.IR /dev/null .
92	.TP
93	.BI \-f\ file \fR,\fB\ \-\-auth\-file= file
94	Store X authentication data in
95	.IR file .
96	By default, a temporary directory called
97	.IR xvfb\-run. PID
98	(where PID is the process ID of
99	.B xvfb\-run
100	itself) is created in the directory specified by the environment variable
101	.B TMPDIR
102	(or
103	.I /tmp
104	if that variable is null or unset), and the
105	.BR tempfile (1)
106	command is used to create a file in that temporary directory called
107	.IR Xauthority .
108	.TP
109	.B \-h\fR,\fB \-\-help
110	Display a usage message and exit.
111	.TP
112	.BI \-n\ servernumber \fR,\fB\ \-\-server\-num= servernumber
113	Use
114	.I servernumber
115	as the server number (but see the
116	.B \-a\fR,\fB \-\-auto\-servernum
117	option above).
118	The default is 99.
119	.TP
120	.B \-l\fR,\fB \-\-listen\-tcp
121	Enable TCP port listening in the X server.
122	For security reasons (to avoid denial\-of\-service attacks or exploits),
123	TCP port listening is disabled by default.
124	.TP
125	.BI \-p\ protocolname \fR,\fB\ \-\-xauth\-protocol= protocolname
126	Use
127	.I protocolname
128	as the X authority protocol to use.
129	The default is \(oq.\(cq, which
130	.B xauth
131	interprets as its own default protocol, which is MIT\-MAGIC\-COOKIE\-1.
132	.TP
133	.BI \-s\ arguments \fR,\fB\ \-\-server\-args= arguments
134	Pass
135	.I arguments
136	to the
137	.B Xvfb
138	server.
139	Be careful to quote any whitespace characters that may occur within
140	.I arguments
141	to prevent them from regarded as separators for
142	.BR xvfb\-run 's
143	own arguments.
144	Also, note that specification of \(oq\-nolisten tcp\(cq in
145	.I arguments
146	may override the function of
147	.BR xvfb\-run 's
148	own
149	.B \-l\fR,\fB \-\-listen\-tcp
150	option, and that specification of the server number (e.g., \(oq:1\(cq) may
151	be ignored because of the way the X server parses its argument list.
152	Use the
153	.B xvfb\-run
154	option
155	.BI \-n\ servernumber \fR,\fB\ \-\-server\-num= servernumber
156	to achieve the latter function.
157	The default is \(oq\-screen 0 640x480x8\(cq.
158	.TP
159	.BI \-w\ delay \fR,\fB\ \-\-wait= delay
160	Wait
161	.I delay
162	seconds after launching
163	.B Xvfb
164	before attempting to start the specified command.
165	The default is 3.
166	.SH ENVIRONMENT
167	.TP
168	.B COLUMNS
169	indicates the width of the terminal device in character cells.
170	This value is used for formatting diagnostic messages.
171	If not set, the terminal is queried using
172	.BR stty (1)
173	to determine its width.
174	If that fails, a value of \(oq80\(cq is assumed.
175	.TP
176	.B TMPDIR
177	specifies the directory in which to place
178	.BR xvfb\-run 's
179	temporary directory for storage of the X authority file; only used if the
180	.B \-f
181	or
182	.B \-\-auth\-file
183	options are not specified.
184	.SH "OUTPUT FILES"
185	.PP
186	Unless the
187	.B \-f
188	or
189	.B \-\-auth\-file
190	options are specified, a temporary
191	directory and file within it are created (and deleted) to store the X
192	authority cookies used by the
193	.B Xvfb
194	server and client(s) run under it.
195	See
196	.BR tempfile (1).
197	If \-f or \-\-auth\-file are used, then the specified X authority file is
198	only written to, not created or deleted (though
199	.B xauth
200	creates an authority file itself if told to use use that does not already
201	exist).
202	.PP
203	An error file with a user\-specified name is also created if the
204	.B \-e
205	or
206	.B \-\-error\-file
207	options are specifed; see above.
208	.SH "EXIT STATUS"
209	.B xvfb\-run
210	uses its exit status as well as output to standard error to communicate
211	diagnostics.
212	The exit status of \(oq1\(cq is not used, and should be interpreted as failure
213	of the specified command.
214	.TP
215	0
216	.B xvfb\-run
217	only uses this exit status if the
218	.B \-h\fR,\fB \-\-help
219	option is given.
220	In all other situations, this may be interpreted as success of the specified
221	command.
222	.TP
223	2
224	No command to run was specified.
225	.TP
226	3
227	The
228	.B xauth
229	command is not available.
230	.TP
231	4
232	The temporary directory that was going to be used already exists; since
233	.B xvfb\-run
234	produces a uniquely named directory, this may indicate an attempt by another
235	process on the system to exploit a temporary file race condition.
236	.TP
237	5
238	A problem was encountered while cleaning up the temporary directory.
239	.TP
240	6
241	A problem was encountered while using
242	.BR getopt (1)
243	to parse the command\-line arguments.
244	.SH EXAMPLES
245	.TP
246	.B xvfb\-run \-\-auto\-servernum \-\-server\-num=1 xlogo
247	runs the
248	.BR xlogo (1x)
249	demonstration client inside the
250	.B Xvfb
251	X server on the first available server number greater than or equal to 1.
252	.TP
253	.B xvfb\-run \-\-server\-args="\-screen 0 1024x768x24" ico \-faces
254	runs the
255	.BR ico (1x)
256	demonstration client (and passes it the
257	.B \-faces
258	argument) inside the
259	.B Xvfb
260	X server, configured with a root window of 1024 by 768 pixels and a color
261	depth of 24 bits.
262	.PP
263	Note that the demo X clients used in the above examples will not exit on
264	their own, so they will have to be killed before
265	.B xvfb\-run
266	will exit.
267	.SH BUGS
268	See
269	.URL "http://bugs.debian.org/xvfb" "the Debian Bug Tracking System" .
270	If you wish to report a bug in
271	.BR xvfb\-run ,
272	please use the
273	.BR reportbug (1)
274	command.
275	.SH AUTHOR
276	.B xfvb\-run
277	was written by Branden Robinson and Jeff Licquia with sponsorship from
278	Progeny Linux Systems.
279	.SH "SEE ALSO"
280	.BR Xvfb (1x),
281	.BR xauth (1x)
282	.\" vim:set et tw=80: