6 .TH mkxauth 1x "12-Dec-1996" "Red Hat Software" "Linux User's Manual"
8 mkxauth \- create and merge .Xauthority files
55 aids in the creation and maintenance of X authentication databases
56 (.Xauthority files). Use it to create a ~/.Xauthority file or merge
57 keys from another local or remote .Xauthority file. Remote .Xauthority
58 files can be retrieved via FTP (using
62 For a slight measure of security,
64 does not create any temporary files containing authentication keys
65 (although anyone spying on network packets can see the authentication
66 key data as they pass through the network; for secure network
69 .SS Creating and Adding to a .Xauthority File
70 To create a .Xauthority file, use
74 creates a .Xauthority file in the user's home directory (~/),
75 containing a `key' or `magic cookie' for the host it was run on (the
78 If a .Xauthority file already exists, the keys are added to it. If
79 keys for that host already exist, they are replaced.
81 To create or add to a .Xauthority file for another user, use
87 .RI ~ login /.Xauthority
88 (only the root user is allowed to do this).
90 To add a key for more than one host, specify all hosts on the command
92 .B mkxauth \-c daffy porky
94 All hosts specified on the same command line receive the same key. To
95 create different keys for multiple hosts, run
97 for each host in succession:
107 .SS Merging Keys from Local .Xauthority Files
108 To merge keys from another local user's .Xauthority file, use
114 .RI ~ login /.Xauthority
115 to ~/.Xauthority, replacing any keys which already exist.
116 .RI ~ login /.Xauthority
117 must be readable by the user running
119 (normally only the root user can read other people's .Xauthority files).
120 .SS Merging Keys via FTP
121 To merge keys from a remote .Xauthority file via FTP, use
126 retrieves the remote .Xauthority from
130 and adds those keys to ~/.Xauthority, replacing any keys which already
133 you must have a ~/.netrc file set up to automatically log you into
135 otherwise the FTP login attempt will fail.]
136 .SS Merging Keys via rsh(1)
137 To merge keys from remote .Xauthority file via
144 retrieves the remote .Xauthority from
148 and adds those keys to ~/.Xauthority, replacing any keys which already
149 exist. To login as a different user, use
153 you must have a .rhosts file set up properly for this to work,
154 otherwise the remote login attempt will fail].
155 .SS Merging Keys via rsh(1) and gzip(1)
156 If your remote .Xauthority file is large, or to make it slightly less
157 obvious that you're transferring authentication keys over the network,
161 your .Xauthority file before retrieving it via
168 retrieves the remote .Xauthority from
172 and adds those keys to ~/.Xauthority, replacing any keys which already
173 exist. To login as a different user, use
177 you must have a .rhosts file set up properly for this to work,
178 otherwise the remote login attempt will fail].
182 operate quietly, use the
187 .RI ~ login /.Xauthority,
195 for the remote login in
208 To get quick help about
222 is mostly useful for maintaining .Xauthority files in an environment
226 uses its own method of generating .Xauthority files. However,
228 is still useful for transferring .Xauthority information to remote
229 login sessions so that the user can display remote X clients on the
230 local host without too much trouble.
232 Note, however, that using
234 is inherently insecure, and sites concerned about security should use
236 instead (see http://www.cs.hut.fi/ssh/ for more information).
249 Does not respect the XAUTHORITY environment variable.
251 Conceived and written by Jim Knoble <jmknoble@redhat.com>. Copyright
252 1996 by Jim Knoble and Red Hat Software. Distributed under the GNU GPL
253 (General Public License); see ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/COPYING for