startx(1) - NetBSD Manual Pages

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STARTX(1)                                                            STARTX(1)




NAME

       startx - initialize an X session


SYNOPSIS

       startx  [  [ client ] options ... ] [ -- [ server ] [ display ] options
       ... ]


DESCRIPTION

       The startx script is a front end to xinit(1) that provides  a  somewhat
       nicer  user interface for running a single session of the X Window Sys-
       tem.  It is often run with no arguments.

       Arguments immediately following the startx command are used to start  a
       client in the same manner as xinit(1).  The special argument '--' marks
       the end of client arguments and the beginning of  server  options.   It
       may  be convenient to specify server options with startx to change them
       on a per-session basis.  Some examples of specifying  server  arguments
       follow;  consult  the  manual page for your X server to determine which
       arguments are legal.

              startx -- -depth 16

              startx -- -dpi 100

              startx -- -layout Multihead

       To determine the client to run, startx  first  checks  the  environment
       variable XINITRC for a filename. If that variable is unset, or does not
       contain a filename, it looks for the following files, in order:

              $(HOME)/.startxrc

              $(HOME)/.xinitrc

              /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc

       If command line client options are given, they override  this  behavior
       and  revert  to the xinit(1) behavior.  To determine the server to run,
       startx checks the environment variable XSERVERRC  for  a  filename.  If
       that  variable is unset, or does not contain a filename, it looks for a
       file called .xserverrc in the user's home directory.  If  that  is  not
       found,  it  uses the file xserverrc in the xinit library directory.  If
       command line server options are given, they override this behavior  and
       revert  to  the  xinit(1)  behavior.   Users  rarely  need to provide a
       .xserverrc file.  See the xinit(1) manual page for more details on  the
       arguments.

       The   system-wide   xinitrc  and  xserverrc  files  are  found  in  the
       /etc/X11/xinit directory.

       The .xinitrc is typically a shell  script  which  starts  many  clients
       according  to  the  user's  preference.   When this shell script exits,
       startx kills the server and performs any other session shutdown needed.
       Most  of  the  clients  started  by .xinitrc should be run in the back-
       ground.  The last client should run in the foreground; when  it  exits,
       the  session  will exit.  People often choose a session manager, window
       manager, or xterm as the ''magic'' client.


EXAMPLE

       Below is a sample .xinitrc that starts several applications and  leaves
       the  window manager running as the ''last'' application.  Assuming that
       the window manager has been configured properly, the user then  chooses
       the ''Exit'' menu item to shut down X.

           xrdb -load $HOME/.Xresources
           xsetroot -solid gray &
           xbiff -geometry -430+5 &
           oclock -geometry 75x75-0-0 &
           xload -geometry -80-0 &
           xterm -geometry +0+60 -ls &
           xterm -geometry +0-100 &
           xconsole -geometry -0+0 -fn 5x7 &
           exec twm


ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       DISPLAY                  This variable gets set to the name of the dis-
                                play to which clients  should  connect.   Note
                                that this gets set, not read.

       XAUTHORITY               This  variable,  if  not already defined, gets
                                set to $(HOME)/.Xauthority.  This is  to  pre-
                                vent  the  X  server,  if  not given the -auth
                                argument, from automatically setting up  inse-
                                cure  host-based  authentication for the local
                                host.  See  the  Xserver(1)  and  Xsecurity(7)
                                manual   pages   for  more  information  on  X
                                client/server authentication.

       XINITRC                  This variable should contain the  location  of
                                an xinitrc file. If unset, $(HOME)/.xinitrc or
                                /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc will be used.

       XSERVERRC                This variable should contain the  location  of
                                an xserver file. If unset, $(HOME)/.xinitrc or
                                /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc will be used.


FILES

       $(HOME)/.xinitrc         Client to run.  Typically a shell script which
                                runs many programs in the background.

       $(HOME)/.xserverrc       Server to run.  The default is X.

       /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc   Client  to  run  if  the  user has no .xinitrc
                                file.

       /etc/X11/xinit/xserverrc Server to run if the user  has  no  .xserverrc
                                file.


SEE ALSO

       xinit(1), X(7), Xserver(1), Xorg(1), xorg.conf(5)



                                 X Version 11                        STARTX(1)