1Xorg(1) General Commands Manual Xorg(1)
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6 Xorg - X11R7 X server
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9 Xorg [:display] [option ...]
10
12 Xorg is a full featured X server that was originally designed for UNIX
13 and UNIX-like operating systems running on Intel x86 hardware. It now
14 runs on a wider range of hardware and OS platforms.
15 This work was derived by the X.Org Foundation from the XFree86
17 Project's XFree86 4.4rc2 release. The XFree86 release was originally
18 derived from X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell which was contributed to X11R5 by
19 Snitily Graphics Consulting Service.
20
22 Xorg operates under a wide range of operating systems and hardware
23 platforms. The Intel x86 (IA32) architecture is the most widely sup‐
24 ported hardware platform. Other hardware platforms include Compaq Al‐
25 pha, Intel IA64, AMD64, SPARC and PowerPC. The most widely supported
26 operating systems are the free/OpenSource UNIX-like systems such as
27 Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and Solaris. Commercial UNIX operat‐
28 ing systems such as UnixWare are also supported. Other supported oper‐
29 ating systems include GNU Hurd. Mac OS X is supported with the
30 Xquartz(1) X server. Win32/Cygwin is supported with the XWin(1) X
31 server.
32
34 Xorg supports connections made using the following reliable byte-
35 streams:
36 Local
38 On most platforms, the "Local" connection type is a UNIX-domain
39 socket. On some System V platforms, the "local" connection types
40 also include STREAMS pipes, named pipes, and some other mechanisms.
41 See the "LOCAL CONNECTIONS" section of X(7) for details.
42 TCP/IP
44 Xorg listens on port 6000+n, where n is the display number. This
45 connection type is usually disabled by default, but may be enabled
46 with the -listen option (see the Xserver(1) man page for details).
47
49 Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration
50 and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables,
51 the xorg.conf(5) configuration files, auto-detection, and fallback de‐
52 faults. When the same information is supplied in more than one way,
53 the highest precedence mechanism is used. The list of mechanisms is
54 ordered from highest precedence to lowest. Note that not all parame‐
55 ters can be supplied via all methods. The available command line op‐
56 tions and environment variables (and some defaults) are described here
57 and in the Xserver(1) manual page. Most configuration file parameters,
58 with their defaults, are described in the xorg.conf(5) manual page.
59 Driver and module specific configuration parameters are described in
60 the relevant driver or module manual page.
61 In addition to the normal server options described in the Xserver(1)
63 manual page, Xorg accepts the following command line switches:
64 vtXX XX specifies the Virtual Terminal device number which Xorg will
66 use. Without this option, Xorg will pick the first available
67 Virtual Terminal that it can locate. This option applies only
68 to platforms that have virtual terminal support, such as Linux,
69 BSD, OpenSolaris, SVR3, and SVR4.
70 -allowMouseOpenFail
72 Allow the server to start up even if the mouse device can't be
73 opened or initialised. This is equivalent to the Allow‐
74 MouseOpenFail [22mxorg.conf(5) file option.
75 -allowNonLocalXvidtune
77 Make the VidMode extension available to remote clients. This
78 allows the xvidtune client to connect from another host. This
79 is equivalent to the AllowNonLocalXvidtune [22mxorg.conf(5) file
80 option. By default non-local connections are not allowed.
81 -bgamma value
83 Set the blue gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and
84 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See
85 also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -ggamma options.
86 -bpp n No longer supported. Use -depth to set the color depth, and
88 use -fbbpp if you really need to force a non-default frame‐
89 buffer (hardware) pixel format.
90 -config file
92 Read the server configuration from file. This option will work
93 for any file when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-uid
94 0), or for files relative to a directory in the config search
95 path for all other users.
96 -configdir directory
98 Read the server configuration files from directory. This op‐
99 tion will work for any directory when the server is run as root
100 (i.e, with real-uid 0), or for directories relative to a direc‐
101 tory in the config directory search path for all other users.
102 -configure
104 When this option is specified, the Xorg server loads all video
105 driver modules, probes for available hardware, and writes out
106 an initial xorg.conf(5) file based on what was detected. This
107 option currently has some problems on some platforms, but in
108 most cases it is a good way to bootstrap the configuration
109 process. This option is only available when the server is run
110 as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).
111 -crt /dev/ttyXX
113 SCO only. This is the same as the vt option, and is provided
114 for compatibility with the native SCO X server.
115 -depth n
117 Sets the default color depth. Legal values are 1, 4, 8, 15,
118 16, and 24. Not all drivers support all values.
119 -disableVidMode
121 Disable the parts of the VidMode extension (used by the xvid‐
122 tune client) that can be used to change the video modes. This
123 is equivalent to the DisableVidModeExtension [22mxorg.conf(5) file
124 option.
125 -fbbpp n
127 Sets the number of framebuffer bits per pixel. You should only
128 set this if you're sure it's necessary; normally the server can
129 deduce the correct value from -depth above. Useful if you want
130 to run a depth 24 configuration with a 24 bpp framebuffer
131 rather than the (possibly default) 32 bpp framebuffer (or vice
132 versa). Legal values are 1, 8, 16, 24, 32. Not all drivers
133 support all values.
134 -flipPixels
136 Swap the default values for the black and white pixels.
137 -gamma value
139 Set the gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and 10.
140 The default is 1.0. This value is applied equally to the R, G
141 and B values. Those values can be set independently with the
142 -rgamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma options. Not all drivers support
143 this.
144 -ggamma value
146 Set the green gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and
147 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See
148 also the -gamma, -rgamma, and -bgamma options.
149 -ignoreABI
151 The Xorg server checks the ABI revision levels of each module
152 that it loads. It will normally refuse to load modules with
153 ABI revisions that are newer than the server's. This is be‐
154 cause such modules might use interfaces that the server does
155 not have. When this option is specified, mismatches like this
156 are downgraded from fatal errors to warnings. This option
157 should be used with care.
158 -isolateDevice bus-id
160 Restrict device resets to the device at bus-id. The bus-id
161 string has the form bustype:bus:device:function (e.g.,
162 ‘PCI:1:0:0’). At present, only isolation of PCI devices is
163 supported; i.e., this option is ignored if bustype is anything
164 other than ‘PCI’.
165 -keeptty
167 Prevent the server from detaching its initial controlling ter‐
168 minal. If you want to use systemd-logind integration you must
169 specify this option. Not all platforms support (or can use)
170 this option.
171 -keyboard keyboard-name
173 Use the xorg.conf(5) file InputDevice section called keyboard-
174 name as the core keyboard. This option is ignored when the
175 Layout section specifies a core keyboard. In the absence of
176 both a Layout section and this option, the first relevant In‐
177 putDevice section is used for the core keyboard.
178 -layout layout-name
180 Use the xorg.conf(5) file Layout section called layout-name.
181 By default the first Layout section is used.
182 -logfile filename
184 Use the file called filename as the Xorg server log file. The
185 default log file when running as root is /var/log/Xorg.n.log
186 and for non root it is $XDG_DATA_HOME/xorg/Xorg.n.log where n
187 is the display number of the Xorg server. The default may be
188 in a different directory on some platforms. This option is
189 only available when the server is run as root (i.e, with real-
190 uid 0).
191 -logverbose [n]
193 Sets the verbosity level for information printed to the Xorg
194 server log file. If the n value isn't supplied, each occur‐
195 rence of this option increments the log file verbosity level.
196 When the n value is supplied, the log file verbosity level is
197 set to that value. The default log file verbosity level is 3.
198 -modulepath searchpath
200 Set the module search path to searchpath. searchpath is a
201 comma separated list of directories to search for Xorg server
202 modules. This option is only available when the server is run
203 as root (i.e, with real-uid 0).
204 -noautoBindGPU
206 Disable automatically setting secondary GPUs up as output sinks
207 and offload sources. This is equivalent to setting the Auto‐
208 BindGPU [22mxorg.conf(5) file option. To false.
209 -nosilk Disable Silken Mouse support.
211 -novtswitch
213 Disable the automatic switching on X server reset and shutdown
214 to the VT that was active when the server started, if supported
215 by the OS.
216 -pointer pointer-name
218 Use the xorg.conf(5) file InputDevice section called pointer-
219 name as the core pointer. This option is ignored when the Lay‐
220 out section specifies a core pointer. In the absence of both a
221 Layout section and this option, the first relevant InputDevice
222 section is used for the core pointer.
223 -quiet Suppress most informational messages at startup. The verbosity
225 level is set to zero.
226 -rgamma value
228 Set the red gamma correction. value must be between 0.1 and
229 10. The default is 1.0. Not all drivers support this. See
230 also the -gamma, -bgamma, and -ggamma options.
231 -sharevts
233 Share virtual terminals with another X server, if supported by
234 the OS.
235 -screen screen-name
237 Use the xorg.conf(5) file Screen section called screen-name.
238 By default the screens referenced by the default Layout section
239 are used, or the first Screen section when there are no Layout
240 sections.
241 -showconfig
243 This is the same as the -version option, and is included for
244 compatibility reasons. It may be removed in a future release,
245 so the -version option should be used instead.
246 -showDefaultModulePath
248 Print out the default module path the server was compiled with.
249 -showDefaultLibPath
251 Print out the path libraries should be installed to.
252 -showopts
254 For each driver module installed, print out the list of options
255 and their argument types.
256 -weight nnn
258 Set RGB weighting at 16 bpp. The default is 565. This applies
259 only to those drivers which support 16 bpp.
260 -verbose [n]
262 Sets the verbosity level for information printed on stderr. If
263 the n value isn't supplied, each occurrence of this option in‐
264 crements the verbosity level. When the n value is supplied,
265 the verbosity level is set to that value. The default ver‐
266 bosity level is 0.
267 -version
269 Print out the server version, patchlevel, release date, the op‐
270 erating system/platform it was built on, and whether it in‐
271 cludes module loader support.
272
274 The Xorg server is normally configured to recognize various special
275 combinations of key presses that instruct the server to perform some
276 action, rather than just sending the key press event to a client appli‐
277 cation. These actions depend on the XKB keymap loaded by a particular
278 keyboard device and may or may not be available on a given configura‐
279 tion.
280 The following key combinations are commonly part of the default XKEY‐
282 BOARD keymap.
283 Ctrl+Alt+Backspace
285 Immediately kills the server -- no questions asked. It can be
286 disabled by setting the DontZap [22mxorg.conf(5) file option to a
287 TRUE value.
288 It should be noted that zapping is triggered by the Termi‐
290 nate_Server action in the keyboard map. This action is not part
291 of the default keymaps but can be enabled with the XKB option
292 "terminate:ctrl_alt_bksp".
293 Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Plus
295 Change video mode to next one specified in the configuration
296 file. This can be disabled with the DontZoom [22mxorg.conf(5) file
297 option.
298 Ctrl+Alt+Keypad-Minus
300 Change video mode to previous one specified in the configura‐
301 tion file. This can be disabled with the DontZoom [22mxorg.conf(5)
302 file option.
303 Ctrl+Alt+F1...F12
305 For systems with virtual terminal support, these keystroke com‐
306 binations are used to switch to virtual terminals 1 through 12,
307 respectively. This can be disabled with the DontVTSwitch
308 xorg.conf(5) file option.
309
311 Xorg typically uses a configuration file called xorg.conf and configu‐
312 ration files with the suffix .conf in a directory called xorg.conf.d
313 for its initial setup. Refer to the xorg.conf(5) manual page for in‐
314 formation about the format of this file.
315 Xorg has a mechanism for automatically generating a built-in configura‐
317 tion at run-time when no xorg.conf file or xorg.conf.d files are
318 present. The current version of this automatic configuration mechanism
319 works in two ways.
320 The first is via enhancements that have made many components of the
322 xorg.conf file optional. This means that information that can be
323 probed or reasonably deduced doesn't need to be specified explicitly,
324 greatly reducing the amount of built-in configuration information that
325 needs to be generated at run-time.
326 The second is to have "safe" fallbacks for most configuration informa‐
328 tion. This maximises the likelihood that the Xorg server will start up
329 in some usable configuration even when information about the specific
330 hardware is not available.
331 The automatic configuration support for Xorg is work in progress. It
333 is currently aimed at the most popular hardware and software platforms
334 supported by Xorg. Enhancements are planned for future releases.
335
337 The Xorg server config files can be found in a range of locations.
338 These are documented fully in the xorg.conf(5) manual page. The most
339 commonly used locations are shown here.
340 /etc/X11/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
342 /etc/X11/xorg.conf-4 Server configuration file.
344 /etc/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
346 /usr/etc/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
348 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf Server configuration file.
350 /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
352 /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d-4 Server configuration directory.
354 /etc/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
356 /usr/etc/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
358 /usr/lib/X11/xorg.conf.d Server configuration directory.
360 /var/log/Xorg.n.log Server log file for display n.
362 /usr/bin/∗ Client binaries.
364 /usr/include/∗ Header files.
366 /usr/lib/∗ Libraries.
368 /usr/share/fonts/X11/∗ Fonts.
370 /usr/share/X11/XErrorDB Client error message database.
372 /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/∗ Client resource specifications.
374 /usr/share/man/man?/∗ Manual pages.
376 /etc/Xn.hosts Initial access control list for display
378 n.
379
381 X(7), Xserver(1), xdm(1), xinit(1), xorg.conf(5), xvidtune(1), xkey‐
382 board-config (7), apm(4), ati(4), chips(4), cirrus(4), cyrix(4), fb‐
383 dev(4), glide(4), glint(4), i128(4), i740(4), imstt(4), intel(4),
384 mga(4), neomagic(4), nsc(4), nv(4), openchrome (4), r128(4), rendi‐
385 tion(4), s3virge(4), siliconmotion(4), sis(4), sunbw2(4), suncg14(4),
386 suncg3(4), suncg6(4), sunffb(4), sunleo(4), suntcx(4), tdfx(4), tga(4),
387 trident(4), tseng(4), v4l(4), vesa(4), vmware(4),
388 Web site <https://www.x.org>.
389
392 Xorg has many contributors world wide. The names of most of them can
393 be found in the documentation, ChangeLog files in the source tree, and
394 in the actual source code.
395 Xorg was originally based on XFree86 4.4rc2. That was originally based
397 on X386 1.2 by Thomas Roell, which was contributed to the then X Con‐
398 sortium's X11R5 distribution by SGCS.
399 Xorg is released by the X.Org Foundation.
401 The project that became XFree86 was originally founded in 1992 by David
403 Dawes, Glenn Lai, Jim Tsillas and David Wexelblat.
404 XFree86 was later integrated in the then X Consortium's X11R6 release
406 by a group of dedicated XFree86 developers, including the following:
407 Stuart Anderson anderson@metrolink.com
409 Doug Anson danson@lgc.com
410 Gertjan Akkerman akkerman@dutiba.twi.tudelft.nl
411 Mike Bernson mike@mbsun.mlb.org
412 Robin Cutshaw robin@XFree86.org
413 David Dawes dawes@XFree86.org
414 Marc Evans marc@XFree86.org
415 Pascal Haible haible@izfm.uni-stuttgart.de
416 Matthieu Herrb Matthieu.Herrb@laas.fr
417 Dirk Hohndel hohndel@XFree86.org
418 David Holland davidh@use.com
419 Alan Hourihane alanh@fairlite.demon.co.uk
420 Jeffrey Hsu hsu@soda.berkeley.edu
421 Glenn Lai glenn@cs.utexas.edu
422 Ted Lemon mellon@ncd.com
423 Rich Murphey rich@XFree86.org
424 Hans Nasten nasten@everyware.se
425 Mark Snitily mark@sgcs.com
426 Randy Terbush randyt@cse.unl.edu
427 Jon Tombs tombs@XFree86.org
428 Kees Verstoep versto@cs.vu.nl
429 Paul Vixie paul@vix.com
430 Mark Weaver Mark_Weaver@brown.edu
431 David Wexelblat dwex@XFree86.org
432 Philip Wheatley Philip.Wheatley@ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM
433 Thomas Wolfram wolf@prz.tu-berlin.de
434 Orest Zborowski orestz@eskimo.com
435 Xorg source is available from the FTP server <ftp://ftp.x.org/>, and
437 from the X.Org server <https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/>. Documen‐
438 tation and other information can be found from the X.Org web site
439 <https://www.x.org/>.
440
443 Xorg is copyright software, provided under licenses that permit modifi‐
444 cation and redistribution in source and binary form without fee. Xorg
445 is copyright by numerous authors and contributors from around the
446 world. Licensing information can be found at <https://www.x.org>. Re‐
447 fer to the source code for specific copyright notices.
448 XFree86(TM) is a trademark of The XFree86 Project, Inc.
450 X11(TM) and X Window System(TM) are trademarks of The Open Group.
452X Version 11 xorg-server 1.20.11 Xorg(1)