Installing Xvfb on headless Sun server

Notes:

http://www.sunhelp.org/pipermail/sunhelp/2000-November/007058.html

http://www.itworld.com/AppDev/1461/UIR000330xvfb/

http://ferret.wrc.noaa.gov/Ferret/FAQ/graphics/Solaris_Xvfb.html

http://www.bolthole.com/solaris/imake.html

ftp://ftp.x.org/pub/R6.6/tars/INSTALL.TXT

ftp://ferret.wrc.noaa.gov/special_request/xvfb/solaris/README.XVFB


Download the X11R6.6 source:


ftp://ftp.x.org/pub/R6.6/tars/xorg-1.tar.gz
ftp://ftp.x.org/pub/R6.6/tars/xorg-2.tar.gz
ftp://ftp.x.org/pub/R6.6/tars/xorg-3.tar.gz
ftp://ftp.x.org/pub/R6.6/tars/xorg-4.tar.gz

untar all four into /tmp/build/xc

cd /tmp/build/xc

First we must make some changes to /tmp/build/xc/config/cf/site.def

Replace whatever is in site.def with these lines:

------- begin -----------

#define HasVarDirectory    NO
#define BuildServer  YES
#define XVirtualFramebufferServer YES
#define BuildPexExt YES
#define XprtServer YES
#define BuildFonts YES
#define ProjectRoot /usr/local/X11R6 
#define HasGcc2 YES
#define HasGcc2ForCplusplus YES

/* On systems where cpp doesn't expand correctly macros in include
directives
 * the two following macros need to be defined directly (where "X11" is
 * really whatever the TopLevelProject macro is defined to be).
 */
# if defined(AIXArchitecture) || defined(SVR4Architecture) || \
     defined(SCOArchitecture) || defined(Win32Architecture) || \
     defined(UXPArchitecture) || defined(SunArchitecture)
#  ifndef ProjectRulesFile
#   define ProjectRulesFile     <X11.rules>
#  endif
#  ifndef ProjectTmplFile
#   define ProjectTmplFile      <X11.tmpl>
#  endif
# endif

------------- end ---------------


# make World

# make install
# make install.man

Now tar everything up and put in on kinscoe.harcourt.com:/pub/soft/install/X11R6.tar

# cd /usr/local/X11R6
# tar cvf /pub/soft/install/X11R6.tar .
# gzip -9 /pub/soft/install/X11R6.tar
# scp /pub/soft/install/X11R6.tar.gz root@cdms01:/tmp/X11R6.tar.gz

Now on the remote host to install it...

# gzip -d /tmp/X11R6.tar.gz
# mkdir /usr/local/X11R6
# cd /usr/local/X11R6
# tar xvf /tmp/X11R6.tar

Adding to automatic system startup...

Adding the Virtual Framebuffer to the Automatic Startup
-------------------------------------------------------

Create the file /etc/init.d/local with the following contents:


# start the X Virtual Framebuffer (Xvfb) *kob* 3/22/96
if [ -f /usr/local/X11R6/bin/Xvfb ]; then
        echo "***Starting up the Virtual Frame Buffer on Screen 1***"
        /usr/local/X11R6/bin/Xvfb :1 -screen 0 1152x900x8 2>> /var/log/Xvfb.log
fi

In order to have Xvfb start up automatically when a workstation boots
(after an unexpected crash, for example), the startup line mentioned
above needs to be inserted into the /etc/init.d/local file.  If this
file does not already exist, it will have to be created, and the
following link made:

	# cd /etc/rc2.d
	# ln -s /etc/init.d/local S96local
	# chmod +x /etc/init.d/local

This will ensure that the local file containing the Xvfb startup
string is executed when the workstation boots.  An example of what
should be added to the /etc/init.d/local file is:

This sequence will check for the existence of Xvfb and start it up if
it is present.  Also, any errors reported will be sent to the
/var/log/Xvfb.log file.  


Starting up the Virtual Frame buffer manually
---------------------------------------------

To start up the virtual frame buffer, type:

# /usr/local/X11R6/bin/Xvfb :1 -screen 0 1152x900x8 &

or

# /etc/rc2.d/S96local

This will send any graphics output going to display 1 to shared
memory. To set the current display to use the frame buffer for
graphics display, type:

% setenv DISPLAY :1.0 (in CSH)

or

$ set DISPLAY=:1.0;export DISPLAY (in KSH)

The virtual framebuffer is now ready to be used by those on the local
machine.  See note below concerning remote usage.  Xvfb does not need
to be started by root.  It appears from our testing that any user may
start it up.


For More information
--------------------

The man pages for the X11R6 utilities (including Xvfb) are included
with this distribution.  To access the man page for Xvfb, for example,
type:

% man -M /usr/local/X11R6/man Xvfb

It should also be possible to set up the environment variable MANPATH to
include the /usr/local/X11R6/man area.


Note on remote display using Xvfb
---------------------------------

Displaying to the virtual framebuffer from a remote node adds
complexity to the usage of Xvfb.  It appears to be a matter of
authenticating the remote host to the framebuffer, thereby identifying
that host as a trusted host.  The way to accomplish this seems to be
to create an authentication file which would include all remote
displays expected to access the virtual framebuffer.  Xvfb can then be
started with an option to access this authentication file.  For more
information on this see the man pages for Xserver and Xvfb.