[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: Remote administration of a server



On Sat, 11 Jun 2005, s. keeling wrote:

> And if anyone can get at your console, they can CTRL-ALT-Backspace to
> get to a logged in shell prompt.  They may not still have your ssh-add

No they can't.  A session managed by a display manager does not fall back 
to a shell.  If you C-A-Backspace from any session managed by a display 
manager the display manager will respawn and you will be presented with 
another graphical login window.  Try it.  If you really find this isn't 
happening then something is very broken in your X config.

You are probably thinking of startx which calls xinit.  It does not use 
the ~/.xsession file - it uses ~/.xinitrc instead, although alot of people 
do symlink them together for convenience.

If you C-A-Backspace from a session started by startx then yes you will 
end up back at a shell prompt unless you exec startx (or something else in 
the chain of processes).  I haven't started my X sessions this way for 
more than 10 years.

For some reason I've noticed a lot of people get the two methods of 
starting X mixed up.  Man xdm and startx for more info.

> I prefer to ssh-add after an "exec /usr/bin/blackbox" in ~/.xsession,

The window manager must be the last thing run in ~/.xsession by 
definition.  If you background the window manager then the session will 
exit as soon as you login.  If you don't background the window manager 
then nothing after it will run (whether you exec it or not).

Rob

-- 
Robert Brockway B.Sc.
Senior Technical Consultant, OpenTrend Solutions Ltd.
Ph: +1-416-669-3073 Email: rbrockway@opentrend.net http://www.opentrend.net
OpenTrend Solutions: Reliable, secure solutions to real world problems.
Contributing Member of Software in the Public Interest http://www.spi-inc.org



Reply to: