Red Hat Linux 7 Unleashed

By William Ball

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Lead Authors
  • About the Contributing Authors
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • I. Red Hat Linux Installation and User Services
  • Chapter 1. Introduction to Red Hat Linux
  • Chapter 2. Installation of Your Red Hat System
  • Chapter 3. LILO and Other Boot Managers
  • Chapter 4. Configuring the X Window System, Version 11
    • What Is X11?
    • XFree86 or Another X11?
    • New Features of XFree86 4.0.1
    • Choosing a Configuration Tool
    • Examining the XF86Config File
    • Starting X11 with the startx Command
    • Using xdm
    • Troubleshooting XFree86
    • Summary
  • Chapter 5. Window Managers
  • Chapter 6. Connecting to the Internet
  • Chapter 7. IRC, ICQ, and Chat Clients
  • Chapter 8. Using Multimedia and Graphics Clients
  • II. Configuring Services
  • Chapter 9. System Startup and Shutdown
  • Chapter 10. SMTP and Protocols
  • Chapter 11. FTP
  • Chapter 12. Apache Server
  • Chapter 13. Internet News
  • Chapter 14. Domain Name Service and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
  • Chapter 15. NIS: Network Information Service
  • Chapter 16. NFS: Network Filesystem
  • Chapter 17. Samba
  • III. System Administration and Management
  • Chapter 18. Linux Filesystems, Disks, and Other Devices
  • Chapter 19. Printing with Linux
  • Chapter 20. TCP/IP Network Management
  • Chapter 21. Linux System Administration
  • Chapter 22. Backup and Restore
  • Chapter 23. System Security
  • IV. Red Hat Development and Productivity
  • Chapter 24. Linux C/C++ Programming Tools
  • Chapter 25. Shell Scripting
  • Chapter 26. Automating Tasks
  • Chapter 27. Configuring and Building Kernels
  • Chapter 28. Emulators, Tools, and Window Clients
  • V. Appendixes
  • A. The Linux Documentation Project
  • B. Top Linux Commands and Utilities
  • C. The GNU General Public License
  • D. Red Hat Linux RPM Package Listings

Using xdm

The xdm, X display manager, is an X client and one of three display managers included with Red Hat Linux that you can use to provide a small level of security by requiring a username and password before starting your X session. Note that if you need the security, you should enable the DontZap option in your XF86Config file. You can also disable the ability to use Ctrl+Alt+Del in order to foil rebooting the computer, and limit the number of virtual consoles available for Linux by editing /etc/inittab. You can use xdm to log in to Linux and directly to an X session, either locally or using a remote computer. However, if you choose to not use a display manager or boot directly to X, you can try xdm from the command line as the root operator by using the -nodaemon option:

				
   # xdm -nodaemon
			

The display clears and you'll see an xdm login display. You can then log in to X or use Ctrl+Alt+F1.

Red Hat Linux uses the xsri client to display the Red Hat logo in the gdm, kdm, and xdm login screens. To customize your login display, edit the file Xsetup_0 under the /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/xdm directory and edit these lines:

/usr/bin/xsri -geometry +5+5 -avoid 300x250 -keep-aspect         /usr/share/pixmaps/redhat/redhat-transparent.png

Any small graphic named XFree86.xpm in the /etc/X11/xdm/pixmaps directory will be used inside your xdm login dialog.

After you have a working XF86Config, you may want to start Linux directly to X. To do this, change the default init entry in your system's initialization table file (/etc/ inittab). Look for this line:

id:3:initdefault

Change it to this line:

id: 5:initdefault

					
      linux 5
				
   

After you make this change, restart your system by using this shutdown command:

				
   # shutdown -r now
			

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