XLOGIN

Section: User Commands (1)
Updated: 5 July 1990
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NAME

xlogin - login for X

SYNOPSIS

xlogin [-debug] [-lines num] [-logout] [-motdFont font] [-showMOTD Always|IfChanged] [-showVersion] [-timeOutAction login|logout] [-version]

SUMMARY

The xlogin utility provides most of the functionality of the login(1) program that is not provided by xdm(1). It supports motd, wtmp, utmp, lastlog, nologin and quota handling.

OPTIONS

-debug: (command line only) writes debugging information to stderr.
-lines: specifies the number of lines of /etc/motd or /etc/nologin that are to be displayed.
-logout: (command line only) only writes a logout entry to the wtmp file
-motdFont: specifies the font to be used when displaying /etc/motd or /etc/nologin.
-showMOTD: Always causes /etc/motd to be displayed every time. IfChanged causes /etc/motd to be displayed only if something changed since your last login. The default is IfChanged.
-showVersion: displays a line containing version-number, revision and patchlevel in the window.
-timeOutAction: (command line only) determines whether to login or logout when the timeout has expired. The default is logout.
-version: (command line only) displays version-number, revision and patchlevel. Nothing else is performed if this option is specified.

DESCRIPTION

The xlogin command is used after xdm(1) has validated the password and let the user log in. It should be called from within the Xstartup file (run setuid root) and again with the -logout option from within the Xreset file. (see xdm(1) for more information on these files)

Xlogin provides most of the functionality of the login(1) program that is not provided by xdm(1).

- it checks whether the file /etc/nologin exists and displays its contents
in a window.

- it checks the users quota and displays appropriate messages if exceeded.
No login is permitted in this case.

- if login is permitted, it writes an entry to the utmp and wtmp
file. If the file does not exist, none is created.

- if login is permitted, it writes an entry to /usr/adm/lastlog.
If the file does not exist, none is created.

- it checks whether a $HOME/.hushlogin file exists. No message-of-the-day
and no last login message is displayed in this case.

- if showMOTD (or the corresponding resource) is set to IfChanged,
xlogin compares the last login time against the last change time of /etc/motd. /etc/motd is displayed only if it has been changed since the last login. If no last login file exists, it checks whether a $HOME/.Xlogin file exists and compares its last change time against that of the /etc/motd file. Xlogin displays the motd if the motd is newer and then touches the .Xlogin file. If no .Xlogin file exists /etc/motd is displayed every time.

Normally, the user clicks a button after reading the message of the day. The user is given 20 seconds plus 1 second per motd line to respond. If the user does not respond, he is logged out. If the timeOutAction is set to login the behavior is different: if nothing is to be displayed (i.e. no /etc/motd or /etc/nologin) the user is granted login automatically after 20 seconds. If there is something to display xlogin waits for a button click before proceeding.

If there is an entry for the X display in the /etc/ttys file, xlogin will also write a record in utmp. The ttyname is derived from the display name. If the display is local, the ttyname is "X" followed by the display number. If the display is remote (i.e. an X terminal), then ttyname is the hostname of the display. For example, the display name ":0" maps to "X0", and the display name "ncd1.cs.wisc.edu:0" maps to "ncd1".

RETURN VALUE

If login is permitted xlogin returns 0 otherwise 1 is returned.

ENVIRONMENT

DISPLAY: To get the name of the display.
USER: To get the name of the user. (normally set by xdm(1) correctly.)
HOME: To get the user's home directory. If not set, it is obtained from /etc/passwd.

RESOURCES

motdFont: Specifies which font to use when displaying /etc/motd or /etc/nologin.
showVersion (boolean): If true, causes xlogin to display version-number, revision and patchlevel as the first line in the window.
showMOTD: Can have the values Always or IfChanged. See explanation for the corresponding option.
lines: Specified the number of lines of /etc/motd that should be displayed.

EXAMPLES

in the file Xstartup:

/usr/bin/X11/xlogin

in the file Xreset:

/usr/bin/X11/xlogin -logout

FILES

/etc/utmp         login records

/usr/adm/wtmp    accounting

/usr/adm/lastlog last logins

/etc/motd        message-of-the-day

/etc/nologin     stops login

/etc/passwd      passwd file

.hushlogin       makes xlogin much quieter

.Xlogin          makes xlogin a bit quieter

.Xdefaults       users resource file

WINDOW

To display the contents of /etc/motd or /etc/nologin, a widget that is 80 characters wide is created. All other messages are boxes up to 80 characters in width.

BUGS

The size of the motd window is based on the font metrics. However, the window is much too wide when using a proportionally spaced font.

COPYRIGHT

AUTHOR

Markus Stumpf, TU Muenchen
(stumpf@informatik.tu-muenchen.de)

CREDITS

Tim Theisen
(tim@cs.wisc.edu, ...!uwvax!tim)

Index

NAME
SYNOPSIS
SUMMARY
OPTIONS
DESCRIPTION
RETURN VALUE
ENVIRONMENT
RESOURCES
EXAMPLES
FILES
WINDOW
BUGS
SEE ALSO
COPYRIGHT
AUTHOR
CREDITS

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Time: 19:06:32 GMT, February 02, 2023