The X authority file is a binary data file that contains
information used to authorize connections to the X server on a
system running DECwindows Motif Version 1.3 or higher.
Each time a client application attempts to connect to an X
server system that uses an authorization protocol, it references
the current X authority file to determine the appropriate
authorization key to apply in order to authenticate the
connection. Each authorization key consists of the protocol name
and token, which can be one of the following depending on the
protocol in use:
o MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 + random numeric code
o MIT-KERBEROS-5 + encrypted string (cached separately)
By default, an X authority file is created automatically the
first time a user logs into a desktop on a system configured
for MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 or MIT-KERBEROS-5 authentication.
The file is stored in that user's OpenVMS login directory
(SYS$LOGIN:DECW$XAUTHORITY.DECW$XAUTH). Each time the user
subsequently logs into a desktop on that system, a new
authorization key is generated, passed to the X server, and
written to the user's X authority file. This key controls access
to the X server during the DECwindows Motif session.
A separate X authority file can be manually defined on a server
level (using the DECW$SERVER_XAUTHORITY symbol) for those client
applications that require access to the X server outside of the
normal DECwindows Motif login process.
If the SECURITY extension is enabled, authorization keys can also
be manually generated. Manually-generated keys can be used to
further restrict server access. The generated key is stored in
the X authority file on the client system overwriting any value
already present for the specified display server. The key can be
distributed to different client systems to allow connections
to a specific server and can be revoked to stop subsequent
connections.
Generated keys are assigned an authorization ID that associates
the key with the user who generated the key. As a result, only
the user who generated the key can revoke the key.
Additional Information:
explode
extract