Q: How can I get a display window on a machine running XWindows without logging in to it?

I am running VR Juggler as a cluster of machines each with their own display. I don't want to have to log in to all the machines in my cluster and start an X session just so that I can put a display window on it. How can I get a display window on a machine running XWindows without logging in to it?

A: Use /etc/X0.hosts

If there is a /etc/X0.hosts file, it can let hosts display to the screen, including localhost, without requiring the user to log in. In this case the 0 in the filename corresponds to the pipe number.

So if my /etc/X0.hosts file looked like

localhost
node1.mycluster.com
node2.mycluster.com

then any of these hosts could display to the screen no matter the user.

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