SYNOPSIS

       xhost [[+-]name ...]

DESCRIPTION

       The xhost program is used to add and delete host names or user names to
       the list allowed to make connections to the X server.  In the  case  of
       hosts,  this  provides  a rudimentary form of privacy control and secu-
       rity.  It is only sufficient for a workstation (single  user)  environ-
       ment,  although  it  does  limit  the worst abuses.  Environments which
       require more sophisticated measures  should  implement  the  user-based
       mechanism  or use the hooks in the protocol for passing other authenti-
       cation data to the server.

OPTIONS

       Xhost accepts the following command line options described below.   For
       security,  the  options that effect access control may only be run from
       the "controlling host".  For workstations, this is the same machine  as
       the server.  For X terminals, it is the login host.

       -help   Prints a usage message.

       [+]name The given name (the plus sign is optional) is added to the list
               allowed to connect to the X server.  The name  can  be  a  host
               name or a user name.

       -name   The  given  name is removed from the list of allowed to connect
               to the server.  The name can be a host name  or  a  user  name.
               Existing   connections  are  not  broken,  but  new  connection
               attempts will be denied.  Note  that  the  current  machine  is
               allowed  to be removed; however, further connections (including
               attempts to add it back) will not be permitted.  Resetting  the
               server  (thereby  breaking  all connections) is the only way to
               allow local connections again.

       +       Access is granted to everyone, even if they aren't on the  list
               (i.e., access control is turned off).

       -       Access  is  restricted  to only those on the list (i.e., access
               control is turned on).

       nothing If no command line arguments are given,  a  message  indicating
               whether  or not access control is currently enabled is printed,
               followed by the list of those allowed to connect.  This is  the
               only  option that may be used from machines other than the con-
               trolling host.

NAMES

       A complete name has the syntax ``family:name'' where the  families  are
       as follows:

       inet      Internet host (IPv4)
       inet6     Internet host (IPv6)
       sign (@) are assumed to be in  the  nis  family.   Otherwise  they  are
       assumed to be Internet addresses. If compiled to support IPv6, then all
       IPv4 and IPv6 addresses returned by getaddrinfo(3)  are  added  to  the
       access list in the appropriate inet or inet6 family.

DIAGNOSTICS

       For  each  name  added  to  the access control list, a line of the form
       "name being added to access control list" is printed.   For  each  name
       removed  from  the  access control list, a line of the form "name being
       removed from access control list" is printed.

FILES

       /etc/X*.hosts

SEE ALSO

       X(7), Xsecurity(7), Xserver(1), xdm(1), getaddrinfo(3)

ENVIRONMENT

       DISPLAY to get the default host and display to use.

BUGS

       You can't specify a display on the command line because -display  is  a
       valid  command  line  argument  (indicating that you want to remove the
       machine named ``display'' from the access list).

       The X server stores network addresses, not host  names.   This  is  not
       really a bug.  If somehow you change a host's network address while the
       server is still running, xhost must be used  to  add  the  new  address
       and/or remove the old address.

AUTHORS

       Bob Scheifler, MIT Laboratory for Computer Science,
       Jim Gettys, MIT Project Athena (DEC).



X Version 11                      Release 6.6                         XHOST(1)