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Thufir
Asked: 2017-01-13 06:38:36 +0800 CST

Failed to connect to Mir: Failed to connect to server socket: No such file or directory

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After logging in as another user how do I run GUI programs?

thufir@doge:~$ 
thufir@doge:~$ sudo -u hawat -i
hawat@doge:~$ 
hawat@doge:~$ whoami
hawat
hawat@doge:~$ 
hawat@doge:~$ pwd
/home/hawat
hawat@doge:~$ 
hawat@doge:~$ echo $HOME
/home/hawat
hawat@doge:~$ 
hawat@doge:~$ firefox
No protocol specified
Failed to connect to Mir: Failed to connect to server socket: No such file or directory
Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused
Error: cannot open display: :0
hawat@doge:~$
sudo

4 Answers

  1. export DISPLAY=:0 worked for me. Make sure you execute the command on the connecting system, not on the system you're connecting to!

    • 14

  2. This answer works on my Ubuntu 16.04 and Mir (with slight adaptations):

    Run x command as another user using xauth

    Wrapper bash script:

    For convenience, I created a wrapper bash script, that you might want to download to /usr/local/bin/xsudo and mark executable (chmod +x /usr/local/bin/xsudo).

    Then simply run:

    xsudo hawat firefox

    Potential Alternatives:

    • As a far simpler alternative, you might look into pam_xauth (s. this answer) However this doesn't work for me for some reason. (I still get the error about firefox not being able to connect to the display at :0)
    • In a lot of forums you might see the command xhost +local: or similar, which will make gksudo -u hawat firefox work without any wrapper script. However be aware that this opens a security loophole: Any active user on your local host will be able to access your keyboard, mouse, screen etc.
    • There used to be sux, which has been discontinued for some reason - you might still be able to download and use it though. As far as I can tell, it did something similar to my script only a lot more. Unfortunately I couldn't find out, why this is no longer maintained. (Maybe because we should now use pam_xauth instead - s. first alternative)
    • 6

  3. After spending way too much time on this, I discovered that with Gnome on Ubuntu 16.04, the correct value is DISPLAY=:1, not DISPLAY=:0 as it has been from time immemorial.

    • 3

  4. export DISPLAY=:0 works fine but this is a temporary solution since you need to type this each time when you open the terminal.

    Permanent Solution : The problem might be due to env_keep variable in /etc/sudoers. Add the following line at the end of /etc/sudoers using gedit or using sudo visudo

    Defaults env_keep+="DISPLAY"

    Note : Keep in mind to always use "+=" while adding to env_keep. In case if there are any other env_keep with "=" change them to "+=" because using "=" will override other values.

    • 1