# fwbuilder and firestarter won't run as root.

## illvzn

When I try and run firestarter or fwbuilder as root I get the following output:

As ROOT:

Firestarter:

Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server

Xlib: No protocol specified

(firestarter:3661): Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:

Fwbuilder:

Xlib: connection to ":0.0" refused by server

Xlib: No protocol specified

Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display:

As regular wheel group user:

Firestarter:

Error reading file of trusted hosts: No such file or directory

Error reading file of blocked hosts: No such file or directory

Error reading file of open ports: No such file or directory

Error reading file of stealthed ports: No such file or directory

Error reading file of blocked ports: No such file or directory

Then a gui window comes up titled, "Error (firestarter)" with the following output:

Log file not found or access denied.

Firewall log monitoring disabled.

You can configure the path to the log file in the "preferences" section.

Then another gui window comes up titles, "Error (firestarter)" with the following output:

You must be root to manipulate the firewall.

Fwbuilder:

It works when a regular user types in, fwbuilder.  No problems.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!  Thank you in advance!

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## rac

Can you try copying the .Xauthority file from the home directory of the user who started X to the home directory of root?

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## illvzn

cp /home/blah/.Xauthority /

Didn't work.

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## rtn

 *illvzn wrote:*   

> cp /home/blah/.Xauthority /
> 
> Didn't work.

 

Root's homedir is likely to be /root, not /.

If all else fails, you can probably use (as the user with the X sessio)

```
xhost localhost
```

And then as root

```
export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0
```

Just be aware that anyone with access to the lo interface will have access to

the X server.

Of course, another option would be to start the X session as root to do what

you need to...

--rtn

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## illvzn

What is the local loopback?

"Just be aware that anyone with access to the lo interface will have access to 

the X server. "

Are you suggesting that there might be a vunerability with this solution?

I'm using this system for desktop use and I'm the only user. (I HOPE!)

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## rtn

 *illvzn wrote:*   

> What is the local loopback?
> 
> "Just be aware that anyone with access to the lo interface will have access to 
> 
> the X server. "
> ...

 

The loopback is a virtual network interface to make network connections

from a box to itself.  

```
# ifconfig lo

lo        Link encap:Local Loopback

          inet addr:127.0.0.1  Mask:255.0.0.0

          UP LOOPBACK RUNNING  MTU:16436  Metric:1

          RX packets:57502 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0

          TX packets:57502 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0

          collisions:0 txqueuelen:0

          RX bytes:10347634 (9.8 Mb)  TX bytes:10347634 (9.8 Mb)

```

The command `xhost localhost` means that anyone on that box would

have access to the X server, so they could fire up applications that would

display there and such.  Furthermore, using xhost to fix a problem like this

really isn't the best solution, just the easiest. 

--rtn

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