Xauthority file
I recently installed the new SimplyMepis 6.0 version. I really like the new version. I installed several of the other desktops. If I use kdesu I can su to run applications like Synaptic as root. Seeing as Mepis 6.0 is now based on Ubuntu these other desktops use gksu to invoke root level system administration programs like Synaptic.
When gksu is run it tries to copy the ~/.Xauthority file. My home directory doesn't have a .Xauthority file. I created a new user and it's home directory doesn't have a .Xauthority file. I saw where there is a program called mkxauth that is supposed to create the .Xauthority file. A search of the package listings for the mkxauth program at the Ubuntu web site came up empty.
I also read something about gdm and xdm creating this file. When I installed GNOME I kept kdm. Is there a way to use gdm to create the .Xauthority file? I want to be sure that I don't mess up my installation. Can anyone tell me how to best go about creating the .Xauthority file?
Security levels
I did some more digging and found out that it is possible to create an .Xauthority file with xauth. I created one that has two entries that read:
XXXX/unix:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 hexkey
localhost.localdomain/unix:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 hexkey
An Ubuntu live CD .Xauthority file was used as a source to see what entries it had. These entries were used as a guide in creating a new file. The new entires were created using the commands:
generate :0 . trusted
generate localhost.localdomain/unix:0 . trusted
Xauth was run in a terminal window using the user account access level. When this file is used I now get an error message that the authorization mechanism sudo does not allow me to run this program. Is there anything else that has to be done to get gksu to execute, prompt for the root password, and execute root level access system programs?