Headless With X
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This article explains how to have X running while a machine boots headless, i.e., without a monitor. By default this does not happen, because X detects the absence of a monitor and does not start.
First copy the following text:
Section "Monitor" Identifier "Monitor0" EndSection Section "Device" Identifier "Device0" Driver "vesa" #Choose the driver used for this monitor EndSection Section "Screen" Identifier "Screen0" #Collapse Monitor and Device section to Screen section Device "Device0" Monitor "Monitor0" DefaultDepth 24 #Choose the depth (16||24) SubSection "Display" Depth 24 Modes "1024x768_75.00" #Choose the resolution EndSubSection EndSection
into this file, as root:
/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-monitor.conf
and reboot.
If it works, you're done, X will run fine with or without a screen. If not, you have a video card causing issues. One quick way to handle this is to try different drivers instead of "vesa". A list can be had by running "X -configure" without X running. One ATI video card confirmed to need this, worked well using "ati" instead of "vesa".