Specifying the DISPLAY environment variable

If you use an X Window System shell window such as Xterm, you must set the DISPLAY environment variable to point to the IP address and screen number of the system you are using.

About this task

Command sequences in this manual do not remind you at every stage to set this variable.

If you use the su command to become different users, be especially vigilant to set DISPLAY before running X Window System-compliant programs.

Procedure

In general, set DISPLAY as follows:

  $ DISPLAY=Host_IP_Address:0.0 $ export DISPLAY

To make sure the DISPLAY environment variable is set, use the echo command:

 $ echo $DISPLAY