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xauth:tldr:8a61e

xauth: Merge the authorization entries from a specific file into the authorization database.
$ cat ${filename} | xauth merge -
try on your machine

This command is a Unix/Linux command used to merge X authority data from a specified file into the current X authority database.

Let's break down the command:

  • cat: This is a command used to concatenate and display the contents of a file. In this case, it is used to read the contents of the ${filename} file.

  • ${filename}: This is a variable that holds the name of the file to be read. The actual name should be substituted in place of ${filename}.

  • |: This symbol represents a pipe, which is used to connect the output of one command to the input of another.

  • xauth merge -: This is the second part of the command that receives the output from cat through the pipe. xauth is a command used to manage X authority files, which control X server authentication. The merge argument is used to merge the content of the specified file into the current X authority database. The - symbol indicates that the content will be received from the standard input.

So, overall, this command reads the content of a file specified by ${filename} using cat, then pipes it to xauth merge command to merge the content into the X authority database.

This explanation was created by an AI. In most cases those are correct. But please always be careful and never run a command you are not sure if it is safe.
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