Installing XVFB on Suse

On OpenSUSE 11.4:

pdo@opensuse:~> rpm -q --whatprovides /usr/bin/Xvfb
xorg-x11-server-7.6_1.9.3-15.18.4.x86_64

So just install xorg-x11-server (and its myriad dependencies):

pdo@opensuse:~> sudo zypper install -y xorg-x11-server

pdo@opensuse:~> /usr/bin/Xvfb

You don't have to install a desktop environment or anything, and you machine still boots to a text mode login prompt.

xvfb-run is apparently not an actual binary but a script, as per this site.

On Debian based distributions it is quite easy. The package is called xvfb and an application can be executed in it with xvfb-run -a APPLICATION. On RPM based distributions, it is not so easy. But with help of the table below, it is easy to find out the package name of xvfb on each distribution. You can also see if the script is shipped with the package ore not and if not, it can be downloaded from here.

The script seems to be identical for OpenSUSE and CentOS/RHEL, here it is:

#!/bin/sh

# $Id: xvfb-run 2027 2004-11-16 14:54:16Z branden $

# This script starts an instance of Xvfb, the "fake" X server, runs a command
# with that server available, and kills the X server when done.  The return
# value of the command becomes the return value of this script.
#
# If anyone is using this to build a Debian package, make sure the package
# Build-Depends on xvfb, xbase-clients, and xfonts-base.

set -e

PROGNAME=xvfb-run
SERVERNUM=99
AUTHFILE=
ERRORFILE=/dev/null
STARTWAIT=3
XVFBARGS="-screen 0 640x480x8"
LISTENTCP="-nolisten tcp"
XAUTHPROTO=.

# Query the terminal to establish a default number of columns to use for
# displaying messages to the user.  This is used only as a fallback in the event
# the COLUMNS variable is not set.  ($COLUMNS can react to SIGWINCH while the
# script is running, and this cannot, only being calculated once.)
DEFCOLUMNS=$(stty size 2>/dev/null | awk '{print $2}') || true
if ! expr "$DEFCOLUMNS" : "[[:digit:]]\+$" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    DEFCOLUMNS=80
fi

# Display a message, wrapping lines at the terminal width.
message () {
    echo "$PROGNAME: $*" | fmt -t -w ${COLUMNS:-$DEFCOLUMNS}
}

# Display an error message.
error () {
    message "error: $*" >&2
}

# Display a usage message.
usage () {
    if [ -n "$*" ]; then
        message "usage error: $*"
    fi
    cat <<EOF
Usage: $PROGNAME [OPTION ...] COMMAND
Run COMMAND (usually an X client) in a virtual X server environment.
Options:
-a        --auto-servernum          try to get a free server number, starting at
                                    --server-num
-e FILE   --error-file=FILE         file used to store xauth errors and Xvfb
                                    output (default: $ERRORFILE)
-f FILE   --auth-file=FILE          file used to store auth cookie
                                    (default: ./.Xauthority)
-h        --help                    display this usage message and exit
-n NUM    --server-num=NUM          server number to use (default: $SERVERNUM)
-l        --listen-tcp              enable TCP port listening in the X server
-p PROTO  --xauth-protocol=PROTO    X authority protocol name to use
                                    (default: xauth command's default)
-s ARGS   --server-args=ARGS        arguments (other than server number and
                                    "-nolisten tcp") to pass to the Xvfb server
                                    (default: "$XVFBARGS")
-w DELAY  --wait=DELAY              delay in seconds to wait for Xvfb to start
                                    before running COMMAND (default: $STARTWAIT)
EOF
}

# Find a free server number by looking at .X*-lock files in /tmp.
find_free_servernum() {
    # Sadly, the "local" keyword is not POSIX.  Leave the next line commented in
    # the hope Debian Policy eventually changes to allow it in /bin/sh scripts
    # anyway.
    #local i

    i=$SERVERNUM
    while [ -f /tmp/.X$i-lock ]; do
        i=$(($i + 1))
    done
    echo $i
}

# Clean up files
clean_up() {
    if [ -e "$AUTHFILE" ]; then
        XAUTHORITY=$AUTHFILE xauth remove ":$SERVERNUM" >>"$ERRORFILE" 2>&1
    fi
    if [ -n "$XVFB_RUN_TMPDIR" ]; then
        if ! rm -r "$XVFB_RUN_TMPDIR"; then
            error "problem while cleaning up temporary directory"
            exit 5
        fi
    fi
}

# Parse the command line.
ARGS=$(getopt --options +ae:f:hn:lp:s:w: \
       --long auto-servernum,error-file:,auth-file:,help,server-num:,listen-tcp,xauth-protocol:,server-args:,wait: \
       --name "$PROGNAME" -- "$@")
GETOPT_STATUS=$?

if [ $GETOPT_STATUS -ne 0 ]; then
    error "internal error; getopt exited with status $GETOPT_STATUS"
    exit 6
fi

eval set -- "$ARGS"

while :; do
    case "$1" in
        -a|--auto-servernum) SERVERNUM=$(find_free_servernum) ;;
        -e|--error-file) ERRORFILE="$2"; shift ;;
        -f|--auth-file) AUTHFILE="$2"; shift ;;
        -h|--help) SHOWHELP="yes" ;;
        -n|--server-num) SERVERNUM="$2"; shift ;;
        -l|--listen-tcp) LISTENTCP="" ;;
        -p|--xauth-protocol) XAUTHPROTO="$2"; shift ;;
        -s|--server-args) XVFBARGS="$2"; shift ;;
        -w|--wait) STARTWAIT="$2"; shift ;;
        --) shift; break ;;
        *) error "internal error; getopt permitted \"$1\" unexpectedly"
           exit 6
           ;;
    esac
    shift
done

if [ "$SHOWHELP" ]; then
    usage
    exit 0
fi

if [ -z "$*" ]; then
    usage "need a command to run" >&2
    exit 2
fi

if ! which xauth >/dev/null; then
    error "xauth command not found"
    exit 3
fi

# tidy up after ourselves
trap clean_up EXIT

# If the user did not specify an X authorization file to use, set up a temporary
# directory to house one.
if [ -z "$AUTHFILE" ]; then
    XVFB_RUN_TMPDIR="${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/$PROGNAME.$$"
    if ! mkdir -p -m 700 "$XVFB_RUN_TMPDIR"; then
        error "temporary directory $XVFB_RUN_TMPDIR already exists"
        exit 4
    fi
    AUTHFILE=$(mktemp -p "$XVFB_RUN_TMPDIR" -t Xauthority.XXXXXXXX)
fi

# Start Xvfb.
MCOOKIE=$(mcookie)
XAUTHORITY=$AUTHFILE xauth add ":$SERVERNUM" "$XAUTHPROTO" "$MCOOKIE" \
  >>"$ERRORFILE" 2>&1
XAUTHORITY=$AUTHFILE Xvfb ":$SERVERNUM" $XVFBARGS $LISTENTCP >>"$ERRORFILE" \
  2>&1 &
XVFBPID=$!
sleep "$STARTWAIT"
if ! kill -0 $XVFBPID 2>/dev/null; then
  echo "Xvfb failed to start" >&2
  exit 1
fi

# Start the command and save its exit status.
set +e
DISPLAY=:$SERVERNUM XAUTHORITY=$AUTHFILE "$@" 2>&1
RETVAL=$?
set -e

# Kill Xvfb now that the command has exited.
kill $XVFBPID

# Return the executed command's exit status.
exit $RETVAL

# vim:set ai et sts=4 sw=4 tw=80:

Personally I next got the error

which: no xauth in (/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/sbin:/root/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin:/usr/games)
xvfb-run: error: xauth command not found

Which was fixed by simply installing xauth via yast.