For compatibility, Red Hat Enterprise Linux provides the core X font subsystem, which uses the X Font Server (xfs) to provide fonts to X client applications.

The X server looks for a font server specified in the FontPath directive within the Files section of the /etc/X11/xorg.conf configuration file. Refer to Section 7.3.1.4, “Files” for more information about the FontPath entry.

The X server connects to the xfs server on a specified port to acquire font information. For this reason, the xfs service must be running for X to start. For more about configuring services for a particular runlevel, refer to the chapter titled Controlling Access to Services in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux System Administration Guide.