Cygstart through SSH tunnel

Larry Hall (Cygwin) reply-to-list-only-lh@cygwin.com
Mon Feb 7 02:50:00 GMT 2011


On 2/5/2011 2:31 PM, davej1983 wrote:
>
> Thanks for your help, and I will definitely look into Cygwin/X.
>
> However, from the way you explained it, I'm not sure if I clearly explained
> what I was trying to do. I'm not actually trying to get the file to open on
> my local computer, rather I am trying to get them to open/execute on the
> remote computer.

Yes, that is clear.  And that's where the problem is.

> For example if I am physically at Computer 1, and I tunnel into Computer 2,
> I want the file to open on the screen of Computer 2. And what I don't
> understand is that when I am physically at Computer 2 and type "cygstart
> test.txt" it opens fine, its only when I do it over the tunnel it doesn't
> work. As far as I understood it, when you are logged in through a SSH
> tunnel, it is as if you are physically at the remote computer running
> Cygwin.

Yes and no.  It depends what you're trying to do and the abilities that
you have as a remote user.

> Is there some kind of block (permissions etc...) that prevent these commands
> from being executed remotely?

In the case you described, the short answer is yes.  MS sees remotely logged
in users starting apps that use and manipulate the local screen as a security
hole.  And so they disallow access to the local screen.  This simple
explanation glosses some technical details.  If you're looking for the
full details, you're best bet is to review the email archives where this
has been discussed many times in the past.  But to sum it all up in a
sentence, Windows doesn't want you to work this way so it's actively trying
to keep you from doing this.

-- 
Larry

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
> Q: Are you sure?
>> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
>>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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