Displaying remote X clients with Cygwin/X is identical to displaying remote X clients with any other X Server.
It is recommended that you use the secure method of tunnelling the X connection over ssh.
Alternatively, you can use the host-based access control provided by the X server, connecting to the remote machine using telnet or rsh and directing clients to connect to the server by setting the DISPLAY environment variable. This method is insecure and not recommended.
On your Windows machine:
Make sure you have the openssh package installed.
Launch Cygwin/X
Ensure the DISPLAY environment variable is set correctly. (This step is not neccessary if you are entering your commands into an X terminal, as DISPLAY must already be set in that case)
$ export DISPLAY=:0.0 |
Run the ssh command to connect to the remote host:
$ ssh -Y username@remote_hostname_or_ip_address |
Enter your password when prompted by ssh.
Your ssh session should now show you a shell prompt for your remote machine.
Note: The ssh server will automatically set the DISPLAY environment variable appropriately, typically to something like localhost:10.0, so clients will connect to a proxy X11 display on the remote host from which the X11 protocol will be forwarded over ssh to your X server.
If your login scripts unconditionally set DISPLAY to something else, this will break X11 forwarding.
You can now launch remote X clients in your ssh session, for example:
$ xterm & |
will launch an xterm running on your remote host that will display on your Cygwin/X screen.
Launch other remote clients in the same manner. I recommend starting the remote clients in the background, by appending & to the command name, so that you don't have to open several ssh sessions.
Note: By default, the OpenSSH server does not allow forwarded X connections. This must be configured on the remote host by adding X11Forwarding yes to the sshd_config configuration file. The OpenSSH server must be restarted or SIGHUP'ed to re-read the configuration file after it is changed.
Note: The OpenSSH server requires the xauth command to be available to forward X connections. Consequently, it must be installed on the remote host.
An example of connecting remote clients using host-based authorization.
On your Windows machine:
Make sure you have the inetutils package installed (for telnet) or rsh package (for rsh).
Launch Cygwin/X
Note: You must provide the
-listen tcpoption to startx or startxwin so that the X server will listen for TCP/IP connections. (See this FAQ for more details).
In an X terminal, use the xhost command to allow the remote host access to make connections to your X server:
$ xhost remote_hostname_or_ip_address |
Run the telnet or rsh command to connect to the remote host:
$ /usr/bin/telnet remote_hostname_or_ip_address |
$ rsh remote_hostname_or_ip_address |
Note: Use the explicit path to ensure that Cygwin's telnet is run instead of Microsoft's telnet. Microsoft's telnet cannot read input or display output correctly when run from a Cygwin shell.
Login to your remote machine
Ensure the DISPLAY environment variable is set correctly in your remote session.
$ export DISPLAY=windows_hostname_or_ip_address:0.0 |
You can now launch remote X clients in your ssh session, for example:
$ xterm & |
will launch an xterm running on your remote host that will display on your Cygwin/X screen.
Launch other remote clients in the same manner. I recommend starting the remote clients in the background, by appending & to the command name, so that you don't have to open several telnet or rsh sessions.
Note: This is insecure because (1) when you log in, your username and password may be transmitted in clear across the network between you and the remote host (2) the X protocol is transmitted in clear across the network between you and the remote host, and (3) you have allowed any user on the remote host to connect to your X server and monitor your X session. For these reasons, use ssh forwarding, if at all possible.