ssh x forward session fails

darthaxul · 08-12-2008, 01:20 AM

I enabled the X11forwarding yes
also enabled the other options

ssh -X <user>@<host>
export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0
export XAUTHORITY=/home/<user>/Xauthority

then i try xclock or xcalc and nothing works
anyone got any solutions?

chort · 08-12-2008, 01:48 AM

Does it work with ssh -Y instead of -X? If so, there's some mis-match with the X11 security settings.

colucix · 08-12-2008, 03:20 AM

If you enabled X11forwarding in the configuration file, you don't need the -X option. Also you have not to set DISPLAY and XAUTHORITY upon connection, since it should be done automatically for you. Try to connect with no option, then verify the DISPLAY variable and try to launch a light X application, for example:

Code:

ssh user@host
echo $DISPLAY
xclock

jschiwal · 08-12-2008, 04:31 AM

I think that you still need the -X option if you mean that you allowed X11forwarding in /etc/ssh/sshd_config on the server. Don't use the DISPLAY=":0.0" line. Ssh will set it to someting like "localhost:10.0".

darthaxul · 08-12-2008, 02:01 PM

I also changed the Xwrapper.config to allow anyone to start x11.

trying xclock it says "error:cant open display"
trying startx it hangs at "[config/hal] couldnt initialise context: (null) ((null))"

it appears to start x session on the remote monitor but i want it to be on my screen so how do I make the display go back to my machine?

jschiwal · 08-12-2008, 02:52 PM

The X server doesn't need to be running on the ssh server. Certain components may need to be installed however if the clients need it. You can have the server running in init level 3 however (debian, Ubuntu & slackware may use run level 1).

How are you trying to launch the program.
ssh -X user@host /path/to/program
should work OK. You will need port 22 open on the server and X11 forwarding enabled in /etc/ssh/sshd_config. If the client is running windows, you can install Cygwin/X and have an X server running on the client.

X is a bit different in that the X server runs on the client. The X client is the program that is running on the server.