11-16-2008, 12:15 PM
Here is a mini howto. For quick reference.
If you use windows and want to access an application running on a remote server and you need a display on your local machine (which is of course connected to the netweork), you need to install an X-server. So in short, X-server runs on your local windows machine and display GUI from remote X-clients.
Thats where cygwin comes in. Its free !
Get it from here
Important thing is to select everything under the 'X11' section while installing.
You might also need to use ssh client along with Cygwin to get this working.
1. First step is to start ssh client and make sure that the X11 tunnelling is turned on in ssh. check by
save the session.
2. Next is to start Cygwin terminal (command window) and start the X-server by:
3. Connect to the remote server using from ssh where your application is installed. as always, check with your admin -
If things are working well,
check if you have a display by running
There should be some output like localhost:15.0.
Thats good and the application should start without any problem.
A good graphics card also helps in handling the X window system.
Possible problems:
If there is no output that means X11 tunnelling is not turned on.
If there is an error message like x connection to localhost:15.0 broken then Cygwin is not runnig properly. restart Cygwin. If the error persists, then reinstall Cygwin with all the X11 stuff checked.
That's it.
There are othe applications that provides X-servers for windows.
Eg., X-win32, and Exceed. They are not free and IMO, not any better than Cygwin.
If you use windows and want to access an application running on a remote server and you need a display on your local machine (which is of course connected to the netweork), you need to install an X-server. So in short, X-server runs on your local windows machine and display GUI from remote X-clients.
Thats where cygwin comes in. Its free !
Get it from here
Important thing is to select everything under the 'X11' section while installing.
You might also need to use ssh client along with Cygwin to get this working.
1. First step is to start ssh client and make sure that the X11 tunnelling is turned on in ssh. check by
Code:
Edit > Settings > Tunnelling2. Next is to start Cygwin terminal (command window) and start the X-server by:
Code:
xwin -multiwindow3. Connect to the remote server using from ssh where your application is installed. as always, check with your admin -
If things are working well,
check if you have a display by running
Code:
echo $DISPLAYThere should be some output like localhost:15.0.
Thats good and the application should start without any problem.
A good graphics card also helps in handling the X window system.
Possible problems:
If there is no output that means X11 tunnelling is not turned on.
If there is an error message like x connection to localhost:15.0 broken then Cygwin is not runnig properly. restart Cygwin. If the error persists, then reinstall Cygwin with all the X11 stuff checked.
That's it.
There are othe applications that provides X-servers for windows.
Eg., X-win32, and Exceed. They are not free and IMO, not any better than Cygwin.