Setting Up X11 Forwarding¶
If your program requires the use of a graphical interface, you can stream a window over to your local machine by using X11 forwarding. However, the method to set up this feature is different on each operating system, so check the guides below to get started.
Setting up X11-Forwarding on a Windows machine requires three steps: installing and running an X server, setting a Windows environment variable, and connecting to Monsoon. The first two steps mentioned only need to be performed once as they set up your machine.
Installing an X Server¶
SSH alone cannot convert a Linux windowing system over to Windows, so we will need a program to do that for us.
An X server that has been tested to work with Monsoon is Xming. You can download the program from their website or by using the following winget command:
Once you have Xming installed, search for Xming in the Start Menu and run it. The process will run in the background and will show a system tray icon.
Note
Xming does not start with your system automatically. You will need to start Xming each time you start your computer to use X11 forwarding.
Setting Necessary Environment Variables¶
Next, we need to tell SSH where to stream the window contents. In Windows, all you have to do is set an environment variable. In a terminal, enter the following command to set the DISPLAY environment variable:
This variable is set within Windows for only your user, but won't be loaded until your terminal is reopened.
Note
You need to restart your terminal before continuing to load the environment variable you set previously.
Connecting to Monsoon with X11 Forwarding¶
Once the previous steps above are complete, there's only one step left: connecting to Monsoon! This is as simple as running the following command in a terminal:
Note
If you are a classroom Monsoon user, you MUST replace monsoon with rain.
From here, it will appear to be a regular SSH session because we haven't started any graphical applications yet. The simplest way to test if the connection worked is by running the gedit application:
If a window with a text editor opens, then you are done setting up X11 forwarding on Windows.
Installing an X Server¶
On Mac, the installation of an X server requires the use of an external application. We recommend installing and running XQuartz.
Troubleshooting XQuartz¶
If you are having a problem getting X11 forwarding working on a Mac, you may need to edit your /private/etc/ssh/sshd_config file and add the following line:
Connecting to Monsoon with X11 Forwarding¶
To connect to Monsoon with X11 forwarding, open a terminal and enter the following command:
Note
If you are a classroom Monsoon user, you MUST replace monsoon with rain.
From here, it will appear to be a regular SSH session because we haven't started any graphical applications yet. The simplest way to test if the connection worked is by running the gedit application:
If the gedit program window appears on your desktop, then you are done setting up X11 forwarding.
Desktop Linux distros already have X11 forwarding built in. To connect to Monsoon with X11 forwarding, open a terminal and enter the following command:
Note
If you are a classroom Monsoon user, you MUST replace monsoon with rain.
From here, it will appear to be a regular SSH session because we haven't started any graphical applications yet. The simplest way to test if the connection worked is by running the gedit application:
If the gedit program window appears on your desktop, then you are done setting up X11 forwarding.
Troubleshooting¶
X11 connection rejected because of wrong authentication¶
This error occurs when the file ~/.Xauthority cannot be created. Check to see if you have reached your quota limit with the getquotas command.