Running X Applications Remotely with Exceed and SSH

The following instructions explain how to configure SSH and Exceed to run X applications remotely. The windows SSH client is available for staff and students to download within the School. The University has a site licence for Exceed and staff and students may purchase a copy from the Main Library.

Note: There are other ways in which Exceed can be configured to run remote X applications but this is probably the easiest and most secure.

Exceed Configuration

Run Xconfig to open the Exceed configuration control panel (if you have protected your configuration you will be prompted for the password)

Communication

  • Select the Communication applet
  • Select the Passive option in the communication mode menu.
  • Click OK

Security

  • Select the Security applet
  • Under the Host Access Control List section, check the File option and uncheck Allow Clients to Modify Host Access Control List
  • Click the Edit... button to edit the xhost.txt file (opens the file in notepad)
  • Add the entry localhost after the comments
  • Save the file and exit notepad
  • Click OK

Screen Definition

  • Select the Screen Definition applet
  • Check the Multiple window mode setting
  • Click OK

SSH Configuration

More information about configuration can be found in the SSH client documentation.

  • Start the SSH client
  • Select Settings... from the Edit menu
  • Under Profile Settings select Tunneling
  • Check the Tunnel X11 Connections option
  • Select Save Settings from the File menu

Connecting and Running Applications

  • Start Exceed (it will run in passive mode)
  • Start the SSH client and connect to one of the School's compute servers
  • From the terminal you should be able run X applications e.g. xterm which will be displayed in a new window on the desktop
  • Close all your applications, disconnect your SSH session and close exceed when you have finished