[ale] X apps on remote unix through ISP

Mike Kachline kachline at medept17.coon.gatech.edu
Sat Sep 11 00:15:44 EDT 1999


On Thu, 9 Sep 1999, Jim Rundquist wrote:

> I have a unix account at school (SPSU) that I can telnet to once I make
> a ppp connection with my ISP. I would like to run X applications on that
> remote machine when I'm in the X environment on my local Linux box. I
<snip>
	The *easiest* thing, IMHO, is to use ssh. Download and compile ssh
on your local linux box. Then "ssh -l remoteusername remote.box". Once
you've logged in, just start running X apps from the command line. 

	The caveats to this method however, are that A: the remote end
must be running sshd, and B: If the remote end is running sshd2, you've
got to run ssh2. If they're running sshd1, then you've got to run ssh1. My
guess is that you're school is *probably* running ssh1.

	If, however, you still want to do the whole "export DISPLAY"
option, then, here's my quick and dirty...


	localhost_xterm$ xhost +remote.machine.name
	localhost_xterm$ telnet remote.machine.name
	(remote.machine.name)
	login: xxxx
	Password: yyyy
	remote$ export DISPLAY=my.machine.ip:0.0
	remote$ xload &
	...
	remote$ exit
	localhost_xterm$ xhost -remote.machine.name


	The *disadvantage* to using the "xhost" method is that, when you
say "xhost +remote.machine.name", you are allowing *anyone* from
remote.machine.name to pop X programs up onto your screen. This can be a
security hazard. ssh, as well as "xauth" both address this problem,
however, xauth is substantially more difficult to get running than ssh or
the "xhost" solution.



							- Mike
====================================================================
Michael Kachline CS, Georgia Institute of Technlology
kachline at brightstar.gt.ed.net
http://brightstar.gt.ed.net/kachline
====================================================================






More information about the Ale mailing list