[ale] Questions on SSH tunnel setup for 'tightvnc'

[John Mills]

ALErs -

I'm setting up 'tightvnc' access to my RH-7.3 Linux box ("host") from
another Linux system ("client" - Slack-9.1 over a laughably poor dial-up
link) and have a couple of questions.

When host and client are both running in my LAN I can VNC-connect no 
problem without using SSH. I come in on host:5901 and the local viewer 
connects me with an Xvnc instance I left running on host.

Looking at the LTSP FAQ "VNC ssh port forwarding howto" by 
<stevn.bartley at ints.com>, I'm losing track at a couple of points.

Q1. FAQ example exports an 'xdm' login screen and seems to use xinetd and
the client's connection to a designated port to start and (presumably)
stop an instance of Xvnc, rather than connecting to an Xvnc started by a
user. Is that correct?

The FAQ example connects an arbitrary client port to the host port 
assigned for vnc with the command:
 % ssh -C -g -L <localport>:<host_IP>:<host_vnc_port> <host_IP>
 followed by:
 % vncviewer localhost:<localport>

Q2. Where is the host told to expect 'ssh' at the port to which is will 
connect Xvnc?

Q3. Do I need to start any task in host's rc.local to activate the xdm 
login on <host_vnc_port>?

Thanks to anyone for wading through all that and helping me understand 
what is being set up, or for further pointers.

 - John Mills
   john.m.mills at alum.mit.edu