X-server on a Windows machine

Important!

Remember that you will load down the UNIX machine to which you connect. Therefore, it is best to run locally those programs which are also available under Windows, such as Netscape, Matlab, etc.

What is an X-server?

The various flavors of UNIX share a common low-level graphics package, called X11. With an X-server running on a Windows machine, the output of X11 on a remote UNIX machine may be displayed on that local Windows machine. The X-server which is used here is WinaXe 6.1.

WinaXe 6.1

First, it is necessary to configure WinaXe so that it behaves as expected.

Choose Start menu->Programs->WinaXe 6.1->XSettings

Configure as shown in the image below:

Swedish keyboard layout;
Multiple windows (a must if one wishes to run several programs);
The wheel of the mouse functions as the middle button under UNIX.

Now the X-server is configured as desired.

To run securely, that is, to avoid sending passwords and the like as clear text, PuTTY with SSH should be used.

There are two points to keep in mind when running an X-server using putty with SSH tunneling.

Be sure to run SSH and not TELNET!
Turn on X11 forwarding!

Start PuTTY and configure it according to the following images.
Below is shown how to turn on X11 forwarding:

Below is shown to to select SSH within PuTTY:

For more information on PuTTY, see PuTTY .

Now the X-server may be started on the Windows machine via Start menu->Programs->WinaXe 6.1->XSession

Then it is possible to log onto the UNIX machine via PuTTY as described above.

Configuration of UNIX

To redirect your window on the UNIX machine, the environment variable DISPLAY is set. This variable contains information on which machine and which display the images are to be seen. This variable is set using the setenv command, as shown below. (Here peppar is the remote UNIX machine.) ***** NOTE THAT SETENV IS A CSH COMMAND. IT IS UNKNOWN TO BASH. *****

To avoid repeating this at each connection, the following commands may be entered into the .cshrc file. ***** SEE THE ABOVE COMMENTS ABOUT CSH VS. BASH*****

If you are uncertain, please contact support.

Pointers

PuTTY may be configured to run commands via rexec with SSH tunneling. See the image below, which shows how to run Matlab in this fashion.

Finished!

Now just run your UNIX-based program under remote X.