The XQuartz project is an open-source effort to develop a version of the X.Org X Window System that runs on OS X. Together with supporting libraries and applications, it forms the X11.app that Apple shipped with OS X versions 10.5 through 10.7. Advanced Mac users may have noticed that X11 is no longer bundled with OS X, and it’s also no longer available as a separate installation option through Developer Tools. Instead, to run X11 on OS X Mountain Lion (and later), you’ll want to download and install the free XQuartz system, which bundles all the necessary libraries and apps.
X11 (also known as X Windows, or X forshort) is a Linux graphical windowing system. X was specifically designed tobe used over network connections rather than on an attached display device. Theconcept is similar to Microsoft's Remote Desktop, but it works on aprogram-by-program basis.
The instructions below are for connecting to Eniac using X11 forwarding.
X11 For Mac
Penn VPN software is required for all SSH connections fromnetworks that are outside of PennNet.
Before connecting to a machine on PennNet via SSH from an external network,you must install and run the University Client VPN software:
Linux
SSH to Eniac using the
-Y
option (enables trusted X11 forwarding):ssh -Y eniac.seas.upenn.edu
You can now start X11 GUI applications from the command line. For a quicktest, type the following command in your terminal to run the xeyesapplication:
xeyes
Mac OSX
X11 on OS X isprovided by XQuartz. Once you haveit installed and running, open a terminal and type:
ssh -Y eniac.seas.upenn.edu
You can now start X11 GUI applications from the command line. For a quicktest, type the following command in your terminal to run the xeyesapplication:
Xquartz For Mac
xeyes
Windows
Xming is therecommended application for X11 forwarding on Windows systems. You may alsoneed to install Xming-fontsin some application like Cadence.
Using Xming and SecureCRT to connect to Eniac
If you are already using SecureCRT, this is the easiest way to do X11forwarding with Xming.
- Install Xming and make sure it is running (you should see a black X icon in your taskbar).
- In SecureCRT, edit the settings of your connection.
- Navigate to Connection > Port Forwarding > Remote/X11.
- Click the check beside 'Foward X11 packets'. Click OK.
That's it. As long as Xming is running in the background, X11 forwarding should work seamlessly.
![X11 For Mac X11 For Mac](/uploads/1/1/3/6/113629965/885062981.jpg)
Using Xming and XLaunch to connect to Eniac
- Once Xming is installed, run XLaunch and select the display setting you want to use:
- From the next menu choose to Start a program and click Next >.
- Configure a remote connection to the server using'eniac.seas.upenn.edu' as the computer you want to connect to, andyour username in the 'Login as user' field. You can choose to leavethe password field blank - you will be prompted later. Click Next>.
- In the 'Additional parameters for PuTTY or SSH' field, enter'-X -ssh -2' ((-X) will forward X11 Packets , (-ssh) will forceplink.exe to create a secure connection and (-2) will force plink.exe to useSSH2. Click Next >.
- And finally you will be prompted to save your configuration. When you saveconfgurations the default name is config.xlaunch. You can name them whateveryou want to but the extension will need to be.xlaunch.For example: Eniac.xlaunch. Onceyou've saved your configuration, click Finish.