Remote Access to UNIX X windows applications
From UNIX/Linux/BSD systems
Using ssh with X11 forwarding
Provided your UNIX/Linux system is running an X windows interface then all you need to do is ssh into a department machine making sure ssh is configured to do X forwarding.
Note: if you are connecting from outside the department you need to first ssh to gate.maths.ox.ac.uk. Having connected to gate you should then ssh to another machine in the department that you know of to keep the load on gate down.
Example
ssh username@gate.maths.ox.ac.uk
ssh other-machine.maths.ox.ac.ukwhere username would be replaced by your own username and other-machine would be replaced with a suitable machine name.
If you get an error about the DISPLAY not being set it most likely means your ssh client by default does not have X11 forwarding enabled. In this case you can either change the default settings, e.g. in the /etc/ssh/ssh_config, or use the additional option -X with the ssh command to enable X11 forwarding.
Also see the information on:
Using nxclient
The nxclient can provide remote terminal server access to the Linux desktop machines. It is designed to be efficient and fast.
To use the nxclient from outside the department you need to first create an ssh tunnel through the gate machine onto a local machine within the department. You can do this with a command of the form
ssh -L 2222:maths_host:22 username@gate.maths.ox.ac.ukwhere you need to replace username with your maths username and maths_host with the name of a suitable machine within the department.
Having created the ssh tunnel start the nxclient and configure a session to connect to machine localhost with port 2222 using a UNIX GNOME desktop with SSL encryption of all traffic . When you start the session it will connect to port 2222 on your local machine which is the one being tunnelled via gate to the departmental machine.
From Apple Macs (a BSD based system)
Firstly make sure you you install X11 from the OS X 10.3 or later CD set.
Having installed X11 you just need to start it before following the same procedure as above for UNIX/Linux/BSD systems using ssh with X11 forwarding.
Alternatively you can use an nxclient in which case start X11 first, then from the xterm that appears create the ssh tunnel as above and then start the nxclient as above.
From MS Windows
Using nxclient
The nxclient can provide remote terminal server access to the Linux desktop machines. It is designed to be efficient and fast.
To use the nxclient from outside the department you need to first create an ssh tunnel through the gate machine onto a local machine within the department.
Creating an ssh tunnel using putty
If you are using PuTTY, before you log in, click on Tunnels (at the bottom of the list on the left), and set
Source port: 2222,
Destination: maths_host:22,select ``Local'' and click ``Add''.
In the above replace maths_host with the name of a suitable machine within the department.
Now log in to gate, as normal.
Note:Assuming you wish to do this often you probably want to enter the settings once, then go back to the Session menu option, name the session and save the settings. In this way next time you start putty you can just double click the saved session name.
Creating an ssh tunnel using the SSH Secure Shell client
If you're using the SSH Secure Shell Client, click on Profiles -> Add Profile. Give the profile a name, for example, ``Tunnel to maths_host''. Now click Profiles -> Edit Profiles, select the profile you just created, and click on the Tunneling tab. Make sure the Outgoing tab is selected, click add, and set
Display Name: maths_host SSH
Type: TCP
Listen Port: 2222
Allow Local Connections Only: <ticked>
Destination Host: maths_host
Destination Port: 22In the above replace maths_host with the name of a suitable machine within the department.
Now log in to gate as normal.
Having created the ssh tunnel start the nxclient and configure a session to connect to machine localhost with port 2222 using a UNIX GNOME desktop with SSL encryption of all traffic . When you start the session it will connect to port 2222 on your local machine which is the one being tunnelled via gate to the departmental machine.