[plug] Connecting to a Linux Desktop from Mac OS X

[Michael Hunt]

On Sun, 2005-01-16 at 12:08 +0800, James Devenish wrote in response to
Michael Hunt:

> Hi,
>
> After greetings are exchanged he responds to what Michael Hunt
> originally wrote:
>
> > Since there is no tsclient for Mac OS X, I took a look at the process
> > table and discovered that the command being run was :-
> >
> > Xnest :1 -once -query <hostname>
> 
> I know nothing about tsclient, but FYI Google seems to indicate that at
> least a couple of third-party teams have ported tsclient to Mac OS X.
> However, these ports are designed to be used within the DarwinPorts and
> Fink frameworks.

Which probably means it is using Fink's XFree package (or XDarwin) as
opposed the Apple X11 package (installed off of the Second OS X System
DVD in my case). It looks like this is the way I will end up going (i.e.
installing Xfree from fink) unless someone else can shed some further
light.

> > Running this from within a standard terminal session results in a :-
> > 
> > Fatal server error:
> > Unable to open display "".
> 
> What do you mean by "standard terminal session". From a quick reading
> with Google, it seems like Xnest should do exactly what you want. In
> fact, I just tried on from Mac OS X and I didn't get the error. (I
> didn't get a GDM login either, though: I just got a generic grey X11
> background with the 'X' cursor.)

By 'standard terminal session' I mean running the command from Apple's
Terminal.app as opposed to from the xterm that gets stared when you run
Apple's X11. Now that I think a bit more deeply about it the error
message makes more sense if X is not running. 

What you are getting is exactly the same thing that happens to me. This
makes sense if what I have read is right, that is that Apple's X11 does
not support XDMCP.

> > A little beyond the scope of this question, but in the same sort of ball
> > park does any one know of quick setup guide to setting up X forwarding
> > over ssh tunnels? Running an app (say BlogGTK) remotely and securely on
> > any of my desktops would be great.
> 
> Two steps, as discussed on this list many times before:
>  - Ensure your ssh server (sshd_config) is configured to allow
>    X11Forwarding.

Ok. This was a setting I hadn't changed.

>  - Ensure your ssh client (~/.ssh/config) is configure to use
>    X11Forwarding. Alternatively, specify the "-X" option on the
>    command like on a case-by-case basis. E.g. from a Mac OS X
>    machine: `ssh -X -f my.linux.hostname xclock`).

What is the practical difference between ForwardX11 and
ForwardX11Trusted? (The second is on by default in Debian). Does this
make any difference to how it will work? (i.e. Any further steps needed
to authenticate).

Thanks for your help so far.

Michael Hunt