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org-roam/20230515104516-x11_forwarding.org
2025-11-05 09:18:11 +01:00

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x11-forwarding

X11 forwarding is a mechanism that allows graphical interfaces of X11 programs running on a remote system to be displayed on a local client machine. For X11 forwarding the remote host does not need to have a full X11 system installed; however, it needs at least to have xauth installed. xauth is a utility that maintains Xauthority configurations used by server and client for authentication of X11 session (source).

Warning: X11 forwarding has important security implications which should be at least acknowledged by reading relevant sections of ssh(1), sshd_config(5), and ssh_config(5) manual pages. See also this StackExchange question.

Setup

install the xorg-xauth packages

in /etc/ssh/sshd_config:

set X11Forwarding to yes verify that AllowTCPForwarding and X11UseLocalhost options are set to yes, and that X11DisplayOffset is set to 10

then restart the sshd daemon.