X-Win 32

X-Win 32

Version	6.1
Download	OIT
Manufacturer	StarNet

X-Win 32 is a program that will allow you to receive and display X-Windows information from other computers. It is especially useful for doing work from your dorm room (or Krzyzewskiville) when the program you need to run lives on OIT's cluster system.

Requirements

You must be using a Windows-based PC and need to be on the Duke network. You will also need some form of terminal program (for example, SSH Secure Shell or FSecure).

Configuration and Use

This is the configuration and useage given to EGR 53 for the 2005-2006 year. New users are advised to use the Configuration and Use II below, as that is what will be used in EGR 53 for 2006-2007.

You should download the program from the OIT site and install. You will need to enter the most current password, which is included in the download. Then:

1. Start X-Win 32
2. Right-click on the blue X to get to X-Config
3. Go to the "Sessions" tab and click "Add"
4. Select the "StarNetSSH" method and "Next"
5. Then,
   1. Session name: whatever you want (e.g. Teer12)
   2. Host name: LAB#.oit.duke.edu (e.g. teer12.oit.duke.edu)
   3. Login: your NetID
   4. Command: xterm
   5. Password: your Net ID password
   6. Make sure Disable X11 Forwarding is *not* checked
   7. Save this
6. Go to the security tab and make sure "Use X-Auth" and "Access Control" are checked
7. Hit OK out of xconfig
8. left click the blue X and pick a session
9. Accept the host key if need be
10. See if things are working by typing gimp (gimp is an image package that starts up quickly - if it pops up, you can close it easily)
11. If all this works, step 8 should work from here on out for that computer.

You may want to add several different host in case many people are using the computer you like the most or that particular is down.

Configuration and Use II

If you are not on the Duke network, or are beholden to historical methods of doing things, there is a second way to configure and use X-Win32. Note that this method does work off the Duke Network.

1. Open X-Win32.
2. Right click once on the X-Win32 icon in the task bar and click X-Config in the pop-up window.
3. Click on the Security Tab. To add machines, click Add and type in the name of the machine (for example, teer22.oit.duke.edu or hudson11.oit.duke.edu). Then click Apply and then OK. Right click on the X in the taskbar and click Reset. You will only need to add a machine once, so you might as well add several Teer and Hudson machines. It is recommended to add the first 20 Hudson machines and the first 40 Teer machines just to get that over with.
   1. Note - as of 8/31, do not plan to use teer1.oit.duke.edu, at least for now.
4. Open a terminal window using SSH Secure Shell or FSecure. For the host, choose one of the machines you added to the security list in the step above.
5. In the terminal window, type setenv DISPLAY $REMOTEHOST\:0.0 - this should tell the oit computer you are on to send information to your computer. NOTE this step will not work correctly if you are using a router. See the next section for information on that!
6. See if things are working by typing gimp (gimp is an image package that starts up quickly - if it pops up, you can close it easily)
7. If all this works, steps 4 and 5 should work from here on out for that computer.

X-Win 32 / Macs with Routers

If you are using a router, your computer is likely receiving an address from that router, then the REMOTEHOST above will actually be the router and not your computer. And unless your router has a screen (and, really, even then), sending graphics to your router will not help. So you need to tell your router to forward all the graphical information to your particular address. Which means the following:

1. Figure out your local machine's address and the router address. The easiest way to do this is:
   1. Go to Start->Run
   2. Type cmd in the Run window
   3. Type ipconfig in the command window
   4. The IP Address is your local machine's address
   5. The Default Gateway is your router's address as seen from your computer
2. Figure out the administrative login and password for your router. The address will generally be something like 192.168.0.1 or 192.168.1.1. The username and password depends on the manufacturer. It's usually something cute like nothing for the login name and admin for the password. Unless you changed it - then you are on your own.
3. Figure out how to forward the contents of port 6000 to your local machine address as seen from your router (probably the 192.168.something.something that showed up as the IP Address above).
4. Follow the steps in Configuration and Use II above.

Note that some routers will release their addresses, especially if the power goes out or you reset the router. Your computer may not always get the same address from the router, so if you had X-Win 32 working once and now it doesn't, do the Start->Run->cmd->ipconfig trick and make sure you are forwarding port 6000 to the correct machine.

Macintosh Users

X-Win 32 does not work on Macs - use the built in X11R6 terminal instead.

Troubleshooting

• If you type the setenv DISPLAY $REMOTEHOST\:0.0 line and the computer replies

REMOTEHOST: Undefined variable.

you will need to connect to a different OIT machine. You probably logged onto teer1.oit.duke.edu.

• If the computer replies

Can't open display: blah.blah.duke.edu :0.0

note the extra space between the edu and the :0.0; that means you put a space after the slash during setenv (i.e. you said $REMOTEHOST\ :0.0 instead of $REMOTEHOST\:0.0)

• If you are totally sure you did everything correctly, X-Win 32 is running, X-Config has the OIT machine you connected to on its security list, you are not on a router (or if you are you have compensated for it), and you are sure you issued the setenv command correctly, then you likely have a firewall issue and need to figure out how to allow incoming traffic on port 6000 through.

Here are the instructions on how to do this if you have Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security. You may have to modify this process slightly depending on your firewall software.

1. Open the main virus protection console
2. Click the "Network Security" tab
3. Select which profile you are using and then click "Edit"
4. Click the "Exceptions" tab
5. Click "Add"
6. Select "incoming" as your connection and "allow" as your action
7. Select "Specified Port(s)" and Type "6000"
8. Click "Okay"

Questions

Post your questions by editing the discussion page of this document, then scrolling to the bottom and adding an asterisk, your question, and your signature (with four tildas, i.e. ~~~~). Someone will be around to check the questions and hopefully post answers.