Xserver

Why use Xserver

To have access to the graphical interface and window system of programs running on a remote server.

What is an xserver (from wikipedia)

the X Window System (commonly X11 or X) is a networking and display protocol which provides windowing on bitmap displays. It provides the standard toolkit and protocol to build graphical user interfaces (GUIs) on Unix, and Unix-like operating systems, and is supported by almost all other modern operating systems.

X features network transparency: the machine where application programs (the client applications) run can differ from the user's local machine (the display server).

X uses a client-server model: an X server communicates with various client programs. The server accepts requests for graphical output (windows) and sends back user input (from keyboard, mouse, or touchscreen).

Installing xserver on winodws?

Xming is Free Software, unlimited X Window server for Microsoft Windows (XP/2003/Vista).

Xming is fully featured, small and fast, simple to install and it is standalone native Microsoft Windows program. It is totally secure when used with SSH ? and optionally includes a special PuTTY SSH client and a Portable PuTTY replacement.

You can download the old version from here. or use a the more updated version Xming-6-9-0-36-setup.exe

  Note: install Xming with PuTTY link support.

Using XLaunch Wizard for remote X tunneling

Run the XLaunch Utilty
Select Multiple Windows
Select starting with Start a Program
Select using PuTTY
Enter server location (seas.upenn.edu or grasp-l.cis.upenn.edu)
Enter user name and password

Run it and you you will get an xterm window on the remote server. Now you can start running programs with X interface like emacs, Matlab, Mathematica and anything else installed on the server.