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IRIS

Instructional & Research Information Systems

X-Server

Overview

The following document explains how to use X-Server in conjunction with SSH in order to encrypt the data transmission (e.g. passwords, etc.. not in plain text – easy to steal) on windows clients.  This combination makes for encrypted use of xterms and other X-client programs.

Installing Exceed 

Before following the directions below, make sure that you’re logged on to the EECS domain.

  1. Select Start, Settings, Control Panel.
  2. Select Add/Remove Programs.
  3. Select Add New Programs.
  4. Select Exceed 2007, then click Add (Note: as of this writing, Exceed 2007 can be found at Berkeley’s software website, but not on EECS’s network install service).

If connecting from off campus, consult our Windows Documentation for help on gaining access to network software resources.

Configuring and Securing Exceed

  1. Start Xconfig (Start, Programs, Hummingbird Connectivity 2007, Exceed Tools, Xconfig).
  2. Choose the Security icon, and make sure the “No Host Access” radio button is selected.
  3. Click “Validate and Apply Changes” on the left to save your changes.
  4. Configure your firewall for use with Exceed, if necessary.
  5. Configure SSH to tunnel X11 connections
  6. Add Exceed to the “Startup Folder” (alternatively, you can start Exceed before each Xsession) by copying C:\Program Files\Hummingbird\Connectivity\<version>\Exceed\exceed.exe.
  7. Paste a short-cut into your Startup Folder (example user “joec”).

Configuring PuTTY to connect to an X-Server

  1. Open up the PuTTY configuration window.
  2. Under Connection->SSH->X11, check Enable X11 forwardingYou should save this setting or else it will go away the next time you use SSH.

Using Exceed at EECS

  1. Start Exceed.
  2. Start PuTTY.
  3. The PuTTY Configuration screen should pop up. Enter the name of the machine you are trying to connect to in the Host Name field. Also, make sure that the SSH connection type is selected.
  4. Under Connection->SSH, the Preferred SSH protocol version should be 2 only
  5. Click Open at the bottom of the configuration file. If this is your first time connecting to that computer, an alert will pop up. Click yes to save the host identification key.
  6. The terminal window should now open and prompt for your EECS username and UNIX password.
  7. Start your X application (e.g. xterm &)

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