SSH – How to Enable X11 Forwarding to a Debian Server Box

debiansshx11x11forwarding

I want to connect to a server with SSH (a Debian installation in a VMware image). On that server I want to call gitk a repository viewer for git. What do I need to do to make this work?

Best Answer

To enable X11 forwarding on the server you need at least the xauth program.

  1. Install xbase-clients on the server (or the package that contains xauth)
  2. Connect to the server with SSH using the following command

    ssh -X servername

  3. Run the program