X11 Forwarding

Opening an X11 session over an SSH connection is as easy as connecting to the SSH server using the -Y option and running an X program on a local machine.

ssh -Y <user>@example.com

When an X program is run from the secure shell prompt, the SSH client and server create a new secure channel, and the X program data is sent over that channel to the client machine transparently.

X11 forwarding can be very useful. For example, X11 forwarding can be used to create a secure, interactive session of the Printer Configuration Tool. To do this, connect to the server using ssh and type:

system-config-printer &

After supplying the root password for the server, the Printer Configuration Tool appears and allows the remote user to safely configure printing on the remote system.