EWS
       
INFORMATION USER ACCOUNT TOOLS INSTRUCTOR TOOLS

Remote Usage of EWS

Contents:

Introduction

The College of Engineering and the Engineering Workstations Labs (EWS) are committed to providing a secure computing environment. To achieve this goal EWS has disabled any communications services that transmit clear text passwords. EWS users should use SSH and/or SFTP clients to connect to the EWS unix/linux workstations. To download and use secure clients, see "Where to obtain secure clients and how to configure them" on this page.

Note for EWS workstation users: To connect from one EWS unix/linux workstation to another SSH and SFTP should be used. For more information see the EWS tutorial on how to use SSH.

Where to obtain secure clients and how to configure them

Almost all of the software listed here is free or site-licensed for free; the one exception is MacSFTP, which UIUC has site-licensed for a very low fee ($4).

When you click on the links below, the software download will open in one browser window and the instructions will open in another, so that you can view both at once.

Contacts

If you have questions or comments about this policy, email manager@ews.uiuc.edu.

If, after following the instructions here, you have problems installing or configuring a secure client, contact the CITES Central Help Desk at 244-7000 or consult@uiuc.edu.

X-forwarding explained

"X" is a window system (often referred to as the X Window System), which is used on many Unix machines. Under this system, it is possible to easily run programs remotely and make them appear as if they were run on the local machine.

  • X-forwarding for Windows:
    In order to run programs with X-forwarding, SSH and a Windows X server program is needed. The EWS Windows labs currently use Hummingbird's Exceed as their X server program. A short term academic license for Hummingbird's Exceed is available for $20 from the Site-Licensed Software Web site: http://webstore.cites.uiuc.edu. As a free alternative to Hummingbird's Exceed, the freely distributed cygwin package contains a X server and openSSH. Due to the fact that this is a free package, the setup may be slightly less intuitive than commercial packages. See the online documentation for cygwin for more information. The following should explain how to configure necessary software to do X-forwarding:

    • Configuring and using Cygwin

      • or if you prefer to use Exceed:
    • Setting up SSH:
      • Under "Edit" select the "Settings" option.
      • Under "Profile Settings" select the "Tunneling" option.
      • The option "TunnelX11 connections" needs to be enabled.
    • Configuring Exceed for Windows:
      • X server programs typically do not need setting up beyond setting the window size. Run the X configuration for the X server program. In Exceed, choose the Xconfig option in the start menu in order to check the setup.
      • The easiest setup is to have a single window set at full screen.
    • Running X windows software:
      • When everything is configured, run SSH and the Windows X server software.
      • On SSH, connect to a client machine (ie. remsun1.ews.uiuc.edu) and login.
      • Run your preferred window manager (ie. fvwm95) and/or application (ie. Mathematica) from the command prompt.

  • X-forwarding for Macintosh:
    In order to run programs with X-forwarding on Macintosh OS X all you need is SSH (already provided) and X11 for Mac OS X, which is available from Apple for free. Follow the link and then download and install X11 for Mac OS X.

    • Configuring X11:
      • Download and install X11 for Mac OS X.
      • Beyond the install, no configuration changes are needed.
    • Running X11:
      • Run /Applications/Utilities/X11.app to start X11. This should bring up an xterm.
        Note:You might also want to create a shortcut on the dock to this.
      • At the prompt in the xterm, connect to an EWS workstation by typing:
        ssh -X your_netid@machine_name.ews.uiuc.edu
        The -X enables X-forwarding. Hostnames (i.e. remsun.ews.uiuc.edu) for each lab can be found on the Hours and Locations page.
      • Run your preferred window manager (ie. fvwm95) and/or application (ie. Mathematica) from the command prompt.

  • X-forwarding for unix/linux:
    To run applications with X-forwarding on a non-ews unix/linux machine, you need to make sure you have X installed and you need SSH.

    • Connecting and running an application:
      • Once you have X running on your system, open an xterm. At the prompt, connect to an EWS workstation by typing:
        ssh -X your_netid@machine_name.ews.uiuc.edu
        The -X enables X11 forwarding. Hostnames (i.e. remsun.ews.uiuc.edu) for each lab can be found on the Hours and Locations page.
      • Run your preferred window manager (ie. fvwm95) and/or application (ie. Mathematica) from the command prompt.

NOTE:It is important to keep in mind that X applications require more data to be sent to the display than traditional UNIX text-based applications. Therefore, running a window manager (like fvwm95 or others) over an X-forwarded connection might be extremely slow in some network environments. Please exercise good judgment when X-forwarding graphic-intensive applications from the EWS workstations.

EWS Manager: manager_AT_ews.uiuc.edu
 ©2002 Engineering Workstations,
College of Engineering,
Departmental Services (DS),
Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services (CITES),
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign