X and Command Line

General Computing *nix and other operating systems
1

I’m not sure if this is possible but I’m just trying to put together pieces I’ve seen around.

Is it possible to display another PC’s screen on another PC? I think I’ve seen things that allow this to be done.

I want my server to run with no GUI…just command line. But at times I’ll want a GUI for it. Now rather than switching it off and on the server, is it possible to set the server to remain in command line only and send the X image through the network to my other PC?

From a brief look, X allows something like this (not sure whether the server has to be displaying the X data). But how would I go around setting it up?

Also if that isn’t the case, what’s the X server startup/shutdown commands? I could just change run level but doesn’t that effect the users? I want the web server processes as a separate user and other items as my user. Changing to runlevel 2 would stop that wouldn’t it?

2

yes you can :slight_smile:

install and run an X-windows display manager of your choice on your pc… then on the server (local cli or via ssh/telnet session) type

DISPLAY=192.168.1.10:0.0; export DISPLAY
/path/to/gui/executable &

obviously substitute your ip, and occasionally you’ll need :0 on the end rather than :0.0 dependant on your xwindows software

3

There’s also a Windows freebie called Xming if your other PC is Windows, as Windows has no X server and can’t play nicely without it. Xming solves the problem and handles the display management and SSH tunneling for you. Just remember by default and for obvious reasons root is not allowed to login remotely, you can change this in X after login if you need it.

http://forums.teamphoenixrising.net/showthread.php?t=45401