GUI on VPS

[NickCatal]

Is it possible to install and run an X-server on a VPS?

I am thinking of getting a VPS and I can just forward X to my MacBook Pro

[dsc2010]

I think you could set up a terminal server with x-server (ltsp.org) then log in remotely via terminal services.

[Karl]

There should be no issue with that, though it likely wouldn't work well on the lower end VPSes because of the memory usage.

[ben]

Just to make some X terminology clear:

X-Server is the software you normally run *locally* and serves access to the keyboard, mouse and screen to the X-client.

This terminology is the reverse of most other protocols where it is normally the client that is run locally to connect to the server.

It is possible to run an X-server on a VPS using a software based frame buffer system (such as is done for the *nix version of VNC). However, it is would be preferable to run the X clients on the VPS and run the X-server locally. Mac OS X has a X11 server provided by Apple but it is not installed by default. See the following web page:

http://developer.apple.com/opensource/tools/runningx11.html

Once you have an X11 server installed, you can use ssh -X from the Mac OS X terminal to forward the X client over the ssh connection.

[NickCatal]

But what would I have to do to get it to work? Install KDE/GNOME on the VPS? apt-get KDE would work? Do I need X11? I just set $DISPLAY, right? Could I forward something like pidgin without launching KDE? Or (even better) just Firefox?

[ben]

Windows Managers (kwm, metacity, sawfish, afterstep, enlightment, etc) and desktop enviroments (KDE, Gnome, CDE, XFCE) should be run locally (not from the VPS). With Mac OS X when running the X server in rootless mode it does not make sense to run any additional window managers or desktop environment since Mac OS X already provides the functionality of these. Instead, just run the specific application you need to run remotely (which might include GNOME or KDE applications).

apt-get will satisfy any dependencies that you need. So if you want the konqueror web browser then apt-get will also install the KDE libraries needed without you having to worry about.

You can run pidgin or firefox from the command line without needing KDE or Gnome. Some KDE or Gnome applications may depend on having an CORBA, dbus or some other applications running to work correctly in which case those applications may not run by running only that application.

Using "ssh -X" to connect to a server will automatically set the $DISPLAY for you to tunnel the X session over the ssh encrypted connection. Using X across the Internet without encryption would be a bad idea. However, to do it you should learn about the "xauth" command and MIT magic cookies. It would also be possible to have you X server accept X client connections from your VPS simply using the "xhost" command but the purpose of this command has been replaced by xauth.