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Secure Shell (SSH) is a cryptographic protocol that securely transports data over an unsecured network (see RFC 4253).
X11 forwarding is a Secure Shell feature that allows you to forward or tunnel X11 connections through an existing SSH shell session. This is used to run X11 programs on a server while the SSH client displays the graphical window through the user's X11 server.
ZOC Terminal is a professional terminal emulator and feature-rich SSH client for Windows and macOS. It lets you access servers using the secure and powerful SSH protocol. More...
While SSH (Secure Shell) enables users to connect to a remote shell on a server, such shell access allows only text-based interaction between the user and the server programs.
However, X11 is a system that allows server programs to show a graphical user interface (essentially pixel-based output shown in its own window). This is a long-established protocol, but it transmits data without encryption.
X11 forwarding allows you to securely run X11 programs through an established and encrypted SSH connection.
Assuming you want to create an X11 tunnel to the server, you need an X11 server installed and running on your computer. On macOS, X11 is a feature of the operating system. Under Windows you need a third-party X11 server, e.g. Xming.
When that X11 server is running, you can enable X11 forwarding in ZOC and have ZOC transmit and encrypt the X11 data between the SSH client and server when you start an X11 program (e.g. xeyes or xterm) from your shell session.
To do this, click 'Configure' where you select Secure Shell as your connection method (e.g. in the host directory or in the Quick Connect dialog), then enable the 'X11 forwarding' option.
If you then connect to an SSH server and type a command like xeyes, the X-window GUI for that program will appear on your screen.
When using the OpenSSH ssh command on Linux, the -X option can be used to specify X11 forwarding.
ssh -X jdoe@myserver.somewhere.com
This will create an X11 tunnel from the user's computer to a remote server. When a program like xeyes is started, the X11 client on the user's computer will show the window from that X11 program.
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