X forwarding fails

[Graaf_van_Vlaanderen]

I installed OpenBSD on a Sun Balde 1500. X is working on the machine itself (for example with gnuplot and GNU Octave). However it doesn't work through ssh. With my FreeBSD machines I don't get this issue.

$ gnuplot

        G N U P L O T
        Version 4.2 patchlevel 6
        last modified Sep 2009
        System: OpenBSD 4.6

        Copyright (C) 1986 - 1993, 1998, 2004, 2007 - 2009
        Thomas Williams, Colin Kelley and many others

        Type `help` to access the on-line reference manual.
        The gnuplot FAQ is available from http://www.gnuplot.info/faq/

        Send bug reports and suggestions to <http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnuplot>


Terminal type set to 'x11'
gnuplot> plot sin(x)

gnuplot: unable to open display ''
gnuplot: X11 aborted.

# uname -a
OpenBSD Tiphareth.home 4.6 GENERIC#43 sparc64

[jggimi]

You need "X11Forwarding yes" in the applicable sshd_config, and either "ForwardX11 yes" in the applicable ssh_config, or use "ssh -Y".

[jggimi]

To clarify my comment, "ForwardX11 yes" is equivalent to ssh -X, and "ForwardX11Trusted yes" is equivalent to ssh -Y.

See the man pages for ssh_config(5) and ssh(1).

[Graaf_van_Vlaanderen]

I tried what you mentioned but like expected it didn't work.

I compared with my FreeBSD (where X forwarding works for all my machines) and saw no difference between the "ssh_conf" and "sshd_conf" files from FreeBSD and OpenBSD. I even think it's enabled by default.

#   ForwardX11 no

This is default value, so this would imply you need to enable this one to disable X forwarding.
Could it be that I missed installing some components? In FreeBSD I simply build Xorg from the ports and it works.

[phoenix]

Commented values show the defaults, which means X11 forwarding is disabled by default.

[jggimi]

In OpenBSD, all OpenSSH configurations are left to their defaults. That is reasonable, as OpenSSH is developed on OpenBSD.

X11 Forwarding is disabled by default for both the client and server.

• In the case of the server, sshd, it must be enabled via sshd_config.

• In the case of the client, ssh, it can be enabled via ssh_config, or via command line.

Using "-Y" has always worked for me, from an OpenBSD client, to any OpenSSH server with X11Forwarding enabled. I end up with a $DISPLAY variable, and the packets are tunnelled properly.

If 'ssh -Y <myserver>' does not work for you, then examine the sshd_config in use on <myserver>. If you can confirm X11 forwarding has been explicitly enabled, with "X11Forwarding yes" then you must debug the configuration. Try 'ssh -v -v -v -Y <myserver>' and examine the debugging output.

[IdOp]

Terminal type set to 'x11'
gnuplot> plot sin(x)

gnuplot: unable to open display ''
gnuplot: X11 aborted.

This is exactly the behaviour I get when running gnuplot with TERM=xterm and DISPLAY unset. So a question is: is your DISPLAY variable set (and exported) at the point of running gnuplot?

[jggimi]

-If- OpenSSH's X11 forwarding is enabled by both client and server, and used, the $DISPLAY environment variable will be set automatically in the shell provided to the client.