Using Xming for Remote X11 Connections

This document is about using Xming on MS Windows machines to connect to a remote server that has X windows application you would like to run remotely.  Since Xming is a lot simpler than Cygwin, it is brief.

One easy way to configure this is to setup PuTTY to connect to the remote Linux/Unix machine, and then setting  an option under SSH to do X11 forwarding, like so:

PuTTY Screenshot

Once this option is selected and saved, incoming connections for X client applications should work from the remote host, though you do not yet have an X server for them to connect to so you will only get error messages if you try it now.

 You will need to download Xming in order to get things working.  First use the server installer application, and then install the fonts.  Both are available for download here.  Once you are connected to the remote server, you should be able to then run Xlaunch.  This will cause and X icon to appear in the windows dock in the lower right, just like with Cygwin.  From then on, PuTTY connections with X forwarding enabled will allow X applications launched from the command line to connect and appear on your windows desktop.

That is all.  If you wish to shutdown Xming, simply right click the X in the dock and choose the exit option.