XWindows on EC2

Launch Xming server on local desktop (Windows)
Turn on X11 forwarding in putty.
(I did not have to set any local DISPLAY environment variables)

sudo yum install xorg-x11-xauth.x86_64 xorg-x11-server-utils.x86_64 xterm

I think I logged out and then ssh’d back in at this point (with X11 forwarding on).

Then I just did an “xterm”. That should open a new terminal window. From that you should be able to run commands that need to open new windows without having to set additional environment variables. The window took a bit to open. If it doesn’t pop up, look at your task bar to make sure it didn’t start minimized. I think that may be an Xming thing…

For a really slow browsing experience (or to run an installer that needs a web browser):

sudo yum install firefox

Then run firefox from the xterm….

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