Enable X11 Forwarding in CentOS/RHEL 6/7

X11 forwarding refers to executing such a program remotely through an SSH (Secure Shell) connection. It’s mean the executable file itself is hosted on a different machine than where the graphical interface is being displayed. The graphical windows are forwarded to your local machine through the SSH connection.

Step 1: Install Required Packages

First install the required packages using below command.

# yum install -y xorg-x11-server-Xorg xorg-x11-xauth xorg-x11-apps

Step 2: Enable X11 Fowarding

After installing the required packages enable the X11 from ssh configuration file.

# vim /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Uncomment or add the below lines.

X11Forwarding yes

Step 3: Restart SSH Service

Once the config file’s modifications have been made to your Linux system, the SSH service will need to be restarted to effect the revised configuration.

For CentOS/RHEL 7

# systemctl restart sshd

For CentOS/RHEL 6

# service sshd restart

Step 4: Test Connection

Now verify the connection using below command.

Access Putty
Enable X11 in Putty, before login.

Connection >> SSH >> X11:
  Check Enable X11 forwarding
  X Display location: localhost:0

Run below command to test the connection.

# xclock&

OR

# xeyes&