Re: Novice SSH Question

From: William Ahern (william@25thandClement.com)
Date: 01/28/03 

From: William Ahern <william@25thandClement.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2003 13:33:26 -0800

Jason Quinn <jason_quinn@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi, I did a quick search on Google Groups and in the FAQ for my
> question and found related information but not the answer. I've never
> been here before so please excuse me if it's an annoying question.
> How do I properly use SSH such that when I exit, it leaves the GUI
> programs running on the remote DISPLAY? I don't care about encryption;
> but I must use SSH because telnet connections are not allowed at my
> site.
> I've been using these steps:
>
> local 1) xhost +remotemachine
> local 2) ssh remotemanhine
> remote 3) setenv DISPLAY localemachine:0.0
> remote 4) [start my programs]
> remote 5) exit
>
> At this point, SSH logs out of the machine but is still running
> without doing anything. I have to kill the ssh process to use that
> terminal again.
> I've tried all kinds of permutations *including* the -X forwarding
> option in step 2, which does nothing as far as I can tell.
> My SSH and OS versions are:
>
> OpenSSH_2.9p2_channel_afs_patch, SSH protocols 1.5/2.0, OpenSSL
> 0x0090602f
> SunOS machinename 5.8 Generic_108528-18 sun4u sparc
> SUNW,Sun-Blade-1000

try starting the applications on the remote server in the background, like:
$ xterm &

or use the `nohup` command if available, which will detach from stdin/console.

granted, some sys admins don't allow users to run applications without being
logged on a console. they rig the system to kill applications not attached
to a terminal. (either by not making nohup available, or by running a script
to explicitly kill applications).

otoh, i'm sure other people here can show you how to use ssh to execute
the remote application (rather than a shell and then you executing the X app),
and then you can put the ssh client connection into the background of
your local terminal.

try reading the man page if you're on a unix machine. (man ssh).