How To Run X Over SSH

To run X over SSH:

1. Add allowed_users = anybody to /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config:

   echo 'allowed_users = anybody' |tee /etc/X11/Xwrapper.config

2. The virtual terminal used by X must be readable and writable by the user that is starting X. Normally permissions for an in-use tty are crw-------, owned by the user that logged in via it, e.g.:

   % ls -l /dev/tty? crw--w---- 1 root tty 4, 0 Jan 29 05:01 /dev/tty0 crw------- 1 me tty 4, 1 Feb 28 14:25 /dev/tty1 crw--w---- 1 root tty 4, 2 Jan 29 05:01 /dev/tty2 ...

Here, /dev/tty1 is used by me while /dev/tty0 and /dev/tty2 are unused.

The issue here is that merely adding the user you want to run X as to tty group is insufficient, as the group permission is write only and does not grant read access.

So, we need to somehow change ownership of a chosen terminal to the user that would start X.

The interactive way:

# chown me /dev/tty8
% startx -- vt8

Here, I place X on VT8, and prepare /dev/tty8 by changing its ownership to the user I plan on running X as.

This could be accomplished via udev rules on a permanent basis.