How do I launch graphical applications on the Linux servers from my Mac OS X system?

Summary

Instructions for connecting to Linux remote servers from a Mac.

Body

  1. You must have XQuartz installed on your system. It is available from the XQuartz web site. To see if it’s installed on your system, go to Applications -> Utilities and look for XQuartz.
  2. Launch XQuartz by double-clicking on the icon. An xterm window should appear.
  3. SSH to one of the linux servers and supply the -XY options. e.g. 
    ssh -XY bucknellusername@linuxremote1.bucknell.edu

    where bucknellusername is your actual Bucknell username.

  4. You should now be able to launch a graphical application and have it display on your Mac. For example, type emacs and the Emacs editor should launch in a new window.