X-Win32
Overview
X-Win32 is software which VCU Technology Services has obtained under a site license agreement with StarNet Communications. The X-Win32 software allows you to connect a Windows PC to a remote Unix or Linux server and run windowing applications on the server.
The license permits University faculty, staff, and students to install X-Win32 for University teaching, research or administrative use. The license agreement prohibits distribution of copies to anyone else and for any other purpose.
The default license key that is distributed for X-Win32 only allows you to use X-Win32 from a PC on the VCU network (128.172.x.x). You may request an X-Win32 floating license key to enable use both on and off campus.
The recommended method for using X-Win32 to connect to a remote server is to use it in conjunction with the SSH Secure Shell Client for Windows software (referred to below as just SSH Secure Shell). This provides a secure means for connecting/logging in to remote servers.
This document explains how to:
- Download X-Win32
- Install X-Win32
- Configure X-Win32 and SSH Secure Shell
- License X-Win32
- Use X-Win32 with SSH Secure Shell
The downloading, installation, configuration, and licensing steps are one-time procedures.
Downloading X-Win32
To download X-Win32, visit
Register and download X-Win32
and provide the information requested and follow the directions presented. After you download the file, check your VCU email account for an email from softwarelic@vcu.edu. It contains the license key that you will need to license X-Win32 (as explained below).
Installing X-Win32
To install X-Win32, double click on the file that you downloaded (the file is named x-win82-1200sf.exe). Several installation screens will be displayed, as explained below:
The Choose Setup Language screen will appear:
Click OK. The initial Install Shield Wizard screen will appear:
Click Next. The following screen will appear:
In the above screen, read the license agreement. If you accept the license agreement, select the radio button for "I accept..." and then click Next. The following screen will appear :
In the above screen, type your name and organization, then click Next. The following screen will appear:
In the above screen, if you wish to change the folder for the installation files, click the Change... button and follow the directions presented for selecting another folder. When the desired installation folder is displayed in the above Destination Folder window, click Next. The following screen will appear:
In the above screen, select the Complete radio button and click Next. The following screen will appear:
In the above screen, click Install. to begin the actual installation process. Installation may take several minutes to complete.
After installation is completed, click the Finish button in the final screen (not shown here).
Configuring X-Win32 and SSH Secure Shell
As noted above, the recommended method for using X-Win32 to connect to a remote server is to use it in conjunction with the SSH Secure Shell Client for Windows software (referred to below as just SSH Secure Shell). This will provide a secure means for connecting/logging in to remote servers and running windowing applications on those servers.
To enable such connections, you must perform two preliminary steps:
- configure X-Win32 appropriately, and
- configure SSH Secure Shell for use with X-Win32
as described in the next two subsections below.
To configure X-Win32, launch the X-Win32 configuration utility: select the Windows Start button / All Programs / X-Win32 8.2 / X-Config.
The following screen will appear:
In the above screen, click the Security tab at the top of the screen. The Security tab screen will appear:
In the above screen, click the Add button, and in the dialog box that appears, type
127.0.0.1as shown below:
Click OK. The Security tab screen will now look like the following:
Click OK to save your changes.
CONFIGURING SSH SECURE SHELL FOR USE WITH X-WIN32:To confugre SSH Secure Shell, you, of course, must first install SSH Secure Shell on your PC. You must also create an SSH profile for each remote server you wish to access. Instructions for downloading and installing SSH and for creating profiles and connecting/logging in to servers are here:
In the discussion below, it is assumed that you have installed SSH Secure Shell and created an SSH profile for each server you wish to access, according to the instructions at the above website.
For EACH server that you will access, you must configure its SSH profile to allow "tunneling," as described below. This one-time setup must be performed (once) for each profile that you will use.
In the example below, we will configure a profile named "Hubert" for acccessing the Hubert computer at VCU (hubert.vcu.edu).
Launch the SSH Secure Shell program by selecting the Windows Start button / All Programs / SSH Secure Shell / Secure Shell Client .
The SSH Secure Shell screen will appear. Click the Profiles button, located just below the toolbar, then in the drop-down list select Edit Profiles, as shown below:
The Profiles screen will appear. In that screen, do the following:
as shown below:
- from the list on the left, click the name of the profile you wish to configure,
- then click the Tunneling tab at the top of the screen,
- then click the Tunnel X11 connections checkbox near the bottom of the screen so that a checkmark appears,
In the example screen above, the profile named Hubert was selected.
Click OK to close the Profiles screen.
Back in the SSH Secure Shell screen, from the menu bar select File / Save Settings, as shown below:
This profile is now configured to allow tunneling and can be used in conjunction with X-Win32, as described later in this document.
As noted above, if you use multiple profiles, each must be configured to allow tunneling, according to the instructions above.
Licensing X-Win32
NOTE: You must be connected to the Internet to license X-Win32.
You must license X-Win32, or it will only allow you to run a 30 minute "demo" session.
Begin by launching X-Win32: select the Windows Start button / All Programs / X-Win32 8.2 / X-Win32.
The first time you launch X-Win32, the X-Win32 License Wizard screen will appear and ask you to license the software.
In addition to the License Wizard screen, you may see the following screen:
If you see the above screen, click the Close button.
The first License Wizard screen is shown below:
Select Nodelocked (VN), as shown above, and click OK. The next License Wizard screen will appear:
In the VN box type or copy/paste the “VN” code that was sent to your VCU email account when you registered and downloaded the X-Win32 software, then select Automatic, as shown above. Click Next, :
At this point, it will take several seconds to register your license via the Internet When the license registration has successfully completed, the following screen will appear:
Click Next. The following screen will appear:
Click Finish to complete the licensing procedure.
Using X-Win32 with SSH Secure Shell:
To run windowing applications on a remote server, you first launch X-Win32. Then you use SSH Secure Shell to login to the server and run any desired windowing applications on the server.
In this section, we describe a sample session wherein we connect to the Hubert computer at VCU and run the "xclock" program on Hubert (this program displays a clock on the screen that shows the current time).
Launch X-Win32 by selecting Start / All Programs / X-Win32 8.2 / X-Win32 from the Windows Start Menu.
If the following screen appears, click the Close button:
X-Win32 is now running on your PC, although there is NO indication that it is running except for the X-Win32 icon 
that is displayed in your Windows system tray (located on the right-hand side of the Windows taskbar at the bottom of your screen).
Launch SSH Secure Shell and login to a remote server (see Instructions for Installing and Using SSH Secure Shell). After you login, issue a command to run a windowing application on the server. In the example below, we have logged in to the Hubert computer and issued the xclock command:
Note: An ampersand "&" may be optionally typed at the end each application command on the server, as with the xclock command shown above. This will cause the application to run "in the background" on the server, and you will immediately receive another command prompt so you can issue further commands on the server.
After you type the command and press Enter, a window for the application will be displayed on your PC's screen. Here is the window that is displayed by the xclock application:
When finished, you may close the application's window, logout from the remote server, and exit SSH Secure Shell, as desired.
To exit X-Win32, right-click on the X-Win32 icon 
in the Windows system tray and select Exit.
Note: Beware that if you exit SSH Secure Shell or exit X-Win32 while windowing applications (such as xclock) are still running in the background, those applications will immediately terminate.
