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I have a bash terminal open on a Macbook and I'm running

ssh -X <some_ip>

where <some_ip> refers to an Ubuntu 20.04 VM. I login with no trouble. However, when attempting to execute a command like gedit, I get

Unable to init server: Could not connect: Connection refused

(gedit:4179) Gtk-WARNING **: 22:36:47.151: cannot open display:

EDIT:

Here's the output from running ssh with -vv:

OpenSSH_8.1p1, LibreSSL 2.7.3
debug1: Reading configuration data /Users/daniel/.ssh/config
debug1: /Users/daniel/.ssh/config line 5: Applying options for partytime
debug1: Reading configuration data /etc/ssh/ssh_config
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 47: Applying options for *
debug1: /etc/ssh/ssh_config line 51: Applying options for *
debug2: resolve_canonicalize: hostname 192.168.0.124 is address
debug2: ssh_connect_direct
debug1: Connecting to 192.168.0.124 [192.168.0.124] port 22.
debug1: Connection established.
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_rsa type 0
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_rsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_dsa type -1
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_dsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_ecdsa type -1
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_ecdsa-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_ed25519 type -1
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_ed25519-cert type -1
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_xmss type -1
debug1: identity file /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_xmss-cert type -1
debug1: Local version string SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_8.1
debug1: Remote protocol version 2.0, remote software version OpenSSH_8.2p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.1
debug1: match: OpenSSH_8.2p1 Ubuntu-4ubuntu0.1 pat OpenSSH* compat 0x04000000
debug2: fd 3 setting O_NONBLOCK
debug1: Authenticating to 192.168.0.124:22 as 'daniel'
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT sent
debug1: SSH2_MSG_KEXINIT received
debug2: local client KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: curve25519-sha256,[email protected],ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256,diffie-hellman-group14-sha1,ext-info-c
debug2: host key algorithms: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],ssh-ed25519,rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256,ssh-rsa
debug2: ciphers ctos: [email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,[email protected],[email protected]
debug2: ciphers stoc: [email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,[email protected],[email protected]
debug2: MACs ctos: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: MACs stoc: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: compression ctos: none,[email protected],zlib
debug2: compression stoc: none,[email protected],zlib
debug2: languages ctos: 
debug2: languages stoc: 
debug2: first_kex_follows 0 
debug2: reserved 0 
debug2: peer server KEXINIT proposal
debug2: KEX algorithms: curve25519-sha256,[email protected],ecdh-sha2-nistp256,ecdh-sha2-nistp384,ecdh-sha2-nistp521,diffie-hellman-group-exchange-sha256,diffie-hellman-group16-sha512,diffie-hellman-group18-sha512,diffie-hellman-group14-sha256
debug2: host key algorithms: rsa-sha2-512,rsa-sha2-256,ssh-rsa,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ssh-ed25519
debug2: ciphers ctos: [email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,[email protected],[email protected]
debug2: ciphers stoc: [email protected],aes128-ctr,aes192-ctr,aes256-ctr,[email protected],[email protected]
debug2: MACs ctos: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: MACs stoc: [email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],[email protected],hmac-sha2-256,hmac-sha2-512,hmac-sha1
debug2: compression ctos: none,[email protected]
debug2: compression stoc: none,[email protected]
debug2: languages ctos: 
debug2: languages stoc: 
debug2: first_kex_follows 0 
debug2: reserved 0 
debug1: kex: algorithm: curve25519-sha256
debug1: kex: host key algorithm: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256
debug1: kex: server->client cipher: [email protected] MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug1: kex: client->server cipher: [email protected] MAC: <implicit> compression: none
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_KEX_ECDH_REPLY
debug1: Server host key: ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 SHA256:v4IB0eX8tnrBnIVe/ejHBFNPAcpnPpctNlcgapyxlj0
debug1: Host '192.168.0.124' is known and matches the ECDSA host key.
debug1: Found key in /Users/daniel/.ssh/known_hosts:5
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 1
debug1: rekey out after 134217728 blocks
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS sent
debug1: expecting SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS
debug1: SSH2_MSG_NEWKEYS received
debug2: set_newkeys: mode 0
debug1: rekey in after 134217728 blocks
debug1: Will attempt key: /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_rsa RSA SHA256:nRkJrD4P1PL16Mde2OWWXUoyBP55fxcnZ5TSzP+CAVM
debug1: Will attempt key: /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_dsa 
debug1: Will attempt key: /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_ecdsa 
debug1: Will attempt key: /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_ed25519 
debug1: Will attempt key: /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_xmss 
debug2: pubkey_prepare: done
debug1: SSH2_MSG_EXT_INFO received
debug1: kex_input_ext_info: server-sig-algs=<ssh-ed25519,[email protected],ssh-rsa,rsa-sha2-256,rsa-sha2-512,ssh-dss,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256,ecdsa-sha2-nistp384,ecdsa-sha2-nistp521,[email protected]>
debug2: service_accept: ssh-userauth
debug1: SSH2_MSG_SERVICE_ACCEPT received
debug1: Authentications that can continue: publickey,password
debug1: Next authentication method: publickey
debug1: Offering public key: /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_rsa RSA SHA256:nRkJrD4P1PL16Mde2OWWXUoyBP55fxcnZ5TSzP+CAVM
debug2: we sent a publickey packet, wait for reply
debug1: Server accepts key: /Users/daniel/.ssh/id_rsa RSA SHA256:nRkJrD4P1PL16Mde2OWWXUoyBP55fxcnZ5TSzP+CAVM
debug1: Authentication succeeded (publickey).
Authenticated to 192.168.0.124 ([192.168.0.124]:22).
debug1: channel 0: new [client-session]
debug2: channel 0: send open
debug1: Requesting [email protected]
debug1: Entering interactive session.
debug1: pledge: exec
debug1: client_input_global_request: rtype [email protected] want_reply 0
debug1: Remote: /home/daniel/.ssh/authorized_keys:1: key options: agent-forwarding port-forwarding pty user-rc x11-forwarding
debug1: Remote: /home/daniel/.ssh/authorized_keys:1: key options: agent-forwarding port-forwarding pty user-rc x11-forwarding
debug2: channel_input_open_confirmation: channel 0: callback start
debug1: X11 forwarding requested but DISPLAY not set
debug2: fd 3 setting TCP_NODELAY
debug2: client_session2_setup: id 0
debug2: channel 0: request pty-req confirm 1
debug1: Sending environment.
debug1: Sending env LANG = en_US.UTF-8
debug2: channel 0: request env confirm 0
debug2: channel 0: request shell confirm 1
debug2: channel_input_open_confirmation: channel 0: callback done
debug2: channel 0: open confirm rwindow 0 rmax 32768
debug2: channel_input_status_confirm: type 99 id 0
debug2: PTY allocation request accepted on channel 0
debug2: channel 0: rcvd adjust 2097152
debug2: channel_input_status_confirm: type 99 id 0
debug2: shell request accepted on channel 0
Improve this question
3
  • This looks like Ubuntu gedit cannot open/access display on your Macbook. I believe this problem is connected to Macbook. I have no experience with MacOS, so I am asking. Is XServer running on MacOS the same way as on linux? You need to make sure XServer on MacOS runs and accepts connections. Maybe you should look for help on some MacOS support forum. And one more thing. Get used to ssh -Y instead of ssh -X. It is safer. Commented Nov 12, 2020 at 8:43
  • I was apparently wrong about ssh -X and ssh -Y. Disregard my last statements about safer option. Commented Nov 12, 2020 at 8:52
  • Please try running ssh with the "-vv" option to print debugging output. Then edit your question to include the debugging output. Commented Nov 12, 2020 at 15:29

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

A Macbook cannot display X11 applications' windows unless the XQuartz software has been installed. It used to come with older versions of MacOS X; now it is a separate software package.

Once XQuartz has been installed, it should start up automatically whenever you attempt to start a X11 GUI program: in your example, when you have a ssh -X connection established and run the gedit command on the remote system, the XQuartz icon should automatically pop up into your Dock and then the gedit window should appear.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    I installed it via brew install xquartz but there was no change in the behavior. Commented Nov 12, 2020 at 22:55
  • 1
    Ah. Turned out I just had to reboot my Macbook. Commented Nov 13, 2020 at 0:08
0

From Ubuntu VM, edit the configuration file /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Then set X11Forwarding yes

Finally restart SSH daemon.

Improve this answer
1
  • It's already set to yes. Commented Nov 12, 2020 at 22:53

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