Server side: The following configuration items are probably OK by default. You should check the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file on the server side to make sure they haven't been given unhelpful non-default values. Or just to be safe, you could set them as follows: AllowTcpForwarding yes X11DisplayOffset 10 X11UseLocalhost yes The following is not the default, so you need to make sure it is set in the /etc/ssh/sshd_config file on the server side: X11Forwarding yes ========== Client side: The following is not the default, so need to set it in the /etc/ssh/ssh_config file on the client side ForwardX11 yes You also get to decide whether you want to forward the "ssh agent". It is marginally more secure if you don't. Any decision you code into the /etc/ssh/ssh_config file can be overrridden on a case-by-case basis by specifying on the command line "ssh -a" (to turn off agent forwarding) or "ssh -A" (to turn on agent forwarding). The following is not the default: ForwardAgent yes ========================== If you get any of this wrong, you are likely to see the dreaded message: unable to open display "....:10.0" Using the "ssh -v" command is occasionally useful for debugging such things. Try it, but be warned that it is often not as informative as you might have hoped.