2. Graphical applications#

For best performance and ease of use, we recommend running graphical applications via the VUB Ondemand web portal.

Alternatively, X11 forwarding is also available.

2.1. X11 forwarding#

X11 forwarding is a simple alternative to the portal, but it is also slower. This option is suitable for applications with minimal graphical requirements.

  • Linux and MacOS

    Users can enable X11 forwarding upon login by adding the option -Y to the ssh command:

    ssh -Y vsc10xxx@login.hpc.vub.be

  • Windows

    Users can take advantage of the built-in X11 support in MobaXterm, see VSCdocSetup MobaXterm. By default X11 forwarding is enabled; you can check this setting under the Advanced SSH settings tab in the SSH Session settings window.

After login, you can test whether X11 is enabled by running the command glxgears in the login node. If it works, turning gears will be displayed in a new window. Please keep in mind that the login node is restricted to graphical applications that perform non-intensive compute tasks, such as visualization tools.

Compute intensive graphical apps should be executed in a compute node. This can be achieved by starting an interactive job and adding the option --x11 to the salloc command:

salloc --x11

Tip

To avoid having to keep your SSH connection active for the duration of the interactive job, you can submit your interactive job in a tmux session.

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