Set up a remote KDE session from Windows

Prerequisites (Fedora)

• All core X.org packages must be installed (even if X will not be running locally)
• All core KDE packages
• SSH server (configured and running)
• A non-root user on the system

Prerequisites (Windows)

• Xming
• PuTTY

Configuration

Xming Configuration

Launch Xming with default settings on the local machine. Do not set any options or attempt to connect to anywhere. This should set up a single, gray window on the Windows desktop running on X server :0. This must be done prior to opening a connection with PuTTY.

If you need to run additional X servers, note which port they are running on (e.g. :1, :2). You will need this for the PuTTY configuration

PuTTY Configuration

1. Under "Session", enter the Host Name of the Fedora machine from which you want to run KDE. For most machines, the default port of 22 will be correct. If you have changed the port on which SSH is running, enter it here.
2. Under "Connection->Data" enter the non-root username on the Fedora system
3. Under "Connection->SSH" enter '/usr/bin/startkde' (without the quotes) into the "Remote Command" text box. If both the Windows and Fedora computers are reasonably powerful, you may also check the box "Enable compression" for better response times with the X protocol.
4. Under "Connection->SSH->X11" check the box "Enable X11 Forwarding" and ensure that "MIT-Magic-Cookie-1" is selected as the "Remote X11 authentication protocol". If you used a port other than :0 when setting up Xming, enter it in the "X display location" text box in the form ":N" (without quotes) where N is the port number.
   
5. Finally, return to "Session" and save these options with the name of your choice.

Launching

Start PuTTY. Load the session that you saved in step 5, above, and open that connection. You will be prompted for the password for the user (or not, if you configured public/private key access separately). The connection will open and KDE will begin loading in the Xming window. STDOUT and STDERR messages from startkde will display in the PuTTY terminal window.