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MobaXtermfreeXserverandSSHclientDocumentation

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MobaXtermdocumentation
(UnixutilitiesandXserveronGnu/Cygwin)

1.General
1.1.Presentation
1.2.Sessions
1.3.Unixliketerminalwithbashshell
1.4.Multitabenvironment
1.5.Builtingraphicaltools

2.Terminalfeatures
2.1.Windowsinteractions
opencommand
cygpathcommand
/drivesmountpath
/registryvirtualfolder
//mountpoint
ExecutingnativeWindowsprograms
Otherusefulcommands

2.2.Networkutilities
Remotecomputing
DISPLAYsettings
Filetransfer
Networkmonitoring

2.3.MobaXterminterface
Tabinterface
Splitmodes
Detachtabfeature
Services
SSHtunnels(portforwarding)
Optionsdialog
Sessions

2.4.Otherutilities
Editors
Miscellaneous
Plugins

3.Howto
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3.1.Setupapasswordlesssshconnection
Onclientside
Onserverside

3.2.Setupapasswordlessrshconnection
Using/etc/hosts.equiv
Using~/.rhosts

3.3.ExecuteashellscriptatMobaXtermstartup
Usingcommandlineparameters
Usingbookmarks

4.FrequentlyAskedQuestions
4.1.General
WhatisthepurposeofMobaXterm?
WhatarethemainadvantagesofusingMobaXtermoverotherSSH/SFTP/FTP/RDP/VNC/X11solutionsinWindows?

4.2.X11server
WhatisX11?WhywouldIneedanXserver?
WhatdoesX11Forwardingmeans?
HowdoesX11Forwardingwork?
WhyismyremoteDISPLAYvariableconfiguredto"localhost:10.0"?
IhaveanissuewithanX11remoteprogram(Java/X11/Motif)whichdoesnotacceptkeyboardinput:everytimeIpressakeyboardkey,nothingiswrittenonthetext
field
HowdotheX11tabswithDWMwork?WhydoesMobaXtermincludethis"tiling"windowmanager?
HowcanIsimplylaunchtheX11serverwithoutstartingthefullMobaXtermenvironment?
How can I display a full remote desktop from a Unix/Linux server in MobaXterm (Gnome, KDE, FVWM, Openbox, Fluxbox, IceWM, XFCE, Blackbox, DWM,
Enlightenment,LXDE,...)?

4.3.SSHclient
WhatisSSH?
HowcanIusepublicSSHkeyswithMobaXterm?
WhydoestheSFTPtabnotpopupwhenIlaunchaSSHsession?/WhydoesMobaXtermnotpromptmeforsavingmySSHpassword?
HowcanIperformaSSHconnectionthroughmySOCKSproxy?

4.4.RDPclient
WhatisRDP?
HowcanIsendCtrl+Alt+DelthroughRDP(terminalservice)?

4.5.SSHtunnelling(a.k.a."Portforwarding")
Whatisthepurposeofthe"tunneling"tool?

4.6.MobaXtermterminal
MobaXtermdoesnotdisplaycorrectlysomespecialcharacters?Iencounterproblemswithmycountrycharset/encoding?
IcannotrunaWindowsapplicationinsideMobaXterm.MyWindowsPATHisnottakenintoaccountinMobaXterm.
IamusingalaptopandIdonothaveanymiddlebuttononmytrackpad.HowcanIpastetextintheterminal?

4.7.Advancedfeatures

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IwouldliketostartMobaXtermfromaBATCHscript.HowdoIuseMobaXterminsidemyscript?Whatarethecommandlineswitchesavailable?
IwouldliketocreateanewpluginforMobaXterm.HowcanIdothat?
Howtodisablethepenguinsscreensaver?Howtoremovethe"Games"menuandgamesentriesfromMobaXterm?
Ilovethepenguinsscreensaver!CanIsubscribetoMobaXtermProfessionalEditionandkeepit?
IwanttosavemyterminaloutputbutwhenIchoosethe"Logallterminalactivitytothefollowingdirectory",Igetahardlyreadablefilewithspecialcharactersinit.

4.8.Miscellaneoustroubleshooting
MobaXtermdoesnotrunonWindows2000:itsaysthatthegdiplus.dllismissing...
Iwanttoaskforsomesupport.Canyouhelpme?
Isentanemailbutyouneveranswered

1.General

1.1.Presentation

MobaXtermisatoolboxforworkinginaprofessionalcomputerenvironment:itcontainsacompletesetofremoteclients(SSH,Telnet,Rlogin,RDP,VNC,XDMCP,
FTP,SFTP,Serial),anX11serverandseveralUnixcommandspackagedinamultitabenvironment.TheaimofMobaXtermistoallowprofessionaluserssuchas
systemadministrators,developers,websitedesignersandallothercomputeruserstoperformremotetaskseasily.

MobaXtermmainwindow

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1.2.Sessions

MobaXtermallowsyoutolaunchremotesessions.Youjusthavetoclickonthe"Sessions"buttontostartanewsession.

The"Session"button

YoucanthenchoosetocreateanewSSH,Telnet,Rlogin,RDP,VNC,XDMCP,FTP,SFTPorSerialsession.Everysessionyoustartisautomaticallysaved.

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The"sessions"window

You can edit, delete, move, import or export sessions by rightclicking on them in the left MobaXterm sidebar. You can also create a desktop shortcut in order to
automaticallylaunchasessionoragroupofsessionsatMobaXtermstartup.
Rightclickingonasessionfolderallowsyoutolaunchseveralsessionsatonce.Itcanbereallyusefulwhenyouoftenworkusingthesameenvironmentand
thesameopenedsessions.

1.3.Unixliketerminalwithbashshell

MobaXtermfeaturesagreatterminalwithabashshellscriptwhichallowsuserstorunUnixcommandsasiftheywereloggedonaGNU/Linuxcomputer.Thereare
severalUnixcommandsavailableinsidetheterminal:ssh,telnet,rlogin,rsh,rsync,wget,vim,corkscrew,httping,fdupes,iperf,mathomatic,xhost,xprop,xdpyinfo,
xmodmap,xkill,Xorg...
IfyouneedanUnixcommandthatisnotincludedintoMobaXterm,youcanaskustodevelopaplugincontainingtherequiredprogram(s)

The terminal (based on MinTTY and PuTTY by Andy Koppe and Simon Tatham) provides a bunch of settings that can be tuned in order to suit your needs (font,
background/foregroundcolors,antialiasing,oldkeyboardscompatibility,...).Thedefaultterminalparameterscanbesetbyclickingonthe"Settings"button.

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The"settings"button

1.4.Multitabenvironment

Themultitabenvironmentallowsyoutoworkwithseveralterminalsorremotesessionsatthesametime.Youcantogglebetween"multitab"mode,"2terminals"mode
and"4terminals"modebyclickingonthe"Split"button.

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The"Splitmode"button

MobaXterm bringsanotherreally useful mode called "Multiexecution" mode. Thismode allows you to display all your terminals at the same time and to write your
commandstoallofthematonce:whenyoupressakeyboardkey,itwillwritethesamelettersonallyourterminalsatonce.Thismodecanbeactivatedbypressing
the"MultiExec"button.

The"MultiExecmode"button

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1.5.Builtingraphicaltools

MobaXterm comes with useful Unix commandline utilities, but also builtin graphical tools such as a fast picture viewer, a developers text editor, a file/folder
comparisontool,aportsanalyzerandapacketcapturetool.
ThefeaturewhichisinouropinionthemostusefulmaybethegraphicalSFTPbrowser:whenyoulogtoaremoteserverusingSSH,agraphicalSFTPbrowserpops
uponintheleftsidebarallowingyoutodraganddropfilesdirectlyfromortotheremoteserverusingasecureSFTPconnection.
In the SFTP side browser, you can doubleclick on a remote file in order to edit it directly using your favorite program. Your changes will be saved to the
remoteserverautomatically!

2.Terminalfeatures

2.1.Windowsinteractions

opencommand
Thiscommandallowsyoutoopenyourlocalfiles.ThiscommandwillopenyourdocumentsusingtheWindowsdefaultassociationforyourdocumenttype.

openhttp://www.google.com
openMyDocuments/MyWork.pdf
Youcanopenfiles,directoriesorURLdirectlyfromtheterminalbysimplyCtrl+clickingonthem.

cygpathcommand
Thiscommandallowsyoutoworkwithdos/unixpaths.YoucanobtaintheDospathfromagivenUnixpathandviceversa.Youcanalsolistyourcomputerpathslike
theWindows,System,Desktop,ProfilesandStartMenupaths.

echo"/binPATH=$(cygpathw/bin)"
echo"SystemPATH=$(cygpathuS)"

/drivesmountpath
Thisdirectorycontainsamountpointforeachdriveofyourcomputer.Youcanforexamplebrowseyoursystemdrivebycdto/drives/c/

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Thisdirectorycontainsamountpointforeachdriveofyourcomputer.Youcanforexamplebrowseyoursystemdrivebycdto/drives/c/

cat/drives/c/Windows/win.ini
PicView/drives/d/MyPhotos/Photo36.jpg

/registryvirtualfolder
Thisfolderisavirtualdirectorycontainingyourregistrykeysandvalues.Youcanopenandreadaregistrykeybydoingasimple"cat"ofthesevirtualfiles.

cat/registry/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/DevicePath
cat"/registry/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/ShellFolders/CommonPictures"

//mountpoint
Youcanalsobrowsecomputersfromyournetworkneighborhoodbytyping//<remote_computer>

PicView//server1/share1/Photo36.jpg
edit//server2/Documents/program.c

ExecutingnativeWindowsprograms
YoucanexecutenativeWindowsprogramsfromMobaXtermasyouwouldina"cmd"console.

ipconfig/all
netshcinterfacedump
regedit
netuser
calc
notepad

Otherusefulcommands
There are several other useful commands for interacting with Windows, like editrights, shutdown, regtool, ps, passwd, MobaControl, mkshortcut, MobaSwInfo,
MobaHwInfo,MobaTaskList,MobaKillTask,MobaControl[...]

2.2.Networkutilities

Remotecomputing
MobaXtermincludessomeusefulcommandlineclientsforexecutingcommandsonremotecomputers:
.ssh(utilitytoaccessshellaccountsusingasecurecryptedconnection)
.telnet(usefultologintoremotesystemhosts)
.rlogin(sameaimastelnetbutusingadifferentprotocol)
.rsh(usefulforsendingcommandsonremotecomputers,especiallyusingthepasswordlessfeature)
Do not forget that you can bookmark your connections using the bookmarks feature (see the corresponding section for more information). You can also set up
passwordlessconnectionswithrshorssh,thereisalsoacorrespondingsectiontothisfeature.

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DISPLAYsettings
MobaXtermincludesanXserversothatitcandisplayX11basedgraphicalprograms.
Bydefault,anXserverisstartedatMobaXtermstartup.YourDISPLAYenvironmentvariableisautomaticallysetanditiswritteninyourterminalstartupmessage.
WhenyouusearemotecomputingclienttoconnecttoaUnixcomputer,youcanexportyourDISPLAYtoyourlocalWindowsdesktopthankstoMobaXterm.When
youuseaSSHconnection,iftheremoteserversupportsX11Forwarding,yourDISPLAYisautomaticallysetanditwillbesentthroughtheSSHconnectiontoyour
Windowsdesktop.

Withthisicon,youcanmonitortheXserverstate

telnetremoteserver1
exportDISPLAY=localcomputer1:0.0
nedit
exit
sshlrootremoteserver1
nedit

Filetransfer
MobaXtermincludessomeusefulclientsfortransferringfiles
.ftp(FileTransfertProtocol)
.sftp/scp(FileTransfertusingasecurecryptedSSHconnection)
.rcp(Copyfilesto/fromremotecomputersusingthershprotocol)
.wget(downloadfilesthroughhttp/ftpprotocolwithenhancedsettings)
.rsync(synchronizedirectoriesthroughanetworkwithincrementalcapabilitiesandenhancedoptions)

scp/drives/c/Photo36.jpgroot@server1:/tmp/

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Networkmonitoring

MobaXtermincludes2usefulutilitiesformonitoringyournetwork:
.TCPCapture(allowsyoutocapturenetworkpackets)
.MobaListPorts(allowsyoutolistallopenportswiththeircurrentstate)
.httping(monitoryourwebserver)
.iperf(monitortheavailablebandwidthonyournetwork)

2.3.MobaXterminterface

Tabinterface
MobaXtermcanstartseveralindependentterminalsthankstoatabbasedinterface.
Usetheappropriatebuttontocreatenewtabs,closeexistingtabs,cyclingthroughtabsorrenametabs.

Splitmodes
MobaXtermallowsyoutodisplaysometerminalsinthesameWindowjustasyouwoulddousingthe"screen"utility.
Youcandisplay2terminalsinhorizontalorverticalmode,oreven4terminalsinthesameWindow

The"Splitmode"button

Detachtabfeature
MobaXtermallowsyoutodetachtabsinordertodisplaytheminaseparatewindow.Youcandetach,reattachtabsorgofullscreenusingtherightclickmenuonyour
tab.

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tab.

Services
MobaXtermallowsyoutolaunchsomelightdaemons(TFTP,HTTP,FTP,SSH/SFTP,TELNET)fromthemaininterface.Youcanmanagethesedaemonsbyclicking
ontheappropriatebuttonfromthetoptoolbar.

The"Services"button

SSHtunnels(portforwarding)
MobaXtermallowsyoutocreatesomeSSHtunnels(a.k.a."portforwarding")withaniceandintuitiveinterface:youcanmanagetheseSSHtunnelsbyclickingonthe
appropriatebuttonfromthetoptoolbar.

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The"Tunneling"button

Optionsdialog
Youcanedityouroptionsusingthecorrespondingbuttonfromthetoptoolbar.YouroptionswillbesavedtoanINIfile.Youcanselectapersistenthomedirectoryfor
keeping your files and parameters instead of having your home directory in a temporary folder. You can also select the terminal fonts, colors, skin, transparency,
keyboardshortcuts,specifyafontserver,etc...

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The"Settings"button

Thesettingsdialog

Sessions
You can store your connection settings in bookmarks that are stored in your INI file. Sessions can be accessed easily through the corresponding menu in the top
toolbarorintheleftsidebar,butyoucanalsocreateadesktopshortcuttoeachsessioninordertolaunchthemeasily.

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The"sessions"button

The"sessions"window

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2.4.Otherutilities

Editors
MobaXtermincludeseverythingyouneedtoedittextfiles:vioncommandline,neditforagraphicaleditororMobaTextEditorwhichisalightbutpowerfuleditorfor
developerswithtextdiffutilities.

Miscellaneous
.MobaPictureViewer(Displaypicturesinfullscreenwithzoomfeatures)
.MobaTextDiff(Diffutilityfortextfiles)
.MobaFoldersDiff(Diffutilityforfolders)
.fdupes(Findanderaseduplicatefiles)
.mathomatic(computeralgebrasystem)

Plugins
Some commands can be added to MobaXterm thanks to the use of plugins. You can download some readytouse plugins at
http://mobaxterm.mobatek.net/download/plugins.html.

3.Howto

3.1.Setupapasswordlesssshconnection

YoucanconnecttoanSSHserverwithoutsupplyinganypassword:thisisusefulifyouwanttorunshellscriptsthatarenotinteractive.Thiscanbedonein2steps:

Onclientside
Youwillhavetogenerateapublicrsakeyontheclient.Thiscanbedonebytyping

sshkeygentrsaN''qf~/.ssh/id_rsa

Onserverside
Copythefilethathasbeengeneratedontheclient(".ssh/id_rsa.pub")tothe~/.ssh/directoryoftheserverandrenameitto"authorized_keys".

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scp.ssh/id_rsa.pubuser1@server1:.ssh/authorized_keys

3.2.Setupapasswordlessrshconnection

YoucanconnecttoanRSHserverwithoutsupplyinganypassword:thisisusefulifyouwanttorunshellscriptsthatarenotinteractive.Thiscanbedonein1step:

Using/etc/hosts.equiv
Editthe/etc/hosts.equivfileonserverside:youcanspecifyinthisfiletheauthorizedusersthatwillbeabletoconnecttotheserverwithoutsupplyinganypassword.
Thefilesyntaxis:

<computer_name><user_name>

Using~/.rhosts
Edit the ~/.rhosts file on server side: you can specify in this file the authorized users that will be able to connect to the server using the current account without
supplyinganypassword.Thefilesyntaxis:

<computer_name><user_name>

3.3.ExecuteashellscriptatMobaXtermstartup

Usingcommandlineparameters
Youcaneditashellscript(becareful,ithastobeinUnixandnotDosformat)andrunitatMobaXtermstartup.YoujusthavetolaunchMobaXtermwiththefollowing
commandline:

MobaXterm.exe<script_file>

MobaXtermalsousessomeinternalcommandlineparametersthatcanbeusedbyadvancedusersinordertointegrateMobaXtermintheirownenvironment:

MobaXterm.exeexec"<Command>"
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartanewinstanceofMobaXtermandimmediatelyexecuteagivenMobaXtermcommand

MobaXterm.exenewtab["<Command>"]
This command can be used to start a new tab inside a running instance of MobaXterm (or start a new instance of MobaXterm if no other instance is running) and
immediatelyexecuteagivenMobaXtermcommand

MobaXterm.exebookmark"<Bookmark_name>"
Thiscommandcanbeusedtostartabookmarkbyspecifyingitsname.(Note:thisonlyworkfor1stlevelbookmarks:bookmarksfromsubfolderscannotbeinvoked

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Thiscommandcanbeusedtostartabookmarkbyspecifyingitsname.(Note:thisonlyworkfor1stlevelbookmarks:bookmarksfromsubfolderscannotbeinvoked
bythiscommand)

MobaXterm.exerunmacro"<Macro_name>"
Thiscommandcanbeusedtostartamacrobyspecifyingitsname.

MobaXterm.exeopenfolder"<Folder_name>"
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXterminthespecifiedfolder

MobaXterm.exehideterm
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermthatisimmediatelyminimizedintothesystemtray

MobaXterm.exeexitwhendone
ThiscommandcanbeusedtoexitMobaXtermwhenthegivenactionisfinished.Thisparametershouldbecombinedwithbookmarkorexec

MobaXterm.exei"<Ini_file_path>"
ThiscommandcanbeusedtospecifyapathforMobaXtermconfigurationfile(MobaXterm.ini)

MobaXterm.exelog
Thiscommandcanbeusedtowritedownsomedebuginformationinalogfile

MobaXterm.exeinstallshellext
ThiscommandcanbeusedtoinstalltherightclickcontextmenuinWindowsexplorer

MobaXterm.exeinstallprotohandler
ThiscommandcanbeusedtoinstalltheURLprotocolhandler,inorderforMobaXtermtobeabletoexecutesessionsfromHTMLpages

MobaXterm.execonfig
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermconfigurationwindow

MobaXterm.exeshortcuts
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermkeyboardshortcutsconfigurationwindow

MobaXterm.exedoc
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermdocumentation

MobaXterm.exepicview
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermembeddedpictureviewerprogram

MobaXterm.exeedit"<File1>"
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermembeddedtexteditor(MobaTextEditor)

MobaXterm.execompfiles"<File1>""<File2>"
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermembeddeddifftool

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ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermembeddeddifftool

MobaXterm.execompfolders
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermembeddedfoldersdifftool

MobaXterm.exeportforwarding
ThiscommandcanbeusedtostartMobaXtermembeddedportforwardingtool

Usingbookmarks
Createanewbookmark,selectthe"Customshellscript"optioninthedropdownmenuandedityourshellscript.Youcanthenclickonyourbookmarkandchooseto
createadesktopshortcuttothisbookmark.

4.FrequentlyAskedQuestions

4.1.General

WhatisthepurposeofMobaXterm?
MobaXtermisanenhancedterminalforWindowswithanX11server,severalnetworktoolsforremotecomputingandalltheessentialUnixcommandspackagedintoa
singleportableexefile.MobaXtermhasbeendesignedtosuittheneedsofcomputerusers,sysadmins,developersandwebmastersbyproviding:
amultitabterminalwithembeddedUnixcommands(ls,cd,cat,sed,grep,awk,rsync,wget,...)
anembeddedX11serverforeasilyexportingyourUnix/Linuxdisplay
asessionmanagerwithseveralnetworkutilities:SSH,RDP,VNC,SFTP,FTP,Telnet,Rlogin,FTP,SFTPandXDMCP

WhatarethemainadvantagesofusingMobaXtermoverotherSSH/SFTP/FTP/RDP/VNC/X11solutionsinWindows?
MobaXtermhasseveraladvantagesoveritscompetitors:
afullAllInOnesolution:itfeaturesanX11server,aterminalwithembeddedUnix/Linuxcommandsandacompletecollectionofnetworktools(SSH,SFTP,telnet,
rlogin,RDP,VNC,XDMCP,FTPandSerialconsole)
aportablesolutionwithouttheneedtoinstallandwithouttheneedofadministratorprivileges:MobaXtermisasingleexecutableselfcontainedfilewhichdoesnot
needtobeinstalledorrunwithadministratorprivileges
no complex settings: there is no need to set up your environment or to tune settings: MobaXterm default parameters have been chosen in order for it to be
immediatelyusable
someuniquefeaturesliketheremotesessionswithsavedpasswordsortheSFTPbrowser:whenyouconnecttoaremoteserverthroughSSH,agraphicalremote
filebrowserwillautomaticallybedisplayedallowingyoutotransferfilesortoeditthemdirectlyusingtheintegratedtexteditorMobaTextEditor
a robust terminal based on PuTTY/MinTTY with clean fonts, tabs, split modes (2 or 4 terminals side by side), Multiexecution (write once, execute everywhere),
copy/paste,save/printtextandmuchmore
a nonintrusive program: MobaXterm does not connect to the Internet or write entries into your Windows registry without asking before. It does not automatically
checkforupdates.Thereisnotimelimitforusingit.

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checkforupdates.Thereisnotimelimitforusingit.

4.2.X11server

WhatisX11?WhywouldIneedanXserver?
TheXserver(a.k.a.X11)issomethingveryimportantinanUnix/Linuxenvironment:itisthegraphicallayeronwhichallgraphicalapplicationsarebased.
As X11 is a network protocol, applications that can display their graphical interface on a Linux/Unix desktop can also display it through the network on another
computeraswell.This2ndcomputeronlyneedstorunanX11servertodisplaythem.
MobaXtermincludesanX11server,basedon"X.Org",thatallowsyoutodisplayremotegraphicalLinux/UnixapplicationsonyourlocalWindowscomputerwithgreat
speedandperformances.
Example:OnyourremoteUnix/Linuxcomputer,youjusthavetoperformthefollowingcommand:

DISPLAY=MY_WINDOWS_HOST_RUNNING_MOBAXTERM:0.0xclock
...andyouwillseethe"xclock"interfaceonyourWindowsdesktop

WhatdoesX11Forwardingmeans?
X11ForwardingisamechanismthatallowstheX11protocoltoberoutedthroughanexistingSSHchannel.Themainadvantagesofthissolutionare:
X11protocolwillbeencrypted
X11protocolcanbecompressed
Thereisnoneedtosetupanewcommunicationchannel(andtoopencommunicationportsinyourfirewall)forX11:thenetworkpacketsgothroughthealready
existingSSHconnection

HowdoesX11Forwardingwork?
WithMobaXterm,itisreallyeasytouseX11Forwarding:justconnecttoyourserverusing"sshYMYSERVER"or"sshMYSERVER"(theYoptionisautomatically
on by default). Then, from the remote server prompt, run "xclock". You will see the "xclock" interface which has been transfered through SSH on your Windows
desktop.

WhyismyremoteDISPLAYvariableconfiguredto"localhost:10.0"?
Ifyoucheckthe"DISPLAY"environmentvariableonyourremoteserver,youwillnoticethatitissettosomethinglike"DISPLAY=localhost:10.0".Thisisthestandard
behaviour forX11Forwarding: it means that any program will use a localvirtual display (:10.0) which is created by SSH and which will be automatically forwarded
trhoughtheSSHconnectiontoMobaXtermdisplay.

IhaveanissuewithanX11remoteprogram(Java/X11/Motif)whichdoesnotacceptkeyboardinput:everytimeIpressakeyboardkey,nothingiswritten
onthetextfield
This problem can generally be solved easily by using X11 with a window manager instead of using X11 in "multiwindow" (transparent) mode: go to MobaXterm
"Settings"window>"X11"tab>select"WindowedmodewithFvwm"settinginthecomboboxandapply.Restartyourremoteprogramanditshouldtakekeyboard

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"Settings"window>"X11"tab>select"WindowedmodewithFvwm"settinginthecomboboxandapply.Restartyourremoteprogramanditshouldtakekeyboard
inputcorrectly.
If you want to use the standard "multiwindow" (transparent) X11 server and occasionally use the windowed X11 server with the window manager, you can go to
MobaXterm"Settings"window>"X11"tab>select"Multiwindowmode"settinginthecomboboxandapply,thenopenthe"tools"menuandselecteither"X11tab
withDwm"or"X11windowwithFvwm2".

HowdotheX11tabswithDWMwork?WhydoesMobaXtermincludethis"tiling"windowmanager?
DWMisapowerfulandrobustwindowmanagerwhichimplementsasmartwayofarrangingwindowsinordertogainspace.Windowsareautomaticallyplacedsideby
sidesothattheyalloccupythemaximumavailablespaceonthedesktop.
Tomoveawindow,use"Alt+Leftclick"
Toresizeawindow,use"Alt+Rightclick"

HowcanIsimplylaunchtheX11serverwithoutstartingthefullMobaXtermenvironment?
YoucanlaunchtheX11serveratMobaXtermstartupandcompletelyhidetheterminalbyusingthe"hideterm"command:

C:\Some\Place\MobaXterm.exehideterm
ThiswilllaunchMobaXtermminimzedinthesystemtrayandstarttheX11server.

HowcanIdisplayafullremotedesktopfromaUnix/LinuxserverinMobaXterm(Gnome,KDE,FVWM,Openbox,Fluxbox,IceWM,XFCE,Blackbox,DWM,
Enlightenment,LXDE,...)?
Youcanuse2differentsolutions:
ConfigureyourLinux/UnixdistributionforenablingXDMCPremoteaccess.Youwillfindtheappropriateprocedureinyourdistributiondocumentationorbysearching
for"activateXDMCP"onanysearchengine.Youwillthenbeabletodisplaythefullremotedesktopbystartinganew"XDMCP"sessioninMobaXterm
Go to MobaXterm "Settings" window > "X11" tab > select "Windowed mode" setting in the combo box and apply. This will run a windowed X11 server at
MobaXterm startup instead of the default "transparent" X11 server. Connect to your remote server using "ssh Y MY_REMOTE_SERVER" and then, run "gnome
session"orwhateverwindowmanageryouwant.
If you want to use the standard "multiwindow" (transparent) X11 server and occasionally start your full remote desktop in a windowed X11 server, you can go to
MobaXterm"Settings"window>"X11"tab>select"Multiwindowmode"settinginthecomboboxandapply,thenstartthefollowingsamplecommand:

(export DISPLAY=:36; startstopdaemon q b S exec /bin/XWin.exe silentduperror notrayicon nolisten

inet6 clipboard ac fp /usr/share/fonts/misc $DISPLAY && /bin/waitforX && ssh Y MY_REMOTE_SERVER "gnome
session")

4.3.SSHclient

WhatisSSH?
MobaXtermincludesaSSHclient(withSFTPandSCP)whichallowssecureencryptedconnectionstobesetupthroughthenetwork.TheSSHclientembeddedin
MobaXtermisbasedonOpenSSH.

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HowcanIusepublicSSHkeyswithMobaXterm?
Onclientside,youhavetogenerateapublicrsakey:

sshkeygentrsaN''qf~/.ssh/id_rsa
Thencopythefilethathasbeengeneratedontheclient(".ssh/id_rsa.pub")tothe~/.ssh/directoryoftheserverandrenameitto"authorized_keys":

scp.ssh/id_rsa.pubuser1@server1:.ssh/authorized_keys
Ifthe".ssh/authorized_keys"filealreadyexists,justappendyourownpublickeytothefile:

cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub user1@server1:/tmp/tmpkey && ssh user1@server1 "cat /tmp/tmpkey >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys &&
rm/tmp/tmpkey"

WhydoestheSFTPtabnotpopupwhenIlaunchaSSHsession?/WhydoesMobaXtermnotpromptmeforsavingmySSHpassword?
SomeLinuxdistributions(likeOpenSuse)orsomeotherUnixsystemshavedisabledSSHpasswordauthenticationbydefault.InorderforMobaXtermtobeableto
saveSSHpasswordsortolaunchtheSFTPbrowser,youwillhavetoreenablethisfeature:
Editthe"/etc/ssh/sshd_config"fileonyourserver,andcommentthefollowingline:

PasswordAuthenticationno
RestartyourSSHserverusingthefollowingcommand:

/etc/init.d/sshdrestart
ConnectusingMobaXtermSSHclientandyouwillnoticethat:
theSFTPtabwillbecorrectlylaunched
youwillbepromptedtosaveyourpasswordifyouwant

HowcanIperformaSSHconnectionthroughmySOCKSproxy?
Youcanusethefollowingcommand:

ssh
X
MY_USER_IN_REMOTE_HOST@REMOTE_HOST_NAME
MY_USER_IN_MY_COMPANY@PROXY_NAME:PROXY_PORT%h%p"

"ProxyCommand

connect

4.4.RDPclient

WhatisRDP?
RDP (a.k.a. "Terminal Services" or "TS") is a remote display protocol introduced by Microsoft for Windows OS. It allows users to connect to a remote host while
displayingandinteractingwiththeremotedesktopusingthelocalkeyboardandmouse.

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HowcanIsendCtrl+Alt+DelthroughRDP(terminalservice)?
YoucansendtheCtrl+Alt+DelkeyscombinationtoyourRDPremoteserverbyusingthe"Ctrl+Alt+END"keyscombination

4.5.SSHtunnelling(a.k.a."Portforwarding")

Whatisthepurposeofthe"tunneling"tool?
The Tunneling tool embedded inside MobaXterm ("MobaSSHTunnel) is a graphical interface for easily creating SSH tunnels. SSH tunnels (a.k.a. "port forwarding")
allowuserstoredirecttrafficfromoneportononecomputertoanothercomputerandport.Themainadvantagesofthissolutionare:
Noneedtoopennewconnectionportsinsidefirewalls
Noneedtosetupaproxyoragatewaywhenremotecomputersarenotaccessibledirectly
RedirectedtrafficissecuredbySSHencryption

4.6.MobaXtermterminal

MobaXtermdoesnotdisplaycorrectlysomespecialcharacters?Iencounterproblemswithmycountrycharset/encoding?
YoucantellMobaXtermtouse"UTF8"charactersetbygoingtothe"Settings"menu>"configuration">"Terminal"tab>choosethe"UTF8(unicode)"entryfrom
the"Charset"setting.

IcannotrunaWindowsapplicationinsideMobaXterm.MyWindowsPATHisnottakenintoaccountinMobaXterm.
You can tell MobaXterm to use the Windows PATH by going to the "Settings" menu > "configuration" > "Terminal" tab > check the "Append Windows PATH
environmentvariabletoMobaXterm"setting.

IamusingalaptopandIdonothaveanymiddlebuttononmytrackpad.HowcanIpastetextintheterminal?
YoucantellMobaXtermtouserightclickforpastingbygoingtothe"Settings"menu>"configuration">"Terminal"tab>checkthe"Pasteusingrightclick"setting.

4.7.Advancedfeatures

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4.7.Advancedfeatures

IwouldliketostartMobaXtermfromaBATCHscript.HowdoIuseMobaXterminsidemyscript?Whatarethecommandlineswitchesavailable?
About launching MobaXterm from a batch file, you have several possibilities. For instance, lets say you need to start an SSH session from a batch file, keeping
MobaXtermhiddenandtolaunchanXapplicationfromthatremotesshserver.
Youcandothisbyusing
the"hideterm"switchforhiddingMobaXterm
the"closewhendone"switchforclosingMobaXtermaftersessionexits
the"exec"switchforexecutingacommand
Forinstance,thiscommandlaunchesan"xclock"windowfromMYREMOTESERVER:

C:\Some\place\MobaXterm.exehidetermclosewhendoneexec"waitforX;sshMYREMOTESERVER'xclock'"

IwouldliketocreateanewpluginforMobaXterm.HowcanIdothat?
Downloadanexistingpluginfile(forinstance"Midnightcommander")
Renamepluginextensionfrom".mxt3"to".zip"
Openthe".zip"file
YouwillnoticethatcreatingMobaXtermpluginsonlyconsistsinputtingtherequiredcommands(executables,librariesandconfigurationfiles)intoaZIPfile,keeping
thesamefolderstreethaninMobaXterm("/bin","/lib","/usr","/etc").
IfyouwanttoaddasimpleWindowsprogram(exefile),youwilljusthavetocopytheexecutablefileintothe"/bin"directory,createtheZIParchive,renameitto
".mxt3"andputitinthesamedirectorythanMobaXtermexecutable.
IfyouwanttoaddaLinuxprogram,youwillhavetogetitfromtheCygwinprojectortorecompileitusingmake,gcc,g++orothercompilersthatareavailablefrom
theMobaXterm"Development"plugin.

Howtodisablethepenguinsscreensaver?Howtoremovethe"Games"menuandgamesentriesfromMobaXterm?
ThepenguinsscreensaverandthegameshavebeenaddedtobringfuntoMobaXtermterminal.UserswhouseMobaXterminsideacompanymightwanttodisable
these tools in order to have a more convenient tool for working. That is why the Professional edition of MobaXterm allows you to disable the screensaver and to
removethegamesandcorrespondingmenuentriesfromtheprogram.

Ilovethepenguinsscreensaver!CanIsubscribetoMobaXtermProfessionalEditionandkeepit?
We are glad you enjoy this screensaver: we spent a lot of time developing it! Of course, in the Professional Edition of MobaXterm, you can keep the penguins
screensaver(andthegames)ifyouwant.

I want to save my terminal output but when I choose the "Log all terminal activity to the following directory", I get a hardly readable file with special
charactersinit.
Ifyoujustwanttosavetheoutputfromaterminal,pleaseusethe"Terminal"menu>"Saveterminaltext".Abouttheterminallogging,itcanbeusedtologanything
thatisdisplayedinsidetheterminal.Ifyouwanttoreopenalogfile,pleaseuseMobaTextEditorinordertoremovethesespecialcharactersfromthefile.

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4.8.Miscellaneoustroubleshooting

MobaXtermdoesnotrunonWindows2000:itsaysthatthegdiplus.dllismissing...
MobaXtermiscompatiblewithWindows2000,butonoldWindows2000installations,itcandisplayanerrormessageaboutamissingdllgdiplus.dll,butyoucan
downloaditforfreeandputitinthesamefolderasmobaxtermexecutableinordertomakeitwork:http://www.dllfiles.com/dllindex/dllfiles.shtml?gdiplus

Iwanttoaskforsomesupport.Canyouhelpme?
Pleasesendusanemailbygoingtothe"Help"menu>"AboutMobaXterm">"Sendusanemail".Inthisemail,pleasetellus:
Whichversionandwhichedition(personalorprofessional)ofMobaXtermyouareusing
WhichWindowsversionyouareusing
Incaseyouencounteranissue,pleasedescribepreciselywhathappens(errormessage,freeze,etc...)andtrytogiveusastepbystepprocedurewecanfollowin
ordertoreproducethebug.

Isentanemailbutyouneveranswered
Pleaseallowthe"mobatek.net"domaininyouremailserversothatouremailswillnotgotoyourSPAMfolder.Alsoverifythatyoucorrectlywroteyouremailaddress
inthecontactform.

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Follow@mobatek
Copyright2013Mobatek
SARLaucapitalde3000
MobaXtermMobaSSHMobaMotivMobaPhotoMobaLiveCD

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