[nfbcs] help with X11 forwarding

[Jim Barbour]

The only way the orca support people will be helpful, is if you are already running orca.

I do think it is worth finding out exactly what the plan is for these VM's. If the VM needs to be able to run X applications other then the browser, then you may need to go down the orca route. If the only X application will be the browser, then I would suggest seeing if your professor can get you working with a browser on your windows box, and then SSH to your VM for everything else. 

It's also worth knowing that orca only works with applications built on the gnome or KDE stack. You may not know what that means, but your professor might.

I notice a lot of information, hoping it's helpful.

Jim

Written While on the Move

> On Sep 17, 2015, at 8:25 AM, John G Heim via nfbcs <nfbcs at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Well, other people have commented on the technical issues and I have some points to make in that regard too. But another point to be made is that your instructor is legally required to make his course material available to you in an accessible format. I am not sure what he'd be going for with this X11 forwarding thing. Ssh is a key part of security but I am not sure why he'd insist that you use X11 forwarding. You may have to go to him and get him to let you do something else that allows you to learn the same thing about computer security. He is legally obligated to do that if possible. Don't let him try to weasel out of it either.  Some instructors look upon this kind of thing as an exciting challenge and some look upon it as a bother.
> 
> So he gave you like the config files and virtual disk files for a virtual machine and you have to run it on your own PC and then ssh into it? To do that, you'd have to install his choice of virtualization software and some kind of X11 client. Most students have either Windows or Apple computers and getting X11 forwarding working would be a problem for all of them. You wouldn't really be learning anything about security while getting all that working so I don't know what he's going for. There may be some exploit in X11 that he's trying to get you to understand. That's quite a reach though. Anyway, the point is that there has to be something else you can do to learn the same thing.
> 
> I tried sshing into a linux machine from my Mac and discovered that X11 forwarding does not work. I am not a Mac expert but I thought Macs ran X windows. Turns out not. But there is an apple project for doing X11 on a Mac.  See:
> https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201341
> 
> You might also consider subscribing to the orca support list. It's a very active list and if there is a way to get it to work, they'd know.
> orca-list at gnome.org
> 
>> On 09/16/2015 04:59 PM, Amanda Lacy via nfbcs wrote:
>> I'm trying to take a network security class. The professor has given
>> me an inaccessible VM (no Orca installed) and wants me to ssh into it
>> with X11 forwarding enabled. Then I'm supposed to open the web browser
>> Iceweasel and visit some web address.
>> 
>> My problem: the browser opens but I can't navigate it with a screen
>> reader. Is there any way to get this to work? At the moment I'm
>> running the VM on Windows but I have a Mac I can also use.
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> Amanda
>> 
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> 
> -- 
> John Heim, jheim at math.wisc.edu, skype:john.g.heim
> 
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