SCS User's Guide

A commonly-asked question when using scientific software on polaris is, "how can I display this program?" You can do several things. The first is to come in to the vizlab and use the SGI workstations, which will be able to display all the scientific applications available at SCS. Another option is to log in to some other UNIX workstation, run the command "xhost + polaris.scs.uiuc.edu", and then log in to polaris and run the command "setenv DISPLAY <hostname of computer you are sitting at>:0". After that, any X windows program run on polaris should display to the computer you are in front of.

It is also possible to display X programs to a PC, with the help of a software package called a X server. The procedures for doing this are very similar to the UNIX procedures above; the difference is that, instead of running the "xhost" command, you would start up the X server program before logging in to polaris. The SCS Computer Center distributes eXceed, a commercial PC X server package; please see Dan Wright in 153 Noyes Lab if you are interested in getting eXceed.