Create an SSH tunnel from the command line
Background
These instructions should work for you if you have the ssh utility available from your command-line. This should be the case if you are running Mac OS X, or if you have installed Cygwin (with the openssh package) on a Windows computer.
Requirements
- A command-line SSH client
- A VNC session number (for this example, we assume it is 6)
Create an SSH tunnel
On your local machine, open up a command prompt and type something like this:
ssh -X -Y -C -g -L 5906:localhost:5906 my_account@big_server.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
where 5906 is what you would use if your VNC session number was 6. If your session number is 12, you would use 5912 instead. my_account should be replaced by your username, and big_server.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu should be replaced by your actual server name (or IP address). You should be asked for your password. Once you are logged in, you should see a command prompt. Leave this window open. As long as it is open, you should have an active SSH tunnel.
To close your SSH tunnel
Type "exit" in the SSH session that you used to create the tunnel.