Home/ Questions/The warning: untrusted x11 forwarding setup failed: xauth key data not generated error: what should you do?
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Gabin Garnier
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Asked: 2022-05-18T10:23:06+00:00 In:

The warning: untrusted x11 forwarding setup failed: xauth key data not generated error: what should you do?

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I get the “warning: untrusted x11 forwarding setup failed: xauth key data not generated” issue when trying to get ssh X forwarding to work.
Here is the detail of the error I got the error message:

Warning: untrusted X11 forwarding setup failed: xauth key data not generated
 X11 forwarding request failed on channel 0

xterm: Xt error: Can't open display:
 xterm: DISPLAY is not set

Please give me some advice to solve this problem.

untrusted x11 forwarding setup failed
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2 Answers

  1. Best Answer
    Expert

    The cause: Because certain incorrect responses could lead to security issues.

    1. Using ssh -Y here suggests you’re using a bogus xauth key, which is bad!
    2. Because XQuartz uses xauth once enabled, ssh -X should work. The main issue is that ssh looks for xauth in /usr/X11R6/bin, whereas it is in /opt/X11/bin on macOS with XQuartz.

    The solution:

    1. Authenticated connections can be enabled by selecting the first option on the Security tab of preferences (Cmd-,).
    2. Edit ~/.ssh/config, add XAuthLocation /opt/X11/bin/xauth to the host config.
    3. ssh -X your_server works in a secure manner.
    4. Ensure that the destination host has xauth installed.
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  2. Security flaws can result from incomplete answers.

    1. Use ssh-Y to indicate that you have fake xauth information. This is bad!
    2. ssh –X should work because XQuartz once enabled uses xauth. The problem is that ssh looks for xauth on /usr/X11R6/bin, while it is found in /opt/X11/bin on macOS withXQuartz.

    Secure Solution:

    1. To enable authenticated connections, enable the first option from the Security tab (Cmd-),

    2. Edit ~/.ssh/config and add XAuthLocation /opt/X11/bin/xauth in the host configuration.

    3. ssh -X your_server works securely.

    4. Ensure that xauth has been installed on the destination host.

    • 19

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