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How to use graphical tools on the headless Ubuntu?

Because you are working on the Ubuntu server which is headless, you may wonder how to use graphical tools. You have 2 choices. You can install Ubuntu-desktop and connect your Display device to your Raspberry Pi. But this way has 2 disadvantages.


  • ubuntu-desktop consumes more than 2GByte additional stage.
  • Working while looking at the desktop and PC at the same time may be a bit of a pain in the neck.


You can use graphical applications on your PC without Ubuntu-desktop through trusted X11 forwarding.

X11 might be available on your PC as follows:


  • Mac: XQuartz
  • Windows: VcXsrv
  • Linux: enabled as default if Desktop Linux


For using trusted X11 forwarding, just you should connect your Raspberry Pi with -Y option as follow:


ssh -Y pi@ubuntu.local


So, you can run the Turtlesim app on your PC seamlessly as follows:


ros2 run turtlesim turtlesim_node