The DISPLAY variable is not getting set on RHEL 5 computers.

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

The DISPLAY variable is not getting set on RHEL 5 computers.

Error: no display specified
  • Using PuTTY to log into a RHEL 5.8 workstation from a Windows 7 computer.
  • X11 forwarding is enabled in PuTTY and /etc/ssh/sshd_config. XMing is running.
  • Trying to run system-config-users gives: "Error: system-config-users requires a currently running X server"
  • Trying to run firefox gives: "Error: no display specified"

Environment

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.8

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