Displaying BC for Linux Remotely

X-window

Displaying BC for Linux remotely requires an X-Window client.  BC will not run remotely via SSH unless an X-Window client is running on the local computer.

Running Remotely using MobaXterm on Windows

  1. Open MobaXterm.
  2. Click the Session button.
  3. Click SSH.
  4. In the Advanced SSH settings tab, check X11-Forwarding.
  5. Enter the remote host and username, then click OK.
  6. bcompare

Running Remotely using Putty and VcXsrv on Windows

  1. Open VcXsrv.
  2. Open Putty.
  3. In the left menu, go to Connection > SSH > X11.
  4. Check Enable X11 forwarding.
  5. In the left menu, go to Session.
  6. Enter the Host Name of your server and click OK.
  7. bcompare

Running Remotely using macOS and XQuartz

  1. Open Applications > Utilities > XQuartz.
  2. Open Terminal.
  3. ssh -Y user@server
  4. bcompare

Running Remotely Using Linux

  1. Open Terminal.
  2. ssh -Y user@server
  3. bcompare

BC4 logo BC Version 4 - Optimizing Performance

Beyond Compare 4 on Linux uses the QT 4.8 application framework.  QT 4.8 supports three rendering modes: native, raster, and opengl.  Native uses X11 for painting, which is fast on a remote display.  Raster is faster than native for local displays, but transfers bitmaps instead of X11 commands for remote displays.  For the best performance on remote displays, use the QT_GRAPHICSSYSTEM environment variable to force native rendering.

To run BC4 Linux one time in native rendering mode:
QT_GRAPHICSSYSTEM=native bcompare

To always run BC4 Linux in native rendering mode, add the following lines to the end of $HOME/.bash_profile:
QT_GRAPHICSSYSTEM=native
export QT_GRAPHICSSYSTEM

Beyond Compare 3 uses the QT 3.x application framework, it does not require environment variables for optimized remote display performance.