## JupyterHub as a Graphical Environment

Many research applications, including RStudio, Matlab and Jupyter Notebooks are now available natively on the web through the [JupyterHub Interface](/_getting_started/jupyter/).

## Alternatives to JupyterHub

If you plan to run `Stata`, `SAS`, or any other Graphical User Interface (GUI) that is not configured for Jupyter, you will need to connect to the Yen servers with **X-forwarding** enabled. UIT has a [page](https://uit.stanford.edu/service/sharedcomputing/moreX) describing this in more detail, along with information about auxiliary, system-specific software that you will need to have installed before proceeding.

Warning

X-forwarding is fundamentally less stable than web-based interfaces and requires an excellent network connection to function well.

- For **Mac OS**, you need to have [XQuartz](https://www.xquartz.org/) installed first. XQuartz usually requires restarting your computer before you can use it.

- For **Windows**, we recommend installing [Windows Subsystem for Linux](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/install) for a full-featured Linux experience on Windows.

  WSL Quick Installation Instructions

  - run `wsl --install`
  - After WSL installs restart computer
  - Open search and look for Ubuntu
  - Follow the instructions to set up your username and password
  - You can now use the Ubuntu shell directly

#### Login to Yen Servers with X-forwarding

Terminal Command

```
ssh -Y <SUNet ID>@yen.stanford.edu
```

The `-Y` flag here enables X-forwarding, allowing you to run software on the server that uses graphical windows.

When prompted, type your SUNet ID password. Then, complete the two-factor authentication process. After you successfully login, check that X-forwarding works correctly. Choose any of the following commands and type it in the Yen command line interface as all of them will pop up a window if everything is working correctly - `xeyes`, `xcalc`, `xlogo` or `xclock` (or choose your favorite X11 command line program):

Terminal Command

```
xeyes
```

which will pop up a window with eyes tracking where your mouse is.

### Examples

Notebooks Can Be Used as an Alternative to a Traditional GUI

SAS, Stata, R, Python and Julia are available to run in a **notebook interface** within JupyterHub. Have a look [here](/_getting_started/jupyter/) to learn more about JupyterHub on the Yen servers and the software available.

#### Stata

For the Stata GUI, load the stata module with the version that you want:

Terminal Command

```
ml statamp
```

We can now launch the Stata GUI with:

Terminal Command

```
xstata-mp
```

The Stata GUI will pop open and you can do anything you would normally do.

#### SAS

To run SAS GUI, load the SAS module:

Terminal Command

```
ml sas
```

We can now launch SAS GUI with:

Terminal Command

```
sas
```

The SAS GUI will pop open and you can do anything you would normally do (but with noticeable delay due to X tunneling):