Using an X Window program, you can run Stata, SPSS, or SAS with graphical user interfaces. The X Window interfaces look and function similar to Windows versions of the programs, and have full graphic capabilities.
In the Data Statistical Services computer lab, we have Hummingbird Exceed installed on all of the machines. There also are freely available X Window programs like MI/X and cygwin if you would like to have one on your computer.
To run Stata, SPSS, or SAS from a Windows PC with an X Window interface, you need a connection to tombstone via SSH Secure Shell, and an X Window server running on your computer.
To start Exceed, click on the "Exceed" icon in the "Hummingbird Connectivity" folder on the start menu. Minimize or ignore the taskbar that pops up.
To start Cygwin, click on the "startxwin.bat" icon in the "Cygwin-x" folder on the start menu. You may close the two windows that pop up. You will see "X" on the bottom right bar of the screen.
Once you have an X Window server program running, you need to use an SSH program to connect to the machine you will be running a statistical program from. After you have SSH installed, you will need to configure it to allow X Window "tunneling."
Open SSH Secure Shell, click on File, then Profiles, and choose Edit Profiles. Next click on "Quick Connect", and open the Tunneling tab. Check "Tunnel X11 connections" under "X11 Tuneling" and press "OK". (Different versions of SSH Secure Shell may have slightly different layouts of options.) Connect to tombstone using Quick Connect.
To invoke Stata
In your SSH window, type xstata&
To invoke SPSS
In your SSH window, type xterm&
An XTerm window will open on your PC. Click in that window and type spss to run SPSS.
To invoke SAS
In your SSH window, type xterm&
An XTerm window will open on your PC. Click in that window and type sas to run SAS.
