Cannot Open Display Error- While trying to Open Thunar (Google Cloud)

Question

I am using Cent OS 7 in Gcloud. I just installed Thunar using this command

yum install Thunar

Then run this command thunar to open up Thunar File manager. But it says:-

Thunar: Cannot Open Display:

I got this error too while trying to use Nemo and Nautilus. But could not solve it. Please help me to get through this...

You're trying to use GUI application via SSH connection? Probably console file manager like Midnight Commander https://midnight-commander.org/ is more suitable for your use case. — Serhii Rohoza, Feb 19 '20 at 11:36
Yes, but Midnight Commander does not fullfill my need. I already have it — ALL THINGS REMAIN HERE, Feb 19 '20 at 14:30

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 19 '20 at 21:48

To be able to run X application using a remote SSH connection you need:

A local X server (XQuartz for instance)
X-Forwarding SSH connection ( ssh -X for instance )
exported DISPLAY environment variable.

There is more to it but although I didn't read that reference, it seems to be precisely what you need: https://kb.iu.edu/d/bdnt

This is slower than using a local file manager, but it could suits you. As an alternative, using VNC or other remote-desktop type client could be a solution as well.

Cannot Open Display Error- While trying to Open Thunar (Google Cloud)

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