--- title: 'Use SSH as SOCKS 5 proxy' url: 'https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/use-ssh-as-socks-5-proxy' markdown: 'https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/use-ssh-as-socks-5-proxy.md' date: '2021-04-10' description: 'I recently needed to access a resource that was only available from a remote Linux PC (i.e. my machine → remote Linux PC → network resource). The problem? There’s no GUI, no X Server I only have SSH access. The solution? One option is to set up a local port forward (ssh -L local_socket:host:host_socket), but this is limited to only a single end point and won’t work if the remote network resource redirects traffic to another port. This would work if we are, for example, talking to a web server over HTTP (port 80), but we would need to create a separate rule for HTTPS (port 443) and any other port required (e.g. for web sockets). Fortunately, anothe' taxonomy: tag: - Linux - SSH --- # Use SSH as SOCKS 5 proxy [ Home ](https://kb.hills-family.uk/) [ Blog ](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog) Use SSH as SOCKS 5 proxy 10 *Apr* #### [Use SSH as SOCKS 5 proxy](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/use-ssh-as-socks-5-proxy) [Linux](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Linux) [SSH](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:SSH) I recently needed to access a resource that was only available from a remote Linux PC (i.e. my machine → remote Linux PC → network resource). The problem? There’s no GUI, no X Server I only have SSH access. The solution? One option is to set up a local port forward (`ssh -L local_socket:host:host_socket`), but this is limited to only a single end point and won’t work if the remote network resource redirects traffic to another port. This would work if we are, for example, talking to a web server over HTTP (port 80), but we would need to create a separate rule for HTTPS (port 443) and any other port required (e.g. for web sockets). Fortunately, another solution exists whereby I can use the remote Linux PC as a proxy server, essentially letting me work as if I was on the remote Linux PC instead of my machine. This solution involves using the SSH tunnel to the remote Linux PC as a local dynamic application-level port forward and treating the connection as a proxy. This can be activated from terminal using: ```bash ssh -D 8080 -C2qTnN username@remote_linux_pc_address ``` This command will connect to `remote_linux_pc_address` using `username` and configure SSH as follows: - `-D 8080` establishes a local port listener at port 8080 that you can attach a browser to use it as a SOCKS 5 proxy. - `-C` enable compressions. - `-2` uses SSH version 2 *only*. - `-q` supresses warnings and diagnostic messages. - `-T` disables pseudo-terminal (tty) allocation. - `-n` redirects `stdin` to `/dev/null`, thus prevening reading of `stdin`. - `-N` tells SSH not to execute a remote command. Next, set up a web browser to use a SOCKS 5 proxy with hostname `localhost` (or `127.0.0.1`) and port `8080`. **Note:** If the web browser doesn’t respond, it’s possible the SSH connection has dropped. [ Next Post](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/when-you-dont-have-curl) #### Knowledge Base Tips, tricks and how-to guides on various topics. #### Popular Tags [Linux](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Linux) [Dynamics AX](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Dynamics%20AX) [D365 Finance and Operations](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:D365%20Finance%20and%20Operations) [Network](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Network) [Data Management Framework](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Data%20Management%20Framework) [Logic Apps](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Logic%20Apps) [JavaScript](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:JavaScript) [netcat](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:netcat) [SSH](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:SSH) [PowerShell](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:PowerShell) [Virtual Machines](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Virtual%20Machines) [VMware](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:VMware) [SQL Server](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:SQL%20Server) [Wireshark](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Wireshark) [Python](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Python) [Licensing](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Licensing) [Ubuntu](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/tag:Ubuntu) --- ## Navigation - Parent: [Blog](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog.md) - Previous: [When you don't have curl...](https://kb.hills-family.uk/blog/when-you-dont-have-curl.md)