Introduction

There are situations where you may need to securely access resources on a remote network without setting up a traditional VPN. SSH tunnelling provides a simple and secure way to route your traffic through a remote server using an encrypted connection.

Common Use Cases

  • Access applications or websites that are restricted to a specific network.
  • Connect to services hosted on a private network through a remote server.
  • Secure your browsing traffic when using an untrusted network.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

  • A Windows system
  • SSH access to the remote server
  • PuTTY installed
  • The server’s IP address or hostname
  • SSH username and password (or SSH key)

Implementation

Step 1: Configure the SSH Session

  1. Open PuTTY.
  2. Under Session, enter the following details:
    • Host Name (or IP Address): <Your Server IP Address>
    • Port: <SSH Port> (default: 22)
    • Connection Type: SSH

Step 2: Configure the SSH Tunnel

  1. In the left navigation pane, go to: Connection → SSH → Tunnels
  2. Configure the following settings:
    • Source Port: 1990
    • Select Dynamic
  3. Click Add.

The new tunnel should appear in the forwarded ports list.

Step 3: Connect to the Server

  1. Return to the Session page.
  2. Click Open.
  3. Enter your SSH username and password when prompted.

Once the connection is established, the SSH tunnel is active.

Step 4: Configure Firefox to Use the Tunnel

  1. Open Firefox.
  2. Navigate to: Settings → Network Settings
  3. Select Manual proxy configuration.
  4. Configure the following:
    • SOCKS Host: localhost
    • Port: 1990
    • SOCKS Version: 5 (recommended)
  5. Click OK to save the settings.

Firefox will now route its traffic through the SSH tunnel.

Verification

To verify that the tunnel is working correctly:

  1. Open Firefox.
  2. Visit an IP lookup website such as http://whatismyip.com.
  3. Confirm that the displayed public IP address matches your remote server’s IP address instead of your local ISP’s IP.

If the server’s IP is displayed, the SSH tunnel has been configured successfully.

Conclusion

Using PuTTY to create a dynamic SSH tunnel is a simple and secure alternative to a VPN for accessing remote or private network resources. Once configured, applications that use the SOCKS proxy (such as Firefox) can securely route their traffic through the remote server without requiring additional VPN software.

Post Views: 251

Leave a Reply