Linux – Reverse SSH tunnel from Internet-less server

linuxssh-tunnelwindows 7

I have the following scenario:

Win laptop --> Cisco VPN --> SSH --> Internet-less linux server

Now, I need to install node.js on that server but it is a pain to do so without an Internet connection, so I was wondering if, given the above setup, it is possible to create a reverse tunnel from the server back to my laptop, so that the server can connect to the internet.
I reckon that the VPN can be a show-stopper, but in case someone has an idea…

Edit: I have no root privileges on the server.

Best Answer

Before you do anything, make sure that you are not violating any security policies imposed by your organization. If that's not an obstacle, here's what I'd do. There may be somewhat simpler ways.

Install a web proxy server on your Windows laptop. Squid and Apache are both fine choices. Choose a free port for the proxy server, say 8080.
In your SSH configuration on the laptop, set up a remote tunnel that maps destination port 8080 to source localhost, port 8080. How to do so depends on what SSH client you are using.
SSH to the Linux server. Set your web browser to use the proxy server http://localhost:8080/.

Related Solutions

Ssh – reverse ssh tunnel from server to laptop

ssh is configured for security reasons to make the new tunnels to listen on localhost. You have to use:

ssh -R :4445:localhost:80 sam@example.com

From the man page of openssh:

 -R [bind_address:]port:host:hostport
Specifies that the given port on the remote (server) host is to be forwarded to the given host and port on the local side. This works by allocating a socket to listen to port on the remote side, and whenever a connection is made to this port, the connection is forwarded over the secure channel, and a connection is made to host port hostport from the local machine.

Port forwardings can also be specified in the configuration file. Privileged ports can be forwarded only when logging in as root on the remote machine. IPv6 addresses can be specified by enclosing the address in square braces or using an alternative syntax: [bind_address/]host/port/hostport.

By default, the listening socket on the server will be bound to the loopback interface only. This may be overridden by specifying a bind_address. An empty bind_address, or the address ‘*’, indicates that the remote socket should listen on all interfaces. Specifying a remote bind_address will only succeed if the server’s GatewayPorts option is enabled (see sshd_config(5)).

SSH – How to Send Port Number to Server via Reverse SSH Tunnel

Wouldn't a VPN be more appropriate? OpenVPN is super simple to configure. Here is a sample config and some links to guide your through the certificate creation process:

apt-get install openvpn
mkdir /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa
mkdir -p /etc/openvpn/ccd/client_server
touch /etc/openvpn/ipp.txt
cp -a /usr/share/doc/openvpn/examples/easy-rsa/2.0/* /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa
cd /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa
source ./vars
./clean-all
./build-ca 
./build-dh
./build-key-server server
cd /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys
openssl pkcs12 -export -out server.p12 -inkey server.key -in server.crt -certfile ca.crt

Then create a new file /etc/openvpn/client_server.conf and put the following in it, changing the SERVER_IP_ADDRESS as appropriate

local SERVER_IP_ADDRESS
port 8443
proto udp
dev tun
ca /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/ca.crt
pkcs12 /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/server.p12
dh /etc/openvpn/easy-rsa/keys/dh1024.pem
ifconfig-pool-persist /etc/openvpn/ipp.txt
server 192.168.100.0 255.255.255.0
client-config-dir /etc/openvpn/ccd/client_server
ccd-exclusive
keepalive 10 120
comp-lzo
persist-key
persist-tun
status /var/log/openvpn-status.log
verb 3
reneg-sec 0

Then build a key per user who is going to connect, and create the config file in the ccd dir

./build-key-pkcs12 user1@domain.com
echo "ifconfig-push 192.168.100.2 255.255.255.0" > /etc/openvpn/ccd/client_server/user1@domain.com

The IP address MUST be suitable for a /30 subnet (see http://www.subnet-calculator.com/cidr.php), as there is only 2 addresses available (server and client) per connection. So your next available client IP would be 192.168.100.6 and so on.

Then you now have static IPs per connecting user.

Then supply the user1@domain.com.p12 file to the end-user and use the following config file

client
dev tun
proto udp
remote SERVER_IP_ADDRESS 8443
pkcs12 user1@domain.com.p12
resolv-retry infinite
nobind
ns-cert-type server
comp-lzo
verb 3
reneg-sec 0

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Ssh – reverse ssh tunnel from server to laptop

SSH – How to Send Port Number to Server via Reverse SSH Tunnel

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