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Q&A How to forward SSH access of one machine, through another, to the rest of a network?

I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then: You have one client that you are connecting from You have one server that you are able to co...

posted 3y ago by Canina‭  ·  edited 3y ago by Canina‭

Answer
#5: Post edited by user avatar Canina‭ · 2021-07-02T07:08:42Z (over 3 years ago)
  • I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then:
  • * You have one client that you are connecting from
  • * You have one server that you are able to connect to
  • * You have some number of hosts which are only reachable through that server, to which you would like to connect
  • * All connections are done with SSH
  • This can be accomplished by using the "server" as a *jumpstation* to reach the hosts logically behind it, using SSH's port forwarding functionality.
  • (It's probably worth noting that what I describe here isn't *strictly* a jumpstation setup, as a jumpstation is typically taken to be a minimal host to which a connection is established for the express purpose of establishing a further, *isolated* connection, thereby maintaining a degree of network isolation between the two endpoint hosts such that one still can't directly reach the other. Still, it's close enough that the term seems applicable.)
  • **First,** set things up so that you can conveniently connect from the client to the server. It sounds like you have already done this, but if not, that's the place to start.
  • **Second,** start a SSH connection with port forwarding to the host that you ultimately want to be able to connect to.
  • **Third,** connect to the local-listen forward port on the client, in order to reach the host you want to ultimately connect to.
  • Port forwarding can be a little tricky to get right, but the basic principle is simply that you choose a local port, which *the server* will then forward, according to its own network settings, to a different host and port. This enables you to reach a host *through* the SSH connection which you couldn't reach directly; even one on an entirely different LAN segment. The only requirement is that it's reachable over TCP/IP from the server; to the final destination host, the traffic looks like it came from the server, not from the ultimate client.
  • Assuming that the host you ultimately want to connect to is `172.16.0.99`, which the client you are connecting from can't reach directly. Also assume that things are set up such that `ssh 10.1.2.3` causes you to be logged in to the server that *can* reach 172.16.0.99. Now add port forwarding:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:22 10.1.2.3
  • What this does is tell SSH to bind to *local* port 12345, and that any traffic that arrives on that port is to be forwarded *through* the SSH connection in such a way that the server you connect to (10.1.2.3) will itself forward that data to 172.16.0.99 port 22. Any reply traffic will take the opposite direction back to the client.
  • Once the SSH session is up and running, you should now be able to, *on the client*
  • ssh -p 12345 127.0.0.1
  • which will result in a connection being established all the way to 172.16.0.99 port 22. *Through that connection*, in turn, in this particular example SSH will attempt to establish a brand-new SSH session.
  • If that doesn't work, check to make sure that port forwarding is enabled on the server (in our case, the 10.1.2.3), and that *it*, in turn, can reach the host specified client-side in the port forwarding declaration. Aside from the specific log files, /etc/ssh/sshd_config settings like `AllowTcpForwarding` and `PermitOpen` may be a good place to start debugging.
  • Note that there is nothing special about running SSH through the tunnel. For example, we could use telnet instead:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:23 10.1.2.3
  • followed by
  • telnet 127.0.0.1 12345
  • While in this case the connection between 10.1.2.3 and 172.16.0.99 will be completely unprotected, the traffic that flows between the client (the host you are sitting at) and 10.1.2.3 *will* be encrypted and integrity protected by virtue of being routed through the SSH session.
  • (As an aside, if you do this a lot, you may want to look at autossh to automatically establish and maintain a SSH connection, and/or `LocalForward` in the SSH client configuration, as appropriate.)
  • I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then:
  • * You have one client that you are connecting from
  • * You have one server that you are able to connect to
  • * You have some number of hosts which are only reachable through that server, to which you would like to connect
  • * All connections are done with SSH
  • This can be accomplished by using the "server" as a *jumpstation* to reach the hosts logically behind it, using SSH's port forwarding functionality.
  • (It's probably worth noting that what I describe here isn't *strictly* a jumpstation setup, as a jumpstation is typically taken to be a minimal host to which a connection is established for the express purpose of establishing a further, *isolated* connection, thereby maintaining a degree of network isolation between the two endpoint hosts such that one still can't directly reach the other. Still, it's close enough that the term seems applicable.)
  • **First,** set things up so that you can conveniently connect from the client to the server. It sounds like you have already done this, but if not, that's the place to start.
  • **Second,** start a SSH connection with port forwarding to the host that you ultimately want to be able to connect to.
  • **Third,** connect to the local-listen forward port on the client, in order to reach the host you want to ultimately connect to.
  • Port forwarding can be a little tricky to get right, but the basic principle is simply that you choose a local port, which *the server* will then forward, according to its own network settings, to a different host and port. This enables you to reach a host *through* the SSH connection which you couldn't reach directly; even one on an entirely different LAN segment. The only requirement is that it's reachable over TCP/IP from the server; to the final destination host, the traffic looks like it came from the server, not from the ultimate client.
  • SSH supports *local* and *remote* port forwarding. (Mostly when one talks of SSH port forwarding, one refers to *local* port forwarding.) To remember the direction of the traffic flow for each, keep in mind that the "local" and "remote" specifier binds more tightly to "port", and specifies where the listener to that port is set up. A "local port" forward sets up a local listener to a port and passes that traffic through the SSH connection to be further forwarded by the server to some destination; a "remote port" forward sets up a remote listener to a port and passes that traffic through the SSH connection to be further forwarded by the client to some destination. In both cases, the destination can be the local host.
  • With the OpenSSH command-line client, local port forwarding is specified using the `-L` parameter, and remote port forwarding is specified using the `-R` parameter. Other implementations are likely to do it differently, and may have a different format for how to specify the forwarding, but the general principle should transfer readily between implementations. My examples here are for OpenSSH, since that is probably the most commonly used SSH implementation on \*nix systems.
  • Assuming that the host you ultimately want to connect to is `172.16.0.99`, which the client you are connecting from can't reach directly. Also assume that things are set up such that `ssh 10.1.2.3` causes you to be logged in to the server that *can* reach 172.16.0.99. Now add port forwarding:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:22 10.1.2.3
  • What this does is tell SSH to bind to *local* port 12345, and that any traffic that arrives on that port is to be forwarded *through* the SSH connection in such a way that the server you connect to (10.1.2.3) will itself forward that data to 172.16.0.99 port 22. Any reply traffic will take the opposite direction back to the client.
  • Once the SSH session is up and running, you should now be able to, *on the client*
  • ssh -p 12345 127.0.0.1
  • which will result in a connection being established all the way to 172.16.0.99 port 22. *Through that connection*, in turn, in this particular example SSH will attempt to establish a brand-new SSH session.
  • If that doesn't work, check to make sure that port forwarding is enabled on the server (in our case, the 10.1.2.3), and that *it*, in turn, can reach the host specified client-side in the port forwarding declaration. Aside from the specific log files, /etc/ssh/sshd_config settings like `AllowTcpForwarding` and `PermitOpen` may be a good place to start debugging.
  • Note that there is nothing special about running SSH through the tunnel. For example, we could use telnet instead:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:23 10.1.2.3
  • followed by
  • telnet 127.0.0.1 12345
  • While in this case the connection between 10.1.2.3 and 172.16.0.99 will be completely unprotected, the traffic that flows between the client (the host you are sitting at) and 10.1.2.3 *will* be encrypted and integrity protected by virtue of being routed through the SSH session.
  • Particularly for remote port forwarding, you may also want to look at the `GatewayPorts` setting in OpenSSH's /etc/ssh/sshd_config; if left at its current default value of `no`, connections from other hosts to the remote forward port are prevented. Depending on your intended usage, you may need to adjust this, possibly within an appropriate `Match` directive.
  • Also, port forwarding is only guaranteed to work for TCP; while in principle I suspect UDP *could* be forwarded just as well, it looks like the standard only allows for TCP port forwarding. See [RFC 4254 section 7](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4254#section-7) for some of the gory details. However, OpenSSH also supports doing port forwarded I/O through a UNIX socket; see the ssh man page on `-L` and `-R` respectively for details.
  • (As an aside, if you do this a lot, you may want to look at autossh to automatically establish and maintain a SSH connection, and/or `LocalForward` in the SSH client configuration, as appropriate.)
#4: Post edited by user avatar Canina‭ · 2021-07-01T13:43:27Z (over 3 years ago)
  • I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then:
  • * You have one client that you are connecting from
  • * You have one server that you are able to connect to
  • * You have some number of hosts which are only reachable through that server, to which you would like to connect
  • * All connections are done with SSH
  • This can be accomplished by using the "server" as a *jumpstation* to reach the hosts logically behind it.
  • (It's probably worth noting that what I describe here isn't *strictly* a jumpstation setup, as a jumpstation is typically taken to be a minimal host to which a connection is established for the express purpose of establishing a further, *isolated* connection, thereby maintaining a degree of network isolation between the two endpoint hosts such that one still can't directly reach the other. Still, it's close enough that the term seems applicable.)
  • **First,** set things up so that you can conveniently connect from the client to the server. It sounds like you have already done this, but if not, that's the place to start.
  • **Second,** start a SSH connection with port forwarding to the host that you ultimately want to be able to connect to.
  • **Third,** connect to the local-listen forward port on the client, in order to reach the host you want to ultimately connect to.
  • Port forwarding can be a little tricky to get right, but the basic principle is simply that you choose a local port, which *the server* will then forward, according to its own network settings, to a different host and port. This enables you to reach a host *through* the SSH connection which you couldn't reach directly; even one on an entirely different LAN segment. The only requirement is that it's reachable over TCP/IP from the server; to the final destination host, the traffic looks like it came from the server, not from the ultimate client.
  • Assuming that the host you ultimately want to connect to is `172.16.0.99`, which the client you are connecting from can't reach directly. Also assume that things are set up such that `ssh 10.1.2.3` causes you to be logged in to the server that *can* reach 172.16.0.99. Now add port forwarding:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:22 10.1.2.3
  • What this does is tell SSH to bind to *local* port 12345, and that any traffic that arrives on that port is to be forwarded *through* the SSH connection in such a way that the server you connect to (10.1.2.3) will itself forward that data to 172.16.0.99 port 22. Any reply traffic will take the opposite direction back to the client.
  • Once the SSH session is up and running, you should now be able to, *on the client*
  • ssh -p 12345 127.0.0.1
  • which will result in a connection being established all the way to 172.16.0.99 port 22. *Through that connection*, in turn, in this particular example SSH will attempt to establish a brand-new SSH session.
  • If that doesn't work, check to make sure that port forwarding is enabled on the server (in our case, the 10.1.2.3), and that *it*, in turn, can reach the host specified client-side in the port forwarding declaration. Aside from the specific log files, /etc/ssh/sshd_config settings like `AllowTcpForwarding` and `PermitOpen` may be a good place to start debugging.
  • Note that there is nothing special about running SSH through the tunnel. For example, we could use telnet instead:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:23 10.1.2.3
  • followed by
  • telnet 127.0.0.1 12345
  • While in this case the connection between 10.1.2.3 and 172.16.0.99 will be completely unprotected, the traffic that flows between the client (the host you are sitting at) and 10.1.2.3 *will* be encrypted and integrity protected by virtue of being routed through the SSH session.
  • (As an aside, if you do this a lot, you may want to look at autossh to automatically establish and maintain a SSH connection, and/or `LocalForward` in the SSH client configuration, as appropriate.)
  • I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then:
  • * You have one client that you are connecting from
  • * You have one server that you are able to connect to
  • * You have some number of hosts which are only reachable through that server, to which you would like to connect
  • * All connections are done with SSH
  • This can be accomplished by using the "server" as a *jumpstation* to reach the hosts logically behind it, using SSH's port forwarding functionality.
  • (It's probably worth noting that what I describe here isn't *strictly* a jumpstation setup, as a jumpstation is typically taken to be a minimal host to which a connection is established for the express purpose of establishing a further, *isolated* connection, thereby maintaining a degree of network isolation between the two endpoint hosts such that one still can't directly reach the other. Still, it's close enough that the term seems applicable.)
  • **First,** set things up so that you can conveniently connect from the client to the server. It sounds like you have already done this, but if not, that's the place to start.
  • **Second,** start a SSH connection with port forwarding to the host that you ultimately want to be able to connect to.
  • **Third,** connect to the local-listen forward port on the client, in order to reach the host you want to ultimately connect to.
  • Port forwarding can be a little tricky to get right, but the basic principle is simply that you choose a local port, which *the server* will then forward, according to its own network settings, to a different host and port. This enables you to reach a host *through* the SSH connection which you couldn't reach directly; even one on an entirely different LAN segment. The only requirement is that it's reachable over TCP/IP from the server; to the final destination host, the traffic looks like it came from the server, not from the ultimate client.
  • Assuming that the host you ultimately want to connect to is `172.16.0.99`, which the client you are connecting from can't reach directly. Also assume that things are set up such that `ssh 10.1.2.3` causes you to be logged in to the server that *can* reach 172.16.0.99. Now add port forwarding:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:22 10.1.2.3
  • What this does is tell SSH to bind to *local* port 12345, and that any traffic that arrives on that port is to be forwarded *through* the SSH connection in such a way that the server you connect to (10.1.2.3) will itself forward that data to 172.16.0.99 port 22. Any reply traffic will take the opposite direction back to the client.
  • Once the SSH session is up and running, you should now be able to, *on the client*
  • ssh -p 12345 127.0.0.1
  • which will result in a connection being established all the way to 172.16.0.99 port 22. *Through that connection*, in turn, in this particular example SSH will attempt to establish a brand-new SSH session.
  • If that doesn't work, check to make sure that port forwarding is enabled on the server (in our case, the 10.1.2.3), and that *it*, in turn, can reach the host specified client-side in the port forwarding declaration. Aside from the specific log files, /etc/ssh/sshd_config settings like `AllowTcpForwarding` and `PermitOpen` may be a good place to start debugging.
  • Note that there is nothing special about running SSH through the tunnel. For example, we could use telnet instead:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:23 10.1.2.3
  • followed by
  • telnet 127.0.0.1 12345
  • While in this case the connection between 10.1.2.3 and 172.16.0.99 will be completely unprotected, the traffic that flows between the client (the host you are sitting at) and 10.1.2.3 *will* be encrypted and integrity protected by virtue of being routed through the SSH session.
  • (As an aside, if you do this a lot, you may want to look at autossh to automatically establish and maintain a SSH connection, and/or `LocalForward` in the SSH client configuration, as appropriate.)
#3: Post edited by user avatar Canina‭ · 2021-07-01T13:42:23Z (over 3 years ago)
  • I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then:
  • * You have one client that you are connecting from
  • * You have one server that you are able to connect to
  • * You have some number of hosts which are only reachable through that server, to which you would like to connect
  • * All connections are done with SSH
  • This can be accomplished by using the "server" as a *jumpstation* to reach the hosts logically behind it.
  • **First,** set things up so that you can conveniently connect from the client to the server. It sounds like you have already done this, but if not, that's the place to start.
  • **Second,** start a SSH connection with port forwarding to the host that you ultimately want to be able to connect to.
  • **Third,** connect to the local-listen forward port on the client, in order to reach the host you want to ultimately connect to.
  • Port forwarding can be a little tricky to get right, but the basic principle is simply that you choose a local port, which *the server* will then forward, according to its own network settings, to a different host and port. This enables you to reach a host *through* the SSH connection which you couldn't reach directly; even one on an entirely different LAN segment. The only requirement is that it's reachable over TCP/IP from the server; to the final destination host, the traffic looks like it came from the server, not from the ultimate client.
  • Assuming that the host you ultimately want to connect to is `172.16.0.99`, which the client you are connecting from can't reach directly. Also assume that things are set up such that `ssh 10.1.2.3` causes you to be logged in to the server that *can* reach 172.16.0.99. Now add port forwarding:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:22 10.1.2.3
  • What this does is tell SSH to bind to *local* port 12345, and that any traffic that arrives on that port is to be forwarded *through* the SSH connection in such a way that the server you connect to (10.1.2.3) will itself forward that data to 172.16.0.99 port 22. Any reply traffic will take the opposite direction back to the client.
  • Once the SSH session is up and running, you should now be able to, *on the client*
  • ssh -p 12345 127.0.0.1
  • which will result in a connection being established all the way to 172.16.0.99 port 22. *Through that connection*, in turn, in this particular example SSH will attempt to establish a brand-new SSH session.
  • If that doesn't work, check to make sure that port forwarding is enabled on the server (in our case, the 10.1.2.3), and that *it*, in turn, can reach the host specified client-side in the port forwarding declaration. Aside from the specific log files, /etc/ssh/sshd_config settings like `AllowTcpForwarding` and `PermitOpen` may be a good place to start debugging.
  • Note that there is nothing special about running SSH through the tunnel. For example, we could use telnet instead:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:23 10.1.2.3
  • followed by
  • telnet 127.0.0.1 12345
  • While in this case the connection between 10.1.2.3 and 172.16.0.99 will be completely unprotected, the traffic that flows between the client (the host you are sitting at) and 10.1.2.3 *will* be encrypted and integrity protected by virtue of being routed through the SSH session.
  • (As an aside, if you do this a lot, you may want to look at autossh to automatically establish and maintain a SSH connection, and/or `LocalForward` in the SSH client configuration, as appropriate.)
  • I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then:
  • * You have one client that you are connecting from
  • * You have one server that you are able to connect to
  • * You have some number of hosts which are only reachable through that server, to which you would like to connect
  • * All connections are done with SSH
  • This can be accomplished by using the "server" as a *jumpstation* to reach the hosts logically behind it.
  • (It's probably worth noting that what I describe here isn't *strictly* a jumpstation setup, as a jumpstation is typically taken to be a minimal host to which a connection is established for the express purpose of establishing a further, *isolated* connection, thereby maintaining a degree of network isolation between the two endpoint hosts such that one still can't directly reach the other. Still, it's close enough that the term seems applicable.)
  • **First,** set things up so that you can conveniently connect from the client to the server. It sounds like you have already done this, but if not, that's the place to start.
  • **Second,** start a SSH connection with port forwarding to the host that you ultimately want to be able to connect to.
  • **Third,** connect to the local-listen forward port on the client, in order to reach the host you want to ultimately connect to.
  • Port forwarding can be a little tricky to get right, but the basic principle is simply that you choose a local port, which *the server* will then forward, according to its own network settings, to a different host and port. This enables you to reach a host *through* the SSH connection which you couldn't reach directly; even one on an entirely different LAN segment. The only requirement is that it's reachable over TCP/IP from the server; to the final destination host, the traffic looks like it came from the server, not from the ultimate client.
  • Assuming that the host you ultimately want to connect to is `172.16.0.99`, which the client you are connecting from can't reach directly. Also assume that things are set up such that `ssh 10.1.2.3` causes you to be logged in to the server that *can* reach 172.16.0.99. Now add port forwarding:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:22 10.1.2.3
  • What this does is tell SSH to bind to *local* port 12345, and that any traffic that arrives on that port is to be forwarded *through* the SSH connection in such a way that the server you connect to (10.1.2.3) will itself forward that data to 172.16.0.99 port 22. Any reply traffic will take the opposite direction back to the client.
  • Once the SSH session is up and running, you should now be able to, *on the client*
  • ssh -p 12345 127.0.0.1
  • which will result in a connection being established all the way to 172.16.0.99 port 22. *Through that connection*, in turn, in this particular example SSH will attempt to establish a brand-new SSH session.
  • If that doesn't work, check to make sure that port forwarding is enabled on the server (in our case, the 10.1.2.3), and that *it*, in turn, can reach the host specified client-side in the port forwarding declaration. Aside from the specific log files, /etc/ssh/sshd_config settings like `AllowTcpForwarding` and `PermitOpen` may be a good place to start debugging.
  • Note that there is nothing special about running SSH through the tunnel. For example, we could use telnet instead:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:23 10.1.2.3
  • followed by
  • telnet 127.0.0.1 12345
  • While in this case the connection between 10.1.2.3 and 172.16.0.99 will be completely unprotected, the traffic that flows between the client (the host you are sitting at) and 10.1.2.3 *will* be encrypted and integrity protected by virtue of being routed through the SSH session.
  • (As an aside, if you do this a lot, you may want to look at autossh to automatically establish and maintain a SSH connection, and/or `LocalForward` in the SSH client configuration, as appropriate.)
#2: Post edited by user avatar Canina‭ · 2021-07-01T13:35:40Z (over 3 years ago)
  • I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then:
  • * You have one client that you are connecting from
  • * You have one server that you are able to connect to
  • * You have some number of hosts which are only reachable through that server, to which you would like to connect
  • * All connections are done with SSH
  • This can be accomplished by using the "server" as a *jumpstation* to reach the hosts logically behind it.
  • **First,** set things up so that you can conveniently connect from the client to the server. It sounds like you have already done this, but if not, that's the place to start.
  • **Second,** start a SSH connection with port forwarding to the host that you ultimately want to be able to connect to.
  • Port forwarding can be a little tricky to get right, but the basic principle is simply that you choose a local port, which *the server* will then forward, according to its own network settings, to a different host and port. This enables you to reach a host *through* the SSH connection which you couldn't reach directly; even one on an entirely different LAN segment. The only requirement is that it's reachable over TCP/IP from the server; to the final destination host, the traffic looks like it came from the server, not from the ultimate client.
  • Assuming that the host you ultimately want to connect to is `172.16.0.99`, which the client you are connecting from can't reach directly. Also assume that things are set up such that `ssh 10.1.2.3` causes you to be logged in to the server that *can* reach 172.16.0.99. Now add port forwarding:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:22 10.1.2.3
  • What this does is tell SSH to bind to *local* port 12345, and that any traffic that arrives on that port is to be forwarded *through* the SSH connection in such a way that the server you connect to (10.1.2.3) will itself forward that data to 172.16.0.99 port 22. Any reply traffic will take the opposite direction back to the client.
  • Once the SSH session is up and running, you should now be able to, *on the client*
  • ssh -p 12345 127.0.0.1
  • which will result in a connection being established all the way to 172.16.0.99 port 22. *Through that connection*, in turn, in this particular example SSH will attempt to establish a brand-new SSH session.
  • If that doesn't work, check to make sure that port forwarding is enabled on the server (in our case, the 10.1.2.3), and that *it*, in turn, can reach the host specified client-side in the port forwarding declaration. Aside from the specific log files, /etc/ssh/sshd_config settings like `AllowTcpForwarding` and `PermitOpen` may be a good place to start debugging.
  • Note that there is nothing special about running SSH through the tunnel. For example, we could use telnet instead:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:23 10.1.2.3
  • followed by
  • telnet 127.0.0.1 12345
  • While in this case the connection between 10.1.2.3 and 172.16.0.99 will be completely unprotected, the traffic that flows between the client (the host you are sitting at) and 10.1.2.3 *will* be encrypted and integrity protected by virtue of being routed through the SSH session.
  • (As an aside, if you do this a lot, you may want to look at autossh to automatically establish and maintain a SSH connection, and/or `LocalForward` in the SSH client configuration, as appropriate.)
  • I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then:
  • * You have one client that you are connecting from
  • * You have one server that you are able to connect to
  • * You have some number of hosts which are only reachable through that server, to which you would like to connect
  • * All connections are done with SSH
  • This can be accomplished by using the "server" as a *jumpstation* to reach the hosts logically behind it.
  • **First,** set things up so that you can conveniently connect from the client to the server. It sounds like you have already done this, but if not, that's the place to start.
  • **Second,** start a SSH connection with port forwarding to the host that you ultimately want to be able to connect to.
  • **Third,** connect to the local-listen forward port on the client, in order to reach the host you want to ultimately connect to.
  • Port forwarding can be a little tricky to get right, but the basic principle is simply that you choose a local port, which *the server* will then forward, according to its own network settings, to a different host and port. This enables you to reach a host *through* the SSH connection which you couldn't reach directly; even one on an entirely different LAN segment. The only requirement is that it's reachable over TCP/IP from the server; to the final destination host, the traffic looks like it came from the server, not from the ultimate client.
  • Assuming that the host you ultimately want to connect to is `172.16.0.99`, which the client you are connecting from can't reach directly. Also assume that things are set up such that `ssh 10.1.2.3` causes you to be logged in to the server that *can* reach 172.16.0.99. Now add port forwarding:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:22 10.1.2.3
  • What this does is tell SSH to bind to *local* port 12345, and that any traffic that arrives on that port is to be forwarded *through* the SSH connection in such a way that the server you connect to (10.1.2.3) will itself forward that data to 172.16.0.99 port 22. Any reply traffic will take the opposite direction back to the client.
  • Once the SSH session is up and running, you should now be able to, *on the client*
  • ssh -p 12345 127.0.0.1
  • which will result in a connection being established all the way to 172.16.0.99 port 22. *Through that connection*, in turn, in this particular example SSH will attempt to establish a brand-new SSH session.
  • If that doesn't work, check to make sure that port forwarding is enabled on the server (in our case, the 10.1.2.3), and that *it*, in turn, can reach the host specified client-side in the port forwarding declaration. Aside from the specific log files, /etc/ssh/sshd_config settings like `AllowTcpForwarding` and `PermitOpen` may be a good place to start debugging.
  • Note that there is nothing special about running SSH through the tunnel. For example, we could use telnet instead:
  • ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:23 10.1.2.3
  • followed by
  • telnet 127.0.0.1 12345
  • While in this case the connection between 10.1.2.3 and 172.16.0.99 will be completely unprotected, the traffic that flows between the client (the host you are sitting at) and 10.1.2.3 *will* be encrypted and integrity protected by virtue of being routed through the SSH session.
  • (As an aside, if you do this a lot, you may want to look at autossh to automatically establish and maintain a SSH connection, and/or `LocalForward` in the SSH client configuration, as appropriate.)
#1: Initial revision by user avatar Canina‭ · 2021-07-01T13:21:07Z (over 3 years ago)
I'm having trouble visualizing exactly what your setup is like, but if I understand correctly, then:

 * You have one client that you are connecting from
 * You have one server that you are able to connect to
 * You have some number of hosts which are only reachable through that server, to which you would like to connect
 * All connections are done with SSH

This can be accomplished by using the "server" as a *jumpstation* to reach the hosts logically behind it.

**First,** set things up so that you can conveniently connect from the client to the server. It sounds like you have already done this, but if not, that's the place to start.

**Second,** start a SSH connection with port forwarding to the host that you ultimately want to be able to connect to.

Port forwarding can be a little tricky to get right, but the basic principle is simply that you choose a local port, which *the server* will then forward, according to its own network settings, to a different host and port. This enables you to reach a host *through* the SSH connection which you couldn't reach directly; even one on an entirely different LAN segment. The only requirement is that it's reachable over TCP/IP from the server; to the final destination host, the traffic looks like it came from the server, not from the ultimate client.

Assuming that the host you ultimately want to connect to is `172.16.0.99`, which the client you are connecting from can't reach directly. Also assume that things are set up such that `ssh 10.1.2.3` causes you to be logged in to the server that *can* reach 172.16.0.99. Now add port forwarding:

    ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:22 10.1.2.3

What this does is tell SSH to bind to *local* port 12345, and that any traffic that arrives on that port is to be forwarded *through* the SSH connection in such a way that the server you connect to (10.1.2.3) will itself forward that data to 172.16.0.99 port 22. Any reply traffic will take the opposite direction back to the client.

Once the SSH session is up and running, you should now be able to, *on the client*

    ssh -p 12345 127.0.0.1

which will result in a connection being established all the way to 172.16.0.99 port 22. *Through that connection*, in turn, in this particular example SSH will attempt to establish a brand-new SSH session.

If that doesn't work, check to make sure that port forwarding is enabled on the server (in our case, the 10.1.2.3), and that *it*, in turn, can reach the host specified client-side in the port forwarding declaration. Aside from the specific log files, /etc/ssh/sshd_config settings like `AllowTcpForwarding` and `PermitOpen` may be a good place to start debugging.

Note that there is nothing special about running SSH through the tunnel. For example, we could use telnet instead:

    ssh -L 12345:172.16.0.99:23 10.1.2.3

followed by

    telnet 127.0.0.1 12345

While in this case the connection between 10.1.2.3 and 172.16.0.99 will be completely unprotected, the traffic that flows between the client (the host you are sitting at) and 10.1.2.3 *will* be encrypted and integrity protected by virtue of being routed through the SSH session.

(As an aside, if you do this a lot, you may want to look at autossh to automatically establish and maintain a SSH connection, and/or `LocalForward` in the SSH client configuration, as appropriate.)