Socks Proxy On Linux

Set up the SSH tunnel

We’ll create an SSH tunnel that will securely forward traffic from your local machine on port

Code:

9090

to the SSH server on port

Code:

22

. You can use any port number greater than

Code:

1024

, only root can open ports on privileged ports.

Linux and macOS

If you run Linux, macOS or any other Unix-based operating system on your local machine, you can easily start an SSH tunnel with the following

Code:

ssh

command:

Code:

ssh -N -D 9090 [USER]@[SERVER_IP]

The options used are as follows:

• Code:

  -N

  - Tells SSH not to execute a remote command.
  

• Code:

  -D 9090

  - Opens a SOCKS tunnel on the specified port number.
  

• Code:

  [USER]@[SERVER_IP]

  - Your remote SSH user and server IP address.
  
• To run the command in the background use the
  

  Code:

  -f

  option.
  
• If your SSH server is listening on a port other than 22 (the default) use the
  

  Code:

  -p [PORT_NUMBER]

  option.
  

Once you run the command, you’ll be prompted to enter your user password. After entering it, you will be logged in to your server and the SSH tunnel will be established.
You can set up an SSH key-based authentication and connect to your server without entering a password.

Windows

Windows users can create an SSH tunnel using the PuTTY SSH client. You can download PuTTY here .

1. Launch Putty and enter your server IP Address in the
   

   Code:

   Host name (or IP address)

   field.
   
   
   
   
2. Under the
   

   Code:

   Connection

   menu, expand
   

   Code:

   SSH

   and select
   

   Code:

   Tunnels

   . Enter the port
   

   Code:

   9090

   in the
   

   Code:

   Source Port

   field, and check the
   

   Code:

   Dynamic

   radio button.
   
   
   
   
3. Click on the
   

   Code:

   Add

   button as shown in the image below.
   
   
   
   
4. Go back to the
   

   Code:

   Session

   page to save the settings so that you do not need to enter them each time. Enter the session name in the
   

   Code:

   Saved Session

   field and click on the
   

   Code:

   Save

   button.
   
   
   
   
5. Select the saved session and log in to the remote server by clicking on the
   

   Code:

   Open

   button.
   
   
   
   A new window asking for your username and password will show up. Once you enter your username and password you will be logged in to your server and the SSH tunnel will be started.
   Setting up public key authentication will allow you to connect to your server without entering a password.
   

Configuring Your Browser to Use Proxy

Now that you have open the SSH SOCKS tunnel, the last step is to configure your preferred browser to use it.

Firefox

The steps below are the same for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

1. In the upper right-hand corner, click on the hamburger icon
   

   Code:

   ☰

   to open Firefox’s menu:
   
2. Click on the
   

   Code:

   Preferences

   link.
   
3. Scroll down to the
   

   Code:

   Network Settings

   section and click on the
   

   Code:

   Settings...

   button.
   
4. A new window will open.
   
   • Select the
     

     Code:

     Manual proxy configuration

     radio button.
     
   • Enter
     

     Code:

     127.0.0.1

     in the
     

     Code:

     SOCKS Host

     field and
     

     Code:

     9090

     in the
     

     Code:

     Port

     field.
     
   • Check the
     

     Code:

     Proxy DNS when using SOCKS v5

     checkbox.
     
   • Click on the
     

     Code:

     OK

     button to save the settings.
     

At this point, your Firefox is configured and you can browse the Internet through the SSH tunnel. To verify, you can open

Code:

google.com

, type “what is my ip” and you should see your server IP address.
To revert back to the default settings go to

Code:

Network Settings

, select the

Code:

Use system proxy settings

radio button and save the settings.
There are also several plugins that can help you to configure Firefox’s proxy settings such as FoxyProxy .

Google Chrome

Google Chrome uses the default system proxy settings. Instead of changing your operating system proxy settings you can either use an addon such as SwitchyOmega or start Chrome web browser from the command line.
To launch Chrome using a new profile and your SSH tunnel use the following command:
Linux :

Code:

/usr/bin/google-chrome \
    --user-data-dir="$HOME/proxy-profile" \
    --proxy-server="socks5://localhost:9090"


In Kali Linux machine let’s run the command to connect with the Ubuntu using Dynamic SSH tunnelling.

Code:

ssh -D 7000 raj@192.168.1.108

Code:

ssh -L 7000:192.168.22.129:80 raj@192.168.1.108

keep Sessions Alive