SSH Port forwaring, keep remote client IP

Post by **ayu** » 16 Aug 2009, 13:42

I have a very private server application that I want to keep very hidden and secure, so the only way to access the server is to tunnel via SSH and forward a port to that service.

Now, the issue is that the server (the software) needs to know the clients IP to function correctly, but it seems that SSH, when forwarding, switches the IP to the servers own (making the server think that all clients come from the same place, which is the server itself).

I have read a bunch of articles and posts on different forums to find a good solution to this, but either I am searching using the wrong approach, or no one else has encountered this issue.

Does anyone know how I can prevent this from happening when a client connects to the server and tunnels to another service? I am unsure exactly what the nature of the issue is because I have not yet analyzed it (no time for it at the moment), but if anyone has an answer to the problem, then it would be great

Post by **bad_brain** » 16 Aug 2009, 14:12

hm, google for "transparent ssh tunnel", should do the trick....couldn't find a good howto that quick...

Post by **ayu** » 16 Aug 2009, 14:19

hmm, good choice of words ^^

I'll try that, thanks

Post by **ayu** » 17 Aug 2009, 12:52

I have searched and searched and searched, but I couldn't find ANY way at all to make SSH keep the clients IP.....

I will keep the SSH tunnel setup for a little while longer, in case anyone comes up with a magic solution ^^

But I think I will switch to a VPN instead, a friend suggested it and it sounds like a good idea.

EDIT: Forget what I said about using a VPN, due to the fact that the network performance will be severely lowered, I will not use this method.