How to Tunnel Traffic

To proxy, or Dynamically Tunnel your Internet connection using Secure Shell (or OpenSSH) you must take the following two steps:

1. Establish an SSH Tunnel and,
2. Configure your browser

Establish an SSH Tunnel

Use your favorite SSH client to establish an SSH tunnel. This is also refered to as a Dynamic Port Forward, Dynamic Tunnel, or a SOCKS v5 proxy.

Specific examples for:

• Windows,
• Linux or Mac OS X, and
• ChromeOS are provided below.

Windows

A popular SSH client for Windows is PuTTY.

To configure PuTTY to use slowfruit.net as an SSH Tunnel:

1. Download and save PuTTY.exe to your Desktop.
2. In the "Host Name (or IP address)" textbox type "slowfruit.net"
3. On the left side of the PuTTY window there's a menu. Find "Connection" >> "SSH" >> "Tunnels" and click on "Tunnels"
4. In the "Source port" text box type "8080"
5. From the radio buttons below the "Destination" textbox choose "Dynamic"
6. Click the "Add" button
7. Return to the "Session" link on the menu
8. In the "Saved Sessions" textbox type "slowfruit" and click the "Save" button
9. Click the "Open" button. (The next time you use PuTTY click "slowfruit," the "Load" button, and finally the "Open" button)
10. In the blackbox that appears type your username and password

Keep this window open for as long as you want to use your SSH tunnel.

Now you're ready to configure your web browser!

Linux or Mac OS X

Open a Terminal (In Mac OS X you can find this in Finder under Applications > Utilities,) type the following and press enter:

ssh -D 8080 <your username>@slowfruit.net

Now enter your password. Note: The cursor will not move left as you enter your password.

Keep this window open for as long as you want to use your SSH tunnel.

Now you're ready to configure your web browser!

ChromeOS

You'll need to download and install Secure Shell from the Chrome Web Store.

Once installed open Secure Shell and:

1. In the "username" textbox type your username
2. In the "hostname" textbox type "slowfruit.net"
3. In the "SSH Arguments" textbox type "-D 8080"
4. Finally, click on the "[Enter] Connect" button

Keep this window open for as long as you want to use your SSH tunnel.

Now you're ready to configure your web browser!

Configuring your browser

To configure your web browser to connect to the local SOCKS v5 Proxy that you just created, use an addon or extension.

Are you using Firefox or Chrome?

Firefox

Note: Firefox for Android requires different configuration. The following DOES NOT apply for Firefox for Android.

Download and install FoxyProxy for Firefox.

Once installed right click on FoxyProxy's fox icon and:

1. Select "Options" from the menu
2. In the "Proxies" tab click the "Add New Proxy" button
3. Move to the "Proxy Details" tab
4. In the "Host Name or IP Address" textbox type "localhost"
5. In the Port textbox type "8080"
6. Check the box for "SOCKS proxy?"
7. Make sure the "SOCKS v5" radio button is selected
8. Click "OK"

To toggle the tunnel, right click on the FoxyProxy icon and select "Use proxy 'localhost:8080' for all URLs," or "Completely disable FoxyProxy."

Chrome

Note: Chrome for Android requires different configuration. The following DOES NOT apply for Chrome for Android.

Download and install SwitchySharp.

Once installed click on SwitchySharp's blue globe icon.

1. Click "Options"
2. Click "New Profile"
3. In the "Profile Name" textbox type "slowfruit.net"
4. In the "SOCKS Host" textbox type "localhost"
5. In the "Port" textbox immediately to the right of the "SOCKS Host" textbox type "8080"
6. Select "SOCKS v5" from the radio buttons
7. Click on the "Save" button

To toggle the tunnel select "slowfruit.net," or "Direct Connection" from SwitchySharp's blue globe icon.