Reverse SSH Tunnel

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Reverse SSH Tunnel
Enable on-prem connectivity with Quickwork. Connect client services running on a network using SSH commands with the necessary private keys, hostnames, and ports.
Quickwork connects to services running in a private network without needing a public IP or gateway to establish a secure connection. Quickwork provides SSH hostname, SSH user, and a set of remote ports configured for you to establish a connection. Each port is allowed to be configured for a single service at a time. In order to connect with a private SSH instance, execute the following command:
1
ssh -f -N -R 
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<REMOTE_FORWARD_PORT>:<SERVICE_HOSTNAME_OR_IP>:<SERVICE_PORT> 
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<SSH_USER>@<SSH_HOST> -g -i <PATH_TO_PRIVATE_KEY> -o 
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ServerAliveCountMax=1 -o ExitOnForwardFailure=yes
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Here are the definitions for each tag: 
REMOTE_FORWARD_PORT: The port number shared by Quickwork to tunnel the traffic
SERVICE_HOSTNAME_OR_IP: Service hostname or IP 
SERVICE_PORT: Port number your service is listening on 
SSH_USER: Dedicated username configured by Quickwork for client connection establishment 
SSH_HOST: Hostname shared to you by Quickwork, specific to your region 
PATH_TO_PRIVATE_KEY: Path to the private key file shared by Quickwork to establish a connection with the remote server
Definitions of each flag: 
-f: Run SSH agent in the background
-N: Do not allow to execute a remote command
-R: Remote address binding 
-g: Allows remote hosts to connect to local forwarded ports 
-i: Path to the private key file for identification purposes 
-o: Option flags are used to exit on failure and keep the connection alive
If you prefer, you can establish a connection using the SSH configuration file. Here are the steps to do so:
1.Edit your SSH configuration file.
2.Add the following configuration SSH settings to the open file: 

Host <SSH_HOST>
      user                   <SSH_USER> 
      IdentityFile           <PATH_TO_PRIVATE_KEY> 
      ServerAliveInterval    30 
      ServerAliveCountMax    1 
      ExitOnForwardFailure   yes
3.Run one of the following commands via SSH or using autossh, in case you want to use a reliable SSH process manager:

ssh -f -N -R 
<REMOTE_FORWARD_PORT>:<SERVICE_HOSTNAME_OR_IP>:<SERVICE_PORT> <SSH_HOST> -g 

or via autossh 

autossh -M 0 -f -N -R 
<REMOTE_FORWARD_PORT>:<SERVICE_HOSTNAME_OR_IP>:<SERVICE_PORT> <SSH_HOST> -g 

Note: Ensure that the service running the SSH client can access the underlying service.
Establishing connection of a local service with Quickwork
To understand how to establish a connection with Quickwork, we will use PostgresSQL as an example to establish a connection with the reverse SSH tunnel: 
SSH_HOST: Hostname shared to you by Quickwork, specific to your region
REMOTE_FORWARD_PORT: The port number shared by Quickwork to tunnel the traffic 
DB_NAME: Name of your database 
DB_USERNAME: Database username 
DB_PASSWORD: Database password 
Figure 1: PostgeSQL app
And that’s it, you have successfully established a connection of a service running in your private network to Quickwork, without exposing the service to an internet gateway.
Quickwork Embedded - Getting Started
Last modified 4mo ago
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