-i: The path to the SSH key to be used to connect to the host.ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa -D 1337 -f -C -q -N your_domain.Then open a terminal application to create an SSH tunnel with SOCKS proxy enabled. Once the key is created, make sure the public side is added to the ‘authorized_keys’ file on your SSH Droplet. On your local computer, create an SSH key if you didn’t create your Droplet with one already in place. Step 1 (macOS/Linux) - Setting Up the Tunnel

Users of macOS or Linux have the tools to set up the tunnel pre-installed. PuTTY is used to set up the proxy tunnel for Windows users.

For Windows users, you’ll also need either the PuTTY tool or Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

An application to configure with the SOCKS proxy, such as the Firefox web browser.

Go here to build your tunnel on a DigitalOcean Droplet. To set this up, you can follow our Initial Server Setup Tutorial for Ubuntu 20.04.

A Linux server running Ubuntu 20.04 (other distributions will work) with a sudo user and SSH access.

By the end of this tutorial you will be able to browse websites securely through the encrypted SSH tunnel. In this tutorial you’ll use a server running Ubuntu 20.04 (although any Linux distribution that you can access via SSH will work), and the Firefox web browser as the client application. On the server-side, all you need to configure is SSH. Unlike a VPN, a SOCKS proxy has to be configured on an app-by-app basis on the client machine, but you can set up apps without any specialty client software as long as the app is capable of using a SOCKS proxy. However, if all you need to secure is your web browsing, there is a fast, free, and useful alternative: a SOCKS 5 proxy tunnel.Ī SOCKS proxy is an SSH encrypted tunnel in which configured applications forward their traffic down, and then, on the server-end, the proxy forwards the traffic to the general Internet. One solution is to use a VPN, but many VPNs require special client software on your machine, which you may not have rights to install. IntroductionĪt some point, you may find yourself on a network that is insecure or has an overly restrictive firewall and you’ll want to make sure no one is watching your traffic.

The author selected the COVID-19 Relief Fund to receive a donation as part of the Write for DOnations program.

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