SSH Tunneling Proxy using Putty on Windows and Linux (Unblock YouTube / Orkut / Facebook)

SSH Tunneling?

SSH Tunneling is the method by which, requests from our local system is encapsulated in an SSH session and forwarded to a remote computer, which then sends the requests as if they originated from the remote computer.

Using this method we can set up Socks (V5) Proxies to access websites. This method is used for anonymous browsing as well as for accessing Blocked sites within the local network, such as Orkut, Facebook, YouTube or any other website, you name it :).

On Windows
Setting up an SSH Tunnel on Linux is obvious and I will describe it anyway, but lets see how it is done on Windows first. For Windows you need

• Putty
• A Browser

That's about it. Putty is a free software you can download for free.

Next run "Putty.exe", You can see a screen as shown below:



In the Hostname (or IP Address) textbox, provide the IP or Domain of the SSH server. You can get some free SSH servers out there on the internet, try searching for "Free SSH Servers", I am not posting any servers in particular because, I dont see any servers out there that will be there forever. Still there will always be some free servers, Good for us :)...

Next on the left hand side tree, Click on SSH and make sure it appears as in the screen shot below. Watch out for Compression and SSH Version.



Next click on Tunnel Button, and Fill up the source port as 9090 (Can be any port > 1024, Just remember this number, I used 9090) and Click on the Dynamic Option Below, These are highlighted below:

• After doing these Click the Add Button.
• Now click on the Tree View on the left side, the top most item, "Session"
• In Saved Session enter a name and Press Save.
• Now click Open.

Now a Window should open, and you have to login with your username and password. That's it with the Putty part. :)

Next time you run putty, you just have to double click the saved name from the list of Saved Sessions. No need to follow the above step. Next we have to configure the Browser to use this proxy.

On Linux (Or Cygwin on Windows)
Run the command

ssh -C2qTnN -D 9090 username@remote_machine.com

Setting up the Browser

Firefox
On linux take Edit > Preferences
On Windows take Tools > Options



Click on Advanced > Network Tab > Settings. (Illustrated Above)
Now you get a window as shown below, and fill the settings as shown below.



Manual Proxy Settings
Blank out all other Text Fields
Socks Host: localhost
Port : 9090 (or the one you specified earlier)
Check Socks v5 Option.

Click on Ok and again Ok (in the options Window)

Internet Explorer And Google Chrome
Take Start Menu > Control Panel > Internet Options


Click on Connections Tab > Lan Settings (Highlighted in Figure Above)



Check use a proxy server and click advanced.



Now fill up Socks as localhost, and Port 9090 or the one you gave earlier.
Click Ok and Ok and Ok as needed :)

That's all Enjoy Browsing :)...
Visit "www.orkut.com" "www.facebook.com" and verify that your proxy connection does work..
:)