meth@methzbox~$ cat sshtunneling.txt



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#                                                                     #
#           ssh tunneling by meth                           #
#                          #
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Hey reader, I'm meth and in this article im going to talk about a few things.  Which will include:


% Whats SSH
% Whats Tunneling
% Tools Needed
% How To Do It
% Configuring Firefox & Others

Ok, first I'm going to talk about what SSH is.  For those of you who do not know, SSH is short for 'secure shell'.  SSH
is user to transfer data between computers.  SSH was made to replace telnet.  Telnet is basically the same as SSH
it is just less secure.  The data transfered in SSH is encrypted opposed to telnet which is not encrypted, just sent.
Many sites now and days are running SSH, it listens on port 22 [TCP Port].  There are many programs you can use
to connect to a server via SSH.  Such as dos (command prompt), PuTTY, and in *nix you can use the terminal to
make a connection to a server via SSH.

SSH Tunneling is the process in which someone connects to a server via SSH and creates a 'tunnel' to perform certain
tasks, such as mask your IP ( proxy ).  Which is always useful.  An SSH tunnel is sometimes refered to as a
VPN ( virtual private network ).  

If you are trying to create a tunnel via SSH on windows, then it is best you get PuTTy which can be downloaded at
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html.  From here everything begins to get easy.  For
PuTTy users all you have to do is open up PuTTy which is when it prompts you with a configuration window
('PuTTY Configuration').  Now depending on whatever server you are trying to connect to via SSH, is what you will put
as the IP address.  If I was trying to connect to www.google.com via SSH, then that is what I would put as the hostname,
or if I had the IP address I could put that in.  Make sure that SSH is checked and port is 22.  Do not hit ok just yet, you
still have to configure PuTTy to make the tunnel.  So after that you click the plus sign next to SSH.  Then click 'Tunnels'.  For
the source port you can put any port you want for instance I use port 1337.  Then click add, you should then see something
below saying 'D1337'.  Under destination you should make sure that only auto and dynamic is checked off.  Then you are
ready to go so you can click open.  Then you just login to the SSH server with the username and password.  You should also
check your IP address at www.whatismyip.com and take note of it.

Now you have to configure your programs that use internet connections such as, your internet browser ( preferably firefox ), your
IRC client, and many others.  Its really simple.  For firefox all you have to do is click Tools then Options.  You should then see
a variety of tabs.  Click 'Advanced', then below those tabs should be some more mini tabs, click 'Network' and then settings.
You should see a 3 check off's.  Click the one that says 'Manual Proxy Configuration'.  Near the bottom you should see
'SOCKS Host', where it says that put '127.0.0.1'.  And port that you used, (mines was 1337).  Make sure SOCKSV5 is
checked off and not SOCKSV4.  You can then click ok.  Its best to restart firefox to make sure the settings have changed.
Go to a site that tells you your IP address such as www.whatismyip.com or www.ipchicken.com.  If your IP has changed since
before then you are sucessfully SSH tunneling.  It is pretty much the same for other programs requiring internet connections, just
go to option or preferences find where it says connection or network or something similar, check of SOCKSV5, IP is 127.0.0.1
and the port you used (mines was 1337).  

Thats about all it is to the basics of SSH tunneling.  Thank you for reading my article.  If there are any questions you can contact me at
methmelons@gmail.com