Filed under: How-tos, Tips and tricks, Internet, Internet Tools, iTunes
How to stream your iTunes library across the web for free
Mac OS X users and faithful readers of TUAW know that there is great power found in the command-line, but one of the greatest advantages of OS X's UNIX heritage is the secure shell (SSH) client and server. From the Apple Matters article on SSH tunnels for the common man: "SSH is a network protocol that provides secure communication between two computers." Its power comes from the ability to create an encrypted tunnel through which a client can send many types of internet traffic.The Lifehacker article on setting up an SSH server covers the steps necessary to roll your own SSH server whether you are running Windows or OS X. Parts one and two of the Apple Matters series on SSH tunnels provide a lot of useful information on SSH as well as creating an SSH tunnel for encrypting traffic. One such use that has not yet been covered is how it is possible to stream your iTunes library across the internet while using software that is either built-in or available for free.
This tutorial will get pretty technical and assumes that you already have an SSH server and you know how to access it from a remote location (e.g. from work). If you are already past the point of just setting up an SSH server and are asking yourself "what now?" then read on to find out how you too can listen to your tunes at work even though they are trapped at home.
For starters, we must set-up an SSH tunnel from our local machine to our remote SSH server. There are several applications that can be used to create the tunnel such as JellyfiSSH (free) or Meerkat (not free) for OS X and PuTTY for Windows. Additionally, the tunnel can be created from the command-line using Terminal; if you are on Windows you will need to get Cygwin. The tunnel should be created such that you wish to access a remote service on port 3689 of your SSH server and have that forwarded to some random local port above 1024. If you use a port lower than 1024 it will require root privileges and for this reason I recommend something simple like 36890. If you're doing this the command-line way you're going to run something akin to the following:
"ssh user@remote_server_ip -L 36890:127.0.0.1:3689"In a nutshell the command above says to create an SSH tunnel that forwards the service running on port 3689 at the remote server to port 36890 on your local computer. To test the connection you can telnet to "127.0.0.1 36890" and then hit <enter> twice. This should list a killed connection to DAAP-Server: iTunes; if it does then your tunnel is up and everything is ready to go. If this does not work check to make sure that iTunes is running on the remote server, make sure library sharing is enabled or try verifying port 3689 is open at the remote server.
Now that the SSH tunnel is running smoothly, it's time for the magic portion of the show. You're going to need to grab an application called RendezvousProxy from here. RendezvousProxy is required for iTunes to be notified of the shared library's availability. If you are using Windows grab the only binary available and download it. On OS X you will need to download the binary for Java as the OS X binary does not seem to work in Leopard. There is no need to run the included script called "runme.sh" (it will not harm anything, it is simply unnecessary). Launch RendezvousProxy by double-clicking the included jar file; when the application appears you will need to add a host and configure it as shown here:
Once the new host has been added you should see a link to the shared library in iTunes:
At this point you can click on the newly added iTunes library share and start jamming out to the new Britney Spears Killers album. Keep in mind that if you are on dial-up or a similar low-bandwidth connection, the music may skip and problems could occur for users on the network where the SSH server resides. However, if you're rocking with a good connection and tons of tracks to choose from then you should have no problem finding some music to listen to -- probably annoying all of your co-workers.
One more thing: if you happen to have Xcode installed and want to go a step further with this little project it is incredibly easy to fix the OS X binary. All you have to do is download the source, open the project in Xcode, and re-build. Also, if you don't need an interactive terminal session open for the purpose of sending other commands to the SSH server you can add the "-N" flag to the command so it reads "-NL" instead.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Gregg said 12:05PM on 12-10-2008
What about SimplifyMedia? Much easier setup.
http://www.simplifymedia.com/
Reply
DMac said 12:10PM on 12-10-2008
I'd have to agree. SimplifyMedia is super simple and it works well. They even have a version for iPhone so you can stream your iTunes Library anywhere anytime.
Jason Martin said 12:22PM on 12-10-2008
Holy crap, that's complicated! When I saw the headline in my RSS reader, I thought it would be about SimplifyMedia. While there might be advantage of this method over SimplifyMedia, I can't think of it. Anyone else?
Aron Trimble said 12:25PM on 12-10-2008
SimplifyMedia is free for now but there is no guarantee it will always be free or even available. There is also the fact that some people are extremely paranoid and prefer to not have to go through 3rd parties for accessing data remotely. Personally, I like the idea of being able to use as much open source software as I can.
Dave said 1:02PM on 12-10-2008
Aron Trimble: Then why use iTunes, if I may ask?
Jason Martin said 1:07PM on 12-10-2008
Aron,
Actually, that's a very good explanation. I think I'll keep using Simplify Media for now, but I'll file this away for if/when that's no longer what I want. Thanks!
Aron Trimble said 1:12PM on 12-10-2008
iTunes is the only game in town for the vast majority of what it offers*. Honestly, I think iTunes has a much higher likelihood of survival in the current market than SimplifyMedia does.
*I am aware of the Amazon MP3 store and other such places for purchasing media, however iTunes is the only way I know of to rent HD movies, purchase HD tv shows, and acquire applications for my iPhone (without voiding the warranty) all from the comfort of my couch.
mcg said 6:01PM on 12-10-2008
One thing SimplifyMedia can do that this approach cannot is to transcode your music to a lower bit-rate format over slow connections.
aphex said 12:15PM on 12-10-2008
Lovely, so now that its uninstalled, the Subject column is missing not only from my Inbox, but its missing from the list to select it to turn it back on.
Wow. Just wow.
Reply
aphex said 12:19PM on 12-10-2008
lol, please ignore my previous comment. That's what I get for trying to save my TUAW password with 1password, it saved the comment as well and auto submits it :(
What i was GOING to say is that I agree with the previous comments 100%, SimplifyMedia is SUPERB. Couldn't be easier to setup and use.
Reply
Stretch said 12:34PM on 12-10-2008
I have to agree with Simplify Media. Works cross platform, Windows, OS X, and Linux, and set up is extremely simple.
Reply
wizardishungry said 12:41PM on 12-10-2008
Not to mention iPhone (perfect for vacations).
Pedant said 12:40PM on 12-10-2008
"across the web"
The web is not the internet, dammit!
Reply
ankurrani said 12:51PM on 12-10-2008
I just prefer using my 80gb iPod. While streaming is technologically-sexxy, it's easier to just listen to music on my iPod. Streaming takes a lot of battery life out of a mobile device especially.
Reply
buzzbishop said 12:55PM on 12-10-2008
I just use LastFm and I can even get my whole library on my iPhone.
Did a video on it and everything
http://www.buzzbishop.com/blog/2008/09/03/my-favorite-free-iphone-3g-apps-lastfm/
Reply
Jerry Salem said 12:58PM on 12-10-2008
FWIW I use myTunesRSS
it isn't free but works extremely well
gives you a nice web interface, xplatform and responsive developer.
it also offers a great feature where they will automatically redirect your traffic to your home computer even if your provider decides to change your IP
http://www.codewave.de/products/mytunesrss/
Jerry
Reply
Johnny said 12:58PM on 12-10-2008
I was going to suggest Simplify Media for most users, but, well....
I still think this is really cool information, however, and as he said, some people prefer a more secure connection with no third party involvement. It really isn't that complicated and you could use this to learn more about SSH, which has many benefits. He does state that it gets technical. I'd say it goes a little beyond the typical user level of TUAW articles, especially since it doesn't give any reference to finding the remote server's (dynamic) IP.
Reply
Dan said 4:32PM on 12-11-2008
There is a free version of MyTunesRSS with somewhat limited features here:
http://codewave.de/products/mytunesrss/freeware/
It lacks last.fm support and multiple users, but it worked great for me until I upgraded to the full version. Works on mobile devices like iPhone, PSP, etc. as well.
Brian Bufalo said 1:07PM on 12-10-2008
Himachi VPN will also do the trick.
Reply
christophercjensen said 1:12PM on 12-10-2008
I like these techy writeups. Some of us prefer using osx's built in functionality and get our hands dirty :)
Keep 'em coming, Aaron!
Reply