Skip to Content

Meerkat 1.5 automatically reconnects your SSH Tunnels

by TJ Luoma Feb 18th 2010 at 10:30PM

Meerkat turns SSH tunnels -- a fairly obscure and complicated concept -- into a feature anyone should be able to use, and does so in a very Mac-like way.

I've known about SSH tunnels for a long time, but I've never been able to get them working. The concept is simple enough: a SSH connection is formed between two computers, allowing for secure access between them. (For more, see SSH: Tunneling Explained.)

What would you use a SSH tunnel for? Here are a couple possibilities: you can stream your iTunes library across the web for free. Our local library has a terribly onerous "web filter" which even blocks Delicious and a bunch of other useful sites. By setting up a SSH tunnel and SOCKS proxy I can avoid that filter. If I want to access my webhosting management panel, I have to do so from a "known" IP address or go through a multi-step process to register another IP. By using a SSH tunnel, I can securely connect to my webhosting company and then access the tunnel.

But how do you setup ssh tunnels? You could do it manually via Terminal.app, but that's not very Mac-like. We've mentioned Meekat before but even then I wasn't able to get it to work until recently. What made the difference? The new "Tunnel Setup Assistant." When version 1.5 was released, it added something very cool, especially for laptop users: automatic reconnection. Combine it with NetworkLocation and you can have a nearly seamless and flexible set of rules to let you access all of your information securely, regardless of where you are. (It's also fully AppleScript-able.)

If you've ever tried to setup a SSH tunnel before and gave up because it was too complicated or too much work, give Meerkat a look. It's a slick program that should appeal to power Mac users of all shades. There's a 14-day demo, plenty of time to figure out how it works and how to use it. A license costs US$19.95, and there's a 30-day guarantee. If you have any questions, I found the developer, Justin Miller, to be very responsive.



View Tags

Related Stories

Categories

UNIX / BSD

Meerkat turns SSH tunnels -- a fairly obscure and complicated concept -- into a feature anyone should be able to use, and does so in a very...
 

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

17 Comments

Filter by:
Toby

I would also vote for learning a bit about tunnels, and rolling your own. I have an Automator app as a Startup Item that uses the Run Shell Script action to establish several tunnels via autossh (which you can install for free via MacPorts), to tunnel email, web surfing, and IMs. The advantage to using autossh is that it will automatically re-establish your ssh tunnels if they drop (whether it's due to network outages or to sleeping your mac).

February 19 2010 at 12:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
JimB

I use it everyday and it was worth the $20 bucks in the time it saves me.

My favorite feature is it automatically reestablishes tunnels when I move from one internet connection to another.

It's not something the average user would probably need, but it fits my needs quite well.

February 19 2010 at 11:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jimbo

Can someone tell me how I can use the command line to log in to iPhone Remote (Telekinesis) from a computer at work?

My work's network blocks https:// so I can't log in to iPhone Remote from there. Will Meerkat, or the command line, fix that for me?

February 19 2010 at 9:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Alexander

I've been using the free Secret Socks for a while now and it works great.

http://nihilex.com/secret-socks

February 19 2010 at 7:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dmin7b5

I just got through blogging about how to do this with Terminal. It really isn't that hard. http://blog.jeff-owens.com/security/using-ssh-to-safely-surf-with-free-wifi/

February 19 2010 at 7:05 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
andreas.sahlbach

If you do this to tunnel through your company proxy that is blocking sites, please keep in mind, that

a) you are risking your job doing so.

b) they cannot see what your are doing with this connection but they can see that you are connected. Be prepared that they are asking what the hell you are doing with such a connection.

February 19 2010 at 3:32 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to andreas.sahlbach's comment
David Huff

Everyone should pay attention to Andreas' comment. Any IT/network security team worth their pay would spot this tout de suite.

Yeah, yeah...I know. Web filters are a pain in the a**, but you DID choose to work where you do, yes ? Besides, there's always your iPhone ;)

February 22 2010 at 9:03 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
colouroflight

$20 to abstract one terminal command?

...

February 19 2010 at 1:00 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to colouroflight's comment
MrMattux

I absolutely love Meerkat. I used it about a year ago extensively, but only for a proof of concept. I used the trial, and it was fantastic.

February 18 2010 at 11:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
panadero

From terminal.app:

ssh -p 443 -D 8080 user@home.user.org

-p is the outbound port (which network doesn't allow outbound 443?)
-D is the local proxy port

I have a listening ssh server at home. Run this and log into your ssh box.
Set your proxy in Firefox to localhost, port 8080, Socks V5. All traffic will be routed thru the ssh connection.

You can also about:config in Firefox.
Set network.proxy.socks_remote_dns to 'boolean' 'true'.
That will tunnel your DNS requests also, so local DHCP DNS servers won't see the name resolution to your porn servers :)

February 18 2010 at 10:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to panadero's comment
panadero

Meant to add, that Meerkat should re-establish this ssh connection, so you can continue proxy-ing the connection, and not have to manually connect (I haven't tested this yet tho...).

February 18 2010 at 10:51 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ron Gejman

You can ask your librarian to turn the filter off. If they don't or won't contact the ACLU.

February 18 2010 at 10:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.