Tunneling using SSHuttle

This document explains how to connect to Comet, Rocket, or any other Unix-like server from off-campus using the SSHuttle software.

Intended audience:

  • Comet, Rocket HPC users
  • Other on-Campus, unix-like, server users

sshuttle is a tool for advanced Linux users to implement a pseudo-VPN / pseudo-Proxy using SSH. With it you can access on-Campus resources using unix.ncl.ac.uk similar to our Connecting to HPC (Off Campus) guide.

This is not meant as a general tool for users unfamiliar with unix / Linux. We recommend that Windows users use MobaXterm unless there is a specific reason to use SSHuttle.

Prerequisites

  1. You will need a Unix timeshare service account.
  2. You will need a login account on the Unix-like server that you intend to login to. If you are using Comet or Rocket, you will need access via a HPC project.
  3. You will need to install SShuttle to your computer. If you opt for the PyPI route, I recommend using a virtualenv rather than installing the package as root.

Configuration

After you have satisfied all the pre-requisites, in your home directory on the device you want to connect from, create a file called finan.conf and copy the following text into it, replacing nuser123 with your own Campus username: 

--dns
-r
nuser123@finan.ncl.ac.uk
10.0.0.0/8
128.240.0.0/16
--to-ns=dns0.ncl.ac.uk
-x
128.240.212.70/32

Save the file.

Using SSHuttle

  1. As per our Connecting to HPC (Off Campus) guide, you still need to request a login session on Finan at the Application Access Portal.
  2. Open a terminal on your computer and type sshuttle @finan.conf followed by the enter key.
  3. Enter your Campus password, followed by the enter key, when requested. You can also set up an SSH public key on Finan to avoid this step.
  4. When you see c : Connected to server. in the terminal you started SSHuttle in, you can open another terminal and SSH to Comet, Rocket, or the Unix-like server that you wish to use. You can also use Midnight Commander, SFTP, and similar applications to copy files.

Troubleshooting

You get sshuttle: error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'finan.conf'

  • Make sure you didn't delete the finan.conf file.
  • Key cd to take you back to your home directory and then rerun SSHuttle.

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