Name: http-tunnel-1

Last reviewed by: Clipper, April 2026

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HTTP Tunnel

If you want to tunnel all your traffic through your seedbox, OpenVPN is the recommended approach. However, if you only want to browse anonymously using your seedbox IP — without routing all your traffic — setting up an HTTP proxy via SSH is a lighter alternative.

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Table of Contents

• Windows
  • Requirements
  • Configuring PuTTY / KiTTY
  • Configuring browser
  • Starting tunnel
• Linux
• If you cannot open a blocked site even after using the tunnel

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Windows

Requirements

• PuTTY or KiTTY (a PuTTY fork with extra features)
• A browser (this guide uses Chrome)

Configuring PuTTY / KiTTY

• In Host Name fill in your server name.
• Scroll down to Connection → SSH → Tunnel. In Source port type something like 12345 (you can use any unused port number). Select the Dynamic radio button and click Add.

Configuring Chrome

• Open Chrome and go to Settings → System → Open your computer's proxy settings.
• Set a SOCKS5 proxy pointing to localhost with the port you chose above (e.g. 12345).

Alternatively, use a browser extension such as FoxyProxy to switch proxies easily without changing system settings.

Starting the tunnel

• Open PuTTY or KiTTY, load your saved session and click Open.
• Log in as usual. The tunnel is now active as long as the session remains open.

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Linux

On Linux you can create the same SOCKS5 tunnel directly from the command line:

ssh -D 12345 -N [email protected]

• -D 12345 opens a local SOCKS5 proxy on port 12345
• -N tells SSH not to execute any remote commands (tunnel only)

Then configure your browser or application to use localhost:12345 as a SOCKS5 proxy.

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If you cannot open a blocked site even after using the tunnel

Make sure your browser is configured to also route DNS queries through the proxy, not just the traffic. In Chrome this is handled automatically when using SOCKS5 with remote DNS enabled. In FoxyProxy, enable the "Use SOCKS proxy DNS" option.