Port forwarding

Port forwarding sends network traffic through your SSH connection. In a host’s editor, Port Forwarding lists its tunnels; add one with +.

The three kinds

Kind	Like	Example	What it does
Local (-L)	ssh -L 8080:localhost:80	bind 127.0.0.1:8080 → target localhost:80	http://localhost:8080 on your Mac reaches port 80 on the server
Remote (-R)	ssh -R 2222:localhost:22	bind 0.0.0.0:2222 → target localhost:22	port 2222 on the server reaches port 22 on your Mac
Dynamic SOCKS (-D)	ssh -D 1080	bind 127.0.0.1:1080	a SOCKS proxy on your Mac that sends traffic out from the server

Fields

Field
Bind host / port	where the tunnel listens — on your Mac for local and dynamic, on the server for remote
Target host / port	where traffic goes (not used for dynamic)
Enabled	turn a tunnel off without deleting it
Open on connect	open it automatically when you connect to the host (on by default)
Notes	what it’s for

Tunnels close when the host’s connection closes.

Common uses

• A database behind a firewall: local 127.0.0.1:5433 → localhost:5432, then point your database client at localhost:5433.
• A web admin panel bound to localhost: local 127.0.0.1:8080 → localhost:8080.
• Browse as the server: dynamic 127.0.0.1:1080, then set your browser’s SOCKS proxy to localhost:1080.

Note

Remote forwards that bind to 0.0.0.0 only listen on all interfaces if the server’s sshd_config allows it (GatewayPorts).