Title: Configure a socks5 Proxy
Course: CIS 208: Linux/UNIX III: Intermediate System Administration, Networking, and Security ~ For IGNITE Review > Section: Learning Modules

Configure a socks5 Proxy

A proxy service works as a "man in the middle" for network connections.  Typically these are used for web connections, and they require the browser to be configured accordingly.  One advantage to using a proxy is that the source address of all network requests is the proxy's, and not the client's.  Thus a proxy can be helpful when trying to access resources which are only available to a restricted set of IP addresses.

For example, suppose a set of webservers are on a protected subnet and no port 80 or 443 connections are allowed through the firewall.

- If there is one jumpbox on that subnet, it is possible to set up a socks5 proxy by running:  ssh -fND 1080 jumpbox.
- This sets up a new listener on port 1080 of the client computer, and the client's browser can then be configured to use localhost port 1080 for the proxy.
- Without requiring any tunnels, it will be possible to open webpages on all of the servers within the protected subnet.