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Last Updated: [2024-07-19 Fri 04:49]
Sometimes you'll find yourself needing to copy large amounts of data to your local machine from a remote server running Linux.
Here's a little handy, dandy, way of setting up a reverse tunnel and using that to copy data to your local system running macOS or Linux (or Windows using WSL).
Firstly, you'll want to add the following to your ~/.ssh/config file:
RemoteForward 127.0.0.1:2222 127.0.0.1:22
This will set up a reverse tunnel automatically when you connect giving you access to your own machine on port 2222.
Next, you need to ensure you have OpenSSH server installed and running. This will vary from system to system, so looking at your distribution's documentation is recommended. On macOS you'll need to enable Remote Login from: System Settings -> Sharing -> Remote Login
Next, whenever you want to send anything to your local machine, you
can use something like the scp command, or
even pipe data to an application on your machine through the ssh command:
scp -P 2222 <somefile> [email protected]:~In this example, you'll want to change the user to the username on your local machine.
First time you run the command, you'll be asked to confirm the remote
machine's thumbprint, then your local user's password.
A very useful trick is to copy data from stdout to your local
clipboard. On macOS, pbcopy can be used as
an applicaiton to recieve data to place on the clipboard. Under Linux,
xclip (for X11 sessions) or wl-copy (part of wl-clipboard for Wayland sessions) can be used
instead. Finally if you're using WSL on Windows, you can use clip.exe:
cat <somefile> | ssh -p 2222 [email protected] pbcopyThen on your local machine, you can simply paste the data into another application.
Again, you'll want to change user to
your username. You may be asked to confirm the machine's thumbprint if
it's the first time you've connected to your loopback tunnel, then
you'll be asked for your local password.
DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this website is generated from my own notes and is provided "as is" and without warranties. Robert Ian Hawdon can not be held responsible for damages caused by following a guide published on this site. This website contains links to other third-party websites. Such links are provided as convienice of the reader. I do not endorce the contents of these third party sites.