It’s been some time since I wrote a blog post. Talking about that, I have time, just that I don’t have access to my own computer and when I am on another computer, I simply don’t feel like doing it. That’s why there is no new posts recently.
Anyway, let’s get to the point. I am going to teach you how to create your own SSH proxy with your VPS. This is a simple process and doesn’t take a long to set up if you know the steps.
Creating a SSH tunnel is mainly for security. Wikipedia says,
A secure shell (SSH) tunnel consists of an encrypted tunnel created through a SSH protocol connection. Users may set up SSH tunnels to transfer unencrypted traffic over a network through an encrypted channel.
You need better security, then my suggestion is to use your own proxy rather than using a public proxy where you risk your personal data and even credit card information.
Check your current IP assigned by your IP before doing anything -http://www.whatismyip.com/.
First you need a VPS(if you don’t already have one). My recommendation for Asian users is a European provider as said in
Here is the link to Burst budget VPS: http://perfectz.info/budget-vps
I am personally recommending it though there are many providers who provides VPSs’ for cheaper prices. Burst is budget and a trusted provider. And you can use this VPS to any other task as well. SSH Proxying doesn’t require much resources.
However there are few other providers as well. But I don’t have personal experiences with them. Try them at your own risk.
www.minivps.co.uk
www.buyvm.net
You will receive login details after your provider sets up the VPS. You need a SSH client to access your VPS. Download it here: http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
Open the file once it is downloaded to your computer. You will see a simple dialog. There is a tree list in the left side of the application. Expand SSH and you will see a option called Tunnels.
On the Source Port, enter something like 7788 or 4567. It is the port we are going to use for SSH tunneling. Remember to select Dynamic in the options.
Then you will see something like D7878 in the Forwarded Ports. It means you just added the port successfully.
Scroll up in the tree list and select Session. Enter your VPS’s IP in the Host Name (or IP address). This could be found at the first email after setting up your VPS. And in most cases 22 is the default SSH port unless your provider uses another because of security reasons. However they will tell you if they’ve done so. So leave 22 if you didn’t got any special instructions from your provider.
Enter a name like My SSH Proxy in the Saved Sessions. Click on Save so you don’t need to setup your proxy each time you start Putty.
After clicking on Save, Putty adds the settings to your Saved Sessions. Click on the profile you just created and click on Load. And then Open.
A black screen pops up and asks for your username. Enter root and press enter. And then it asks for root’s password. Enter your password(should be in your provider’s email containing VPS information). Press Enter. And you will be logged into your server.
Now you need to configure Firefox to tunnel through the SSH proxy you just created.
Open Firefox Options. Click on Advanced and select Network tab under it. Click on Settings under Connection.
Select Manual Proxy Configuration and add 127.0.0.1 in the SOCKS Host and 7788 as the port. Remember to select SOCKS v5 and click on OK.
You just completely created your own SOCKS proxy! Make sure you are still logged into your server through Putty. And try http://www.whatismyip.com/ and you will see WhatIsMyIP is reporting your server’s IP as your IP. That means your traffic is tunneled through your own proxy server.
Your comments and feedback is always appreciated. 
Happy tunneling!
