To create a connection to a remote UNIX host running behind a firewall

If the remote host is running both a firewall and the Secure Shell daemon (SSH daemon), you can use SSH port forwarding to tunnel network traffic to a DevHub server running on the remote host machine.

Alternatively, if the host is accessible via SSH, you can configure Eclipse to route its network traffic through a SOCKS proxy client such as PuTTY. The client forwards network traffic via the SSH daemon to the remote host machine.

Restriction: It is not possible to tunnel network traffic to remote Micro Focus Directory Servers. If you are working with remote Micro Focus Directory Servers the firewall must be configured to allow traffic to the Directory Server (UDP and TCP). From the Server Explorer view the Open Administration Page, Show Catalog and Show spool context menu items will not work correctly if the firewall is blocking traffic to the Directory Server and/or Enterprise Server.

The following examples shows the two methods of configuring a connection to a host behind a firewall.

Tunnel DevHub communications through SSH

This method enables you to tunnel through SSH to a DevHub daemon and/or server:

  1. In the Remote Systems view, click The Define a connection to remote system button (Define a connection to remote system).

    This opens the New Connection dialog box.

  2. Click Micro Focus DevHub using SSH, and then click Next.
    Note: You can also use the Micro Focus DevHub using SAMBA, NFS etc or Micro Focus DevHub using RSE connection types.
  3. In the Host name field, type the host being connected to.
  4. Click Next.
  5. In the Available Services pane, click DStore Connection Service > Remote Server Launcher > Launcher Properties.

    This displays the available properties in the Properties pane.

  6. Set Server port, replaces ${port} in command to the port number (or port range) you want the DevHub server to use.
    Note: If set to 0 the DevHub server allocates an available port.
  7. Set Tunnel communications through SSH (SSL/TLS must not be enabled) to true.

    If the DevHub daemon/server has been configured to use SSL/TLS, it will not be possible to tunnel the network traffic as the certificate checks will fail.

    • Optionally, if you want to enable X11 forwarding, set Use SSH X11 forwarding to true.
      Note: This property is ignored if the remote host machine does not allow X11 forwarding.
  8. Click Finish if you do not need to configure sftp file or ssh shell subsystem information.

Routing traffic through a SOCKS proxy client

This method requires two-step configuration, firstly, you need to configure the PuTTY Telnet and SSH client to act as a proxy client. Secondly, you will need to configure Eclipse to use the SOCKS network connection type to communicate network traffic.

Note: You need the latest version of the PuTTY Telnet and SSH client. Download it from the PuTTY website - click here.

Configuring PuTTY as the proxy server

  1. In the PuTTY Telenet and SSH client, in the left panel, click Connection > SSH > Tunnels.

    This displays the Options controlling SSH port forwarding panel.

  2. Type an available listening port in the Source port field.
  3. Click Dynamic.
  4. Click Add.

    This adds the port number prefixed with a "D" in the Forwarded ports field.

  5. In the left panel, click Connection > SSH > X11.

    This displays the Options controlling SSH X11 forwarding panel.

  6. Check Enable X11 forwarding.
  7. In the X display location field, type localhost:0.
  8. In the left panel, click Session.

    This displays the Basic options for your PuTTY session panel.

  9. In the Host Name (or IP address) field, type the name or IP address of the remote server you want to connect to.
  10. In the Saved Sessions field, type a descriptive name for the session.
  11. Click Save.

    This creates an entry in the Saved Sessions list.

  12. Click Open.

    This starts a terminal session. Type the username and password when prompted.

  13. In the terminal window, type echo $DISPLAY and press Enter.
    You should get a response similar to: 
    localhost:10.0

    Make a note of the value that is displayed. It is required when configuring the Debug preferences.

    Note: If you get a blank response to the echo $DISPLAY command, right-click on the PuTTY terminal window header, and then click Event Log. This opens the PuTTY Event Log dialog. Scroll upwards from the bottom and make a note of any messages relating to access denied, forwarding refused or no program. Pass these details to your system administrator for resolution.

Configuring the Eclipse network connection

  1. In Eclipse, click Window > Preferences > General > Network Connections.

    This opens the Network Connections preferences dialog box.

  2. In the Active Provider list, select Manual.
  3. In the Proxy entries table, click the SOCKS row.

    This highlights the row.

  4. Click Edit.

    This opens the Edit Proxy Entry dialog box.

  5. In the Host field, type localhost.
  6. In the Port field, type the port number used in the Source port field in PuTTY.
  7. Click OK.

    This populates the Host and Port cells in the Proxy entries table.

  8. Click Window > Preferences > Micro Focus > Debug.

    This opens the debug preferences.

  9. In the Default X Server (DISPLAY) field, type the DISPLAY value returned by the remote machine in step 13.
  10. Click Apply and Close.
    Note: Steps 13 from Configuring PuTTY as the proxy server section, and 8-11 from Configuring the Eclipse network connection section need to be performed each time the proxy server is started.

When you have completed the configuration you need to create a remote project. Specify Remote file system (RSE) and select Micro Focus DevHub using RSE when choosing the remote system type. See Creating remote projects for more details on creating a remote project.

Parent topic: Remote host connections
Related information
Debugging using a remote machine