tunnelling ssh/telnet over http/https

[Michael Frank]

On Fri, 14 Jun 2002, Adam Stenseth wrote:

>
> Has anyone ever done this?   If so, what'd you use, and how did it work?
>

my two cents: i don't think you'll find anything like this, and if you do,
it won't work very well.

encapsulating ssh or telnet inside HTTP would be incredibly inefficient.
A normal HTTP request sends 100-200 bytes of header data, as does the
HTTP response.  Imagine running any curses/cell graphics program, which
uses unbuffered input: every keystroke would be separately sent in an HTTP
request.  There is a burden on the webserver as well, since there is
overhead handling each request.  Then there is the issue of maintaining
state across the separate HTTP requests ... gah, it makes me shudder.

It sounds like you are trying to get shell access to a server behind a
firewall.  Depending on what your privileges are, there are other creative
ways to gain access which wouldn't be so complex.  If you explain the
situation, maybe someone could suggest an alternate solution (as long as
it doesn't violate the AUP/law =).

Michael


-------------------------  .~.
Michael Frank              /v\
msfrank at u.washington.edu  // \\
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