Mobile SSH

Port forwarding

Mobile SSH supports local SSH port forwarding on both Android and iOS. A local port on the device listens on 127.0.0.1 and forwards traffic through the SSH connection to a remote host and port.

Saved tunnel syntax

Port-forwarding rules are comma-separated. Each entry uses one of two forms:

PORT
LOCAL:REMOTEHOST:REMOTE

Short form:

8080

This binds 127.0.0.1:8080 on the device and forwards it to localhost:8080 from the server’s point of view.

Full form:

3000:localhost:3000

This binds 127.0.0.1:3000 on the device and forwards it through SSH to localhost:3000 on the remote side.

Multiple forwards:

8080, 3000:localhost:3000, 15432:db.internal:5432

Add a tunnel to a saved server

  1. Open Saved Servers.
  2. Add or edit a server profile.
  3. Enter the forwarding rules in Port forwards.
  4. Save the server.
  5. Connect to the server.

The app applies saved forwards after the SSH session connects.

Tunnels belong to the server profile

Forwards are declared on the saved server and brought up when that server connects. There is no separate screen for adding or removing a tunnel mid-session on either platform: to change your forwards, edit the server profile and reconnect.

This is a deliberate trade — a tunnel that lives in the profile comes back every time you connect, including after a reconnect on a new network, without you rebuilding it by hand.

IPv6 destinations

An IPv6 destination must be bracketed so the colons cannot be confused with the port separator:

8080:[2001:db8::1]:80

A bare, unbracketed IPv6 address is rejected as ambiguous rather than silently misread. The same bracket form works in a server’s address field, with an optional port after it ([fe80::1]:22).

Address binding

Mobile SSH binds local forwards to 127.0.0.1 on the device. This is intentional: it keeps the tunnel local to the device and avoids IPv6-only loopback surprises. Other apps on the same device may be able to connect to the forwarded local port if the operating system permits their network access.

Common examples

Access a web service running on the remote server:

8080

Then open http://127.0.0.1:8080 from a browser on the same device.

Access a development server:

3000:localhost:3000

Access an internal database reachable from the SSH server:

15432:db.internal:5432

Troubleshooting tunnels