Mobile SSH

Port forwarding

Mobile SSH supports local SSH port forwarding. A local port on the Android 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 Android 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 Android 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.

Manage active tunnels

While connected, select the session and open the tunnel view from the terminal toolbar. From there you can inspect active local forwards, add a new tunnel, or remove a local forward.

Address binding

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

Access a development server:

3000:localhost:3000

Access an internal database reachable from the SSH server:

15432:db.internal:5432

Troubleshooting tunnels