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SSH Tunnel

Access CodePiper remotely via SSH port forwarding — the quickest method with zero server configuration.

Overview

SSH tunneling forwards CodePiper’s ports through an encrypted SSH connection. No server configuration, no domain, no TLS setup. Works immediately if you can SSH into the machine running CodePiper.

Best forQuick access, development, personal use
TLSSSH-encrypted (no browser TLS)
Persistent URLNo (localhost only)
Auth layerSSH key or password

Quick Start

Forward both CodePiper ports through a single SSH connection:

Terminal window
ssh -L 3000:localhost:3000 -L 9999:localhost:9999 user@your-server

Then open http://localhost:3000 locally. The tunnel is active as long as the SSH session is open.

Persistent Tunnel

Add to ~/.ssh/config to avoid typing the flags every time:

Host codepiper-tunnel
  HostName your-server.example.com
  User deploy
  LocalForward 3000 localhost:3000
  LocalForward 9999 localhost:9999
  ServerAliveInterval 60
  ServerAliveCountMax 3

Connect with ssh codepiper-tunnel. The ServerAlive settings keep the tunnel from dropping on idle connections.

Autossh

For unattended tunnels that automatically reconnect on network disruptions:

Terminal window
autossh -M 0 -f -N codepiper-tunnel
  • -M 0 disables the monitoring port (relies on ServerAliveInterval instead)
  • -f runs in background
  • -N skips opening a remote shell

Install autossh via brew install autossh (macOS) or apt install autossh (Debian/Ubuntu).

When to Use Something Else

SSH tunneling is great for quick personal access, but consider other methods when:

  • You need a persistent URL others can bookmark
  • You want TLS with a valid browser certificate
  • You need to share access with non-technical users
  • You want the tunnel to survive machine reboots without configuration

See the Remote Access overview for a comparison of all methods.