Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy (Solution Posted)

cmv has asked for the wisdom of the Perl Monks concerning the following question:

I currently setup a SSH session via a SOCKS5 proxy using the OpenSSH command:

ssh -o "connect -5 -S proxy.socks5.ip.name %h %p" target.ip.name
[download]

Here's where I got connect.c to compile for my platform:
http://www.meadowy.org/~gotoh/projects/connect

Now, I want to have my existing perl programs that use Net::SSH::Perl, to be able to use a SOCKS5 proxy, if needed. What is the best way to make this happen?

My current thought is to patch Net::SSH::Perl to use Net::SOCKS. Is there a better/easier/faster way?

Thanks
-Craig

Update: Based on queries generated from this thread, I've posted my solution at Using SOCKS via Net::SSH::Perl. Comments welcome.

Comment on Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy (Solution Posted) Download Code

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Re: Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy by erroneousBollock (Curate) on Sep 11, 2007 at 16:03 UTC
The dante debian package provides a program called socksify which: uses LD_PRELOAD environment variable to wrap all networking-related system calls so that programs can go thought a SOCKS server that was installed as part of a firewall. I'd imagine something like `socksify ./script.pl` will do the trick. If your program also needs to access some non-socksified subnet you'll need to split your program into two parts which talk via a pipe (or similar). Wikipedia has an article which discusses the LD_PRELOAD mechanism. -David	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy by cmv (Chaplain) on Sep 11, 2007 at 19:23 UTC
David- Thanks for the information & pointers. Now I think I understand what was being said to me. The problem with this solution is that I need to have a socksify program built for all my platforms (MacOS, SunOS, Windows, linux), and I'm not sure that socksify will build for all of them. This is why I like Net::SSH::Perl so much. The native perl code provides the ssh protocol directly, so my perl code is easily plopped onto a platform, and will mostly, "just run". I think the better long-term way is to somehow have the Net::SSH::Perl module make use of the Net::SOCKS module to provide this functionality, when requested. Maybe I'll just "dig-in" and see what happens. After all, how bad can I muck things up... right? :-) Many thanks for the reply! -Craig	[reply]
Re: Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy by salva (Canon) on Sep 11, 2007 at 18:18 UTC
Create a new class derived from Net::SSH::Perl and redefine the `_connect` method to do whatever you want. For instance, implementing the SOCKS5 protocol yourself (it's a very simple one) or using an external SOCKS5 adapter connected by a pipe or a unix socket.	[reply] [d/l]
Re^2: Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy by cmv (Chaplain) on Sep 11, 2007 at 19:31 UTC
Salva- Yes, thanks for the leg-up! This is along the lines I'm thinking of following. I'm actually hoping to modify Net::SSH::Perl to optionally utilize Net::SOCKS, when requested. If I can get this working, I'll provide my patches to the author for consideration in making it official. -Craig	[reply]
Re^3: Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy by salva (Canon) on Sep 11, 2007 at 19:53 UTC
OpenSSH accepts a `ProxyCommand` option to define how to connect using custom proxies. It would be great if you used the same aproach for Net::SSH::Perl	[reply] [d/l]
Re^4: Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy by Anonymous Monk on Jul 07, 2011 at 03:54 UTC
Re^5: Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy by salva (Canon) on Jul 07, 2011 at 06:34 UTC
Re: Using SSH via SOCKS5 Proxy by cmv (Chaplain) on Sep 11, 2007 at 13:53 UTC
Wow, no replies. Either this is an incredibly complex problem, or I'm being stupid here (I know where I would place my wager). We discussed this a bit in the chatterbox, and things that were said went along the lines of "use LD_PRELOAD to load a socksifier". I have no clue on either of these things are. I have existing perl programs that use Net::SSH::Perl, and I'd like to "just use them", but have all the ssh stuff go through the SOCKS5 proxy. Please help! Thanks -Craig	[reply]