Question

When using ssh forwarding Im able to commit with cvs and ftp against a remote server. Is it possible to let the server initiate a request against my machine – I would like the web application on the server to call a REST method on my machine.

Thanks.
Nikolaj G.

Answer 1

Yes, provided you know your local machine’s IP address and your HTTP port (default 80) is open, AND you have a service able to interpret the REST request, then yes. It’s important to note you will have to have access to the remote machine to initiate the request, so it’s not “really” bidirectional. I’m assuming that when you say “REST method” you mean this rest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Representational_state_transfer

[Edit]

ssh does in fact have a bidirectionality to its tunnels!

use ssh with -L [port]:[host]:[rport] for a forward tunnel and -R [port]:[host]:[port] for the reverse tunnel. I always screw up the order of the ports and am not sure how -R wants them, so do yourselves a favor and check out the man pages for ssh:

http://unixhelp.ed.ac.uk/CGI/man-cgi?ssh+1

or type man ssh in your favorite (or the sysadmin’s favorite) terminal shell.