IBM Support

SSH Tunnel configuration for use with IBM i Access Client Solutions

How To


Summary

Describes how to use Putty for SSH port forwarding with IBM i Access Client Solutions.
This could be applied to IBM i Access for Windows as well.

Objective

Walk through for setting up Putty SSH port forwarding.

Environment

Windows Based Systems.

Steps

Please Note: IBM does not support PUTTY or configuring PUTTY.

Also, please note that if you have SSH available for your Windows OS or MAC OS Putty is not needed.
A section at the bottom will go over using SSH to port forward.

                         This is a working example.

Step 1) Install Putty on the PC, Putty is used for the SSH tunnel on windows.

             https://www.putty.org/

Step 2) Configure Putty.

  • Enter your systems IP Address.
  • Make sure SSH is selected for connection type.
  • Make sure the port is 22.

image-20190318110935-1

  • Setup the tunneling in Putty.
  • Select Connection > SSH > Tunnels.
  • Add the Source Port then the destination.
  • The following ports all need to be added:  23, 449, 8470, 8471, 8472, 8473, 8474, 8475 and 8476.
  • It’s good practice for Telnet not to make the source port the same as the destination.
  • In this example I choose 50000, you could use what ever as long as it’s not in use.
  • Regarding the other ports, do not change the source port numbers.

The following screen shot is an example:

  • The 50000 Port used is just an arbitrary port number.  Use any available port you want between 49152 and 65535 (Dynamic Port range).

image-20190318110935-2

  • After you press the Add button to add that forwarded port.

image-20190318110935-3

  • Do this for each of the ports listed previously.
  • Eventually you’ll have a populated list you can scroll through.

image-20190318110935-4

  • Click back on session.
  • Provide a name in the Saved Sessions box and press the save button.

image-20190318110935-5

  • Then you will have the session save for future use and can just select the saved session and load it without having to go through the setup again.

image-20190318110935-6

  • After you have loaded the saved session you can just press open.
  • This starts a putty session to your system.
  • You will be prompted to accept a key on the first use.
  • Then your presented with a logon prompt.
  • Use your IBM i session profile and password.

Step 3) Configure you ACS(Access Client Solutions) client or IBM I Access for Windows Client to use the SSH tunnel you just started.

  • In both clients you go into Communications=>Configure.

ACS:                                                  PC5250:

image-20190318110935-7image-20190318110935-8        

 

  • Change the IP address to 127.0.0.1 on port 23:

ACS:

image-20190318110935-9

PC5250:

image-20190318110935-10

  • Press OK to save changes.
  • Either client will restart and connect.

Your done!!

Using SSH to port forward


Additional Information

The following link is for starting the SSH server on the IBM i:

If assistance is required for starting or trouble shooting SSH server on the IBM i a case or PMS can be opened.

Document Location

Worldwide


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Document Information

More support for:
IBM i Access Family

Software version:
All Versions

Operating system(s):
Windows

Document number:
876480

Modified date:
04 March 2025

UID

ibm10876480

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