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SSH Port Forwarding Without the Headache

April 2026 · 5 min read

SSH tunnels are incredibly useful. They're also incredibly hard to remember. Is it -L or -R? Which port goes first? NexTerm replaces the cryptic flags with a simple form.

What is SSH port forwarding?

It's a way to securely access services on a remote server that aren't exposed to the internet. Example: your database runs on port 5432 but only accepts connections from localhost. With an SSH tunnel, you can access it from your PC as if it were local.

Local forwarding

The most common type. "Forward a remote port to my local machine."

# The old way:
ssh -L 5432:localhost:5432 user@server

# In NexTerm:
→ Type: Local Forward
→ Local Port: 5432
→ Remote Host: 127.0.0.1
→ Remote Port: 5432
→ Click 'Create Tunnel'

Now localhost:5432 on your PC connects to the database on the server. Open pgAdmin, connect to localhost, done.

Remote forwarding

"Make my local service accessible from the server." Useful for webhooks, demos, or sharing a local dev server.

# The old way:
ssh -R 8080:localhost:3000 user@server

# In NexTerm:
→ Type: Remote Forward
→ Local Port: 3000
→ Remote Port: 8080
→ Click 'Create Tunnel'

Visual tunnel management

NexTerm shows all active tunnels with their status (active/error), a visual diagram of the path, and one-click destroy. No more guessing which terminal window has your tunnel running.

Real-world use cases

Access a database — forward PostgreSQL/MySQL port to localhost.

Admin panels — access a web UI that only listens on 127.0.0.1.

Development — expose your local app to a staging server for testing.

Security — access internal services without opening firewall ports.

Try it

SSH tunnels are a Pro feature in NexTerm. Connect to a server, open the Tunnels tab, fill in the form. Your first tunnel takes 10 seconds.