Auvik’s remote tunnel feature allows users to initiate a VPN-like connection to devices on client networks where Auvik has been deployed. Common use cases include:
- Requiring access to a web GUI on a non-standard port on a device
- Requiring use of a protocol other than SSH / Telnet or HTTP / HTTPS to access a device (e.g., RDP, VNC, or FTP)
There are three main components to Auvik’s remote tunnelling feature:
- A tunnel client you download and use on your local machine.
- The Auvik cloud.
- The Auvik collector you’ve downloaded and deployed on a client’s network.
By default, there's a maximum of 20 tunnel sessions allowed per client, and you’re only allowed 5 personal tunnel connections for a single client. Once these limits have been reached, no new connections are allowed.
How to install the tunnel client
Before you’re able to start a tunnel connection to a client device, you must install the tunnel client. The installation needs to be completed against each desktop or server you plan on using for connecting to the client’s devices.
By default, the tunnel pop-up shows the version based on the operating system you’re logged into the clients Auvik dashboard with.
Host Operating Systems
The tunnel client is supported on the following operating systems.
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Apple macOS x |
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Linux 64-bit |
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Windows 10 or higher (x64) |
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Windows Server 2008 or higher (x64) |
Download the client
The client only needs to be downloaded and installed once per operating system you plan on using to establish a tunnel connection.
- From a device dashboard, hover over the Remote Management button and click Remote Tunnel.
- Click Download.
To execute the install script, you’ll need:
- The email address associated with your Auvik account.
- The API key associated to your user.
Apple macOS installation
- Open a terminal window.
- From the terminal window, change the directory to where the client executable was downloaded. For example: cd Downloads
- Type
chmod 755 AuvikTunnel - Type
./AuvikTunnel -i - Confirm the installation by typing y. Typing n will stop the install
- Confirm if you’d like to use the default installation path (
/Users/nanook/auvik/Auvik Tunnel) by typing y. If you’d like to set the install path, type n.- If you typed n, specify your installation path. Be sure to enter the full path (
/Users/nanook/Documents) - Type y to confirm the installation path set. To change the directory, type n
- If you typed n, specify your installation path. Be sure to enter the full path (
- Enter your Auvik email address.
- Type y to confirm the email address entered. To update the email address, type n.
- Enter your API key.
- Type y to confirm the API key entered. To update the API key, type n.
The output from the installation should look something like this:
Nanook-MacBook:~ nanook$ cd Downloads/ Nanook-MacBook:Downloads nanook$ ./AuvikTunnel -i Confirm installation of AuvikTunnel? [y/n]: y Use default installation path: "/Users/nanook/auvik/Auvik Tunnel"? [y/n]: n Please specify installation path: /Users/nanook/Documents Confirm installation path: "/Users/nanook/Documents/Auvik Tunnel" [y/n]: y Installing... Creating directories at "/Users/nanook/Documents/Auvik Tunnel"... Setting up file association... Creating application launcher... Creating directories at "/Users/nanook/Documents/Auvik Tunnel/Auvik Tunnel Launcher.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj"... Creating directories at "/Users/nanook/Documents/Auvik Tunnel/Auvik Tunnel Launcher.app/Contents/MacOS"... Configure "/Users/nanook/.auvikrc" below... Please enter tunnel-user email address: nanook@auvik.com Confirm email address: "nanook@auvik.com"? [y/n]: y Please enter tunnel API Key: 5fsztpQ8NlSzt4QuP7ygCwHXwvCpJGcbqk1ADpscPp3iqDik Confirm API Key: "5fsztpQ8NlSzt4QuP7ygCwHXwvCpJGcbqk1ADpscPp3iqDik"? [y/n]: y Installation complete!
Linux (64-bit) installation
For a Linux installation:
- Open a terminal window.
- From the terminal window, change the directory to where the client executable was downloaded. For example: cd Downloads
chmod 755 AuvikTunnel- Type
./AuvikTunnel -i - Confirm the installation by typing y. Typing n will stop the install.
- Confirm if you’d like to use the default installation path (
/Users/nanook/auvik/Auvik Tunnel) by typing y. If you’d like to set the install path, type n.- If you typed n, specify your installation path. Be sure to enter the full path. (
/Users/nanook/Documents) - Type y to confirm the installation path set. To change the directory, type n.
- If you typed n, specify your installation path. Be sure to enter the full path. (
- Enter your Auvik email address.
- Type y to confirm the email address entered. To update the email address, type n.
- Enter your API key.
- Type y to confirm the API key entered. To update the API key, type n.
The output from the installation should look something like this:
nanook@nanook:~/Downloads$ ./AuvikTunnel -i Confirm installation of AuvikTunnel? [y/n]: y Use default installation path: "/home/nanook/auvik/Auvik Tunnel"? [y/n]: y Previous installation of Auvik Tunnel detected at "/home/nanook/auvik/Auvik Tunnel". Continuing will overwrite old installation. Continue? [y/n]: y Installing... Creating directories at "/home/nanook/auvik/Auvik Tunnel"... Setting up file association... Creating directories at "/home/nanook/.local/share/mime/packages"... Creating application launcher... Configure "/home/nanook/.auvikrc" below... Please enter tunnel-user email address: nanook@auvik.com: Confirm email address: "nanook@auvik.com:"? [y/n]: y Please enter tunnel API Key: 5fsztpQ8NlSzt4QuP7ygCwHXwvCpJGcbqk1ADpscPp3iqDik Confirm API Key: "5fsztpQ8NlSzt4QuP7ygCwHXwvCpJGcbqk1ADpscPp3iqDik"? [y/n]: y Installation complete!
Windows (x64) installation
- From the start menu, search for Command Prompt (cmd).
- Right-click and select Run as administrator.
- From the command prompt window, change the directory to where the client executable was downloaded. For example: cd Downloads or
cd ..\..\Users\nanook\Downloads - Type
.\AuvikTunnel.exe -i - Confirm the installation by typing y. Typing n will stop the install.
- Confirm if you’d like to use the default installation path (
C:\Users\nanook\auvik\Auvik Tunnel) by typing y. If you’d like to set the install path, type n.- If you typed n, specify your installation path. Be sure to enter the full path. (
C:\Users\nanook\Documents) - Type y to confirm the installation path set. To change the directory, type n.
- If you typed n, specify your installation path. Be sure to enter the full path. (
- Enter your Auvik email address.
- Type y to confirm the email address entered. To update the email address, type n.
- Enter your API key.
- Type y to confirm the API key entered. To update the API key, type n.
The output from the installation should look something like this:
C:\Users\nanook\Downloads>.\AuvikTunnel.exe -i Confirm installation of AuvikTunnel? [y/n]: y Use default installation path: “C:\Users\IEUser\auvik\Auvik Tunnel”? [y/n]: n Please specify installation path: c:\Users\nanook\Documents Confirm installation path: “c:\Users\nanook\Documents\Auvik Tunnel” [y/n]: y Installing Creating directories at “c:\Users\nanook\Documents\Auvik Tunnel” … Setting up file association… tunnelFile=”c:\Users\nanook\Documents\Auvik Tunnel\AuvikTunnel.exe” “%1” .tunnel=tunnelFile Configure “C:\Users\nanook\.auvikrc” below… Please enter tunnel-user email address: nanook@auvik.com Confirm email address: “nanook@auvik.com”? [y/n]: y Please enter tunnel API key: 5fsztpQ8NlSzt4QuP7ygCwHXwvCpJGcbqk1ADpscPp3iqDik Confirm API key: “5fsztpQ8NlSzt4QuP7ygCwHXwvCpJGcbqk1ADpscPp3iqDik”? [y/n]: y Installation complete!
How to establish a tunnel connection
If you haven’t installed the Auvik tunnel client, do that first.
Quick connection
If you don’t have the device details handy, you can establish a tunnel connection to a client’s device from the Auvik device dashboard. If you have the device details handy, you can use the advanced connection method.
* NOTE: Port 6666 is considered malware by most browsers. If you’re planning on a remote browse connection, we recommend you pick a different port for connecting.
- From a device dashboard, hover over the Remote Management button and click Remote Tunnel.
- Select the protocol that will be used for the connection: TCP or UDP.
- If the device has more than one IP address, from the Device IP dropdown, select the appropriate IP address.
- Enter the device port to use. The port must be in the range of 1 to 65535 (*).
- Enter a local port to use. The port must be in the range of 1 to 65535 (*). If no local port is specified, a random port will be used.
- Click Connect. A .tunnel file will be downloaded.
Now that you've configured the tunnel for the device, time to start the connection.
- Navigate to your downloads folder to locate the downloaded .tunnel file (e.g.:
nanook-196438391117574404.tunnel). - Double click the
.tunnel file.
Now that the connection has been established, you can move on to accessing the device using your favourite connection tool. If you get an error, you can find troubleshooting steps here. If that does not resolve your issue, please contact Auvik support.
Advanced connection
If you have the device details handy, you can establish a tunnel connection to a client’s device by running a command to start the tunnel connection. If you don’t have the device details handy, you can always use the basic connection method.
To execute the connection command, you’ll need:
- The device's IP address.
- The client’s Auvik domain.
- For Apple macOS and Linux users, open a terminal session.
- For Windows users, search for command prompt, right-click and select Run as administrator.
- In the terminal/command prompt window, change the directory to where the client executable was installed.
The command is broken down as follows:
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the client |
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the protocol and device port defined from the Auvik device dashboard |
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the IP address of the device |
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the default TCP/UDP port |
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the Auvik domain of the client where the device resides |
Set the detail after ./AuvikTunnel for the device where you’d like the connection established. The command to establish a connection will look something like this, if you were using TCP: ./AuvikTunnel tcp:7777:10.0.40.45:3389:nanook
Now that the connection has been established, you can move on to accessing the device using your favourite connection tool. If you get an error, you can find troubleshooting steps here. If that does not resolve your issue, please contact Auvik support.
Connect to the device with the tunnel
With the connection established, you can now connect to the device. A few examples of connections you might like to make to your client’s device:
- FTP service
- Remote browse using HTTP/HTTPS
- Database queries against databases such as PSQ or MySQL
- Remote desktop
- Verification of discovery services (SNMP, SSH, Telnet). This is great if you need to check some commands against the device.
- TFTP connection (only available via UDP)
- VNC remote desktop
- And many others...
For any of these, open your favorite tool for establishing the connection, for example, Microsoft Remote Desktop. Open the RDP tool, enter localhost:7777, and connect.
While the remote tunnel connection is active, you’ll be able to see the status of all remote tunnels, as well as your own active connections, from the client’s dashboard. Also, there's an audit log that shows details about who has established a connection.
How to stop a tunnel connection
Once you're done with your tunnel connection, simply enter Ctrl-Z or Command-Z to terminate the connection. You can also disconnect a connection from the client’s Auvik dashboard.