# ThinLinc Reverse tunnel connection **URL:** \ **Category:** Community Support\ **Created:** [18 November 2025 03:59 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805 "2025-11-18T03:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AnalogKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/958977/32.png) [@AnalogKid](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/AnalogKid)\ **Post date:** [18 November 2025 03:59 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/1 "2025-11-18T03:59:58Z")
Hello, I have been trying to get a connection using ThinLinc via an SSH reverse tunnel back to a Kali Linux system but I have not been able to get it to work. I have searched for, and found, several previous posts about the topic but I have not been able to translate what I see in those posts into a working configuration. I can connect back to the Kali Linux system through the reverse tunnel via standard SSH, but am unable to get a connection using the ThinLinc client. I have also been able to create a reverse tunnel back to the Kali Linux system and use the ThinLinc web connection. The setup: The remote Kali Linux system that I have is using autossh to create the tunnel to the intermediary Linux system. The command on the Kali Linux system is: ```auto autossh -M 0 -o "ServerAliveInterval 30" -o "ServerAliveCountMax 3" -i /home//.ssh/ -R 3333:localhost:22 -R 33389:localhost:3389 -R 3300:localhost:300 -o "StrictHostKeyChecking=no" user@intermediary_Linux_system.org -N ``` Port 3333 tunnels SSH back to the Kali Linux system, port 33389 tunnels back to RDP on port 3389 (XRDP is actually not currently running since I like ThinLinc so much more), port 3300 tunnels back to the ThinLinc web service on port 300. On my remote system I can create an SSH tunnel connection to the intermediary system using the following command from my remote system: ```auto ssh -qnN -L 3333:127.0.0.1:3333 user@intermediary_Linux_system.org ``` Then I can SSH to the remote Kali Linux system via the reverse tunnel from my remote system using the following command: ```auto ssh -p 3333 127.0.0.1 ``` I can tunnel to the ThinLinc web connection if I connect from my remote system to the SSH reverse tunnel using this command: ```auto ssh -qnN -L 3300:127.0.0.1:3300 user@intermediary_Linux_system.org ``` and then connect via a web browser using this URL [http://127.0.0.1:3300](http://127.0.0.1:3300) which ends up taking me to the remote ThinLinc web connect @ [https://192.168.0.147:300/agent](https://192.168.0.147:300/agent) I have tried _ **many, many** _ iterations of the **HOST\_ALIASES=** in the **~/.thinlinc/tlclient.conf** file but have never gotten anything to work. Hopefully someone out there has been able to make something like this work and can help get me pointed in the right direction. What I am missing here? Thanks very much in advance! ---
**Author:** ![aaron](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/community.thinlinc.com/aaron/32/13_2.png) [@aaron](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/aaron)\ **Post date:** [18 November 2025 07:58 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/2 "2025-11-18T07:58:44Z")
Hi @AnalogKid, There are a lot of moving parts here, but I think I understand what you’re trying to achieve. I won’t ask why 😉 Probably the best place to look for clues would be the ThinLinc client log file at `~/.thinlinc/tlclient.log`. This should tell you which part of the connection is failing. If you need more verbose debug output, you can start the client from the command line using the `-d5` flag. If it’s not immediately obvious what the problem is then feel free to post the relevant lines from this file, and we’ll try to help. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/958977/32.png) [@AnalogKid](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/AnalogKid)\ **Post date:** [18 November 2025 16:14 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/3 "2025-11-18T16:14:55Z")
@aaron - Here are the results of one attempt **~/.thinlinc/tlclient.conf - HOST\_ALIASES=** config shown below 192.168.0.139 is the internal IP of the remote / from system; 192.168.0.147 is the internal IP of the remote / to system **HOST\_ALIASES=192.168.0.139:3333=192.168.0.147:22** Client setup is: **Server:** 127.0.0.1 **User:** user **SSH Key:** ssh private key **Options \> Security \> Port:** 3333 I get prompted for the SSH key password and then get ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/thinlinc/original/1X/256b56a8eae55203915f81ae7d9eb6c03ebd3f1c.png) **~/.thinlinc/tlclient.log** ```auto └─(08:09:55)──> cat ~/.thinlinc/tlclient.log ──(Tue,Nov18)─┘ 2025-11-18T08:02:31: Log file created for ThinLinc client running on process 725561 2025-11-18T08:02:31: ThinLinc client release 4.19.0 build 4005 2025-11-18T08:02:47: SSH command: /opt/thinlinc/lib/tlclient/ssh -N -o GlobalKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o UpdateHostKeys=yes -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o ChallengeResponseAuthentication=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o IdentityFile=\"/home//.ssh/id_ed25519\" -o CheckHostIP=no -o NumberOfPasswordPrompts=3 -o HostKeyAlgorithms=@127.0.0.1 -p 3333 thinlinc-login master 2025-11-18T08:02:47: SSH pid is 725615 2025-11-18T08:02:47: ssh[E]: CONFIRM HOST KEY: 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 3333 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIIT0BXX14xQervVShFvjahPmi3awWe5BPJ0ty0P7RPGX ED25519 2025-11-18T08:02:47: Host key previously known. 2025-11-18T08:02:47: ssh[E]: NEXT AUTHMETHOD: none 2025-11-18T08:02:47: ssh[E]: AUTH FAILURE 2025-11-18T08:02:47: ssh[E]: NEXT AUTHMETHOD: publickey 2025-11-18T08:02:47: ssh[E]: PASSPHRASE: /home//.ssh/id_ed25519 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: AUTH SUCCESS 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: CONNECTED 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: UPDATE HOST KEYS: 3 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 3333 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: UPDATED HOST KEY: 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 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: UPDATED HOST KEY: AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBKV3VZxQpc/0igchcDaDDcnL4wJy0ptnUKHZCSqwfgSM/SIz3BOnu0OhUr/6vJVntLPUoOhDm4QfLCrj5yzCICA= 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: UPDATED HOST KEY: AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIIT0BXX14xQervVShFvjahPmi3awWe5BPJ0ty0P7RPGX 2025-11-18T08:02:51: Updating host keys for [127.0.0.1]:3333. 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: THINLINC-LOGIN: HELLO 4.19.0 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: THINLINC-LOGIN: CONNECTED MASTER 2025-11-18T08:02:51: My hardware address is 005056C00001 2025-11-18T08:02:51: Calling XML-RPC method 'get_capabilities' 2025-11-18T08:02:51: Response: 0: Success 2025-11-18T08:02:51: Calling XML-RPC method 'get_user_sessions' 2025-11-18T08:02:51: Response: 0: Success 2025-11-18T08:02:51: Calling XML-RPC method 'reconnect_session' 2025-11-18T08:02:51: Response: 0: Success 2025-11-18T08:02:51: SSH command: /opt/thinlinc/lib/tlclient/ssh -N -o GlobalKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o UpdateHostKeys=yes -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o ChallengeResponseAuthentication=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o IdentityFile=\"/home//.ssh/id_ed25519\" -o CheckHostIP=no -o NumberOfPasswordPrompts=3 -o HostKeyAlgorithms=&ssh-rsa,rsa-sha2-256,rsa-sha2-512,ssh-ed25519,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 @192.168.0.147 -p 3333 -L 42539:127.0.0.1:5910 -R 5005:127.0.0.1:46401 -R 5006:127.0.0.1:34607 -R 5003:127.0.0.1:33929 thinlinc-login dummy 2025-11-18T08:02:51: SSH pid is 725622 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: ssh: connect to host 192.168.0.147 port 3333: Connection refused 2025-11-18T08:02:51: ssh[E]: CONNECT ERROR: 111 2025-11-18T08:02:53: Process 725615 exited with code 0 2025-11-18T08:02:53: Process 725622 exited with code 255 2025-11-18T08:10:00: SSH command: /opt/thinlinc/lib/tlclient/ssh -N -o GlobalKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o UpdateHostKeys=yes -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o ChallengeResponseAuthentication=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o IdentityFile=\"/home//.ssh/id_ed25519\" -o CheckHostIP=no -o NumberOfPasswordPrompts=3 -o HostKeyAlgorithms=@127.0.0.1 -p 3333 thinlinc-login master 2025-11-18T08:10:00: SSH pid is 726825 2025-11-18T08:10:00: ssh[E]: CONFIRM HOST KEY: 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 3333 AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIIT0BXX14xQervVShFvjahPmi3awWe5BPJ0ty0P7RPGX ED25519 2025-11-18T08:10:00: Host key previously known. 2025-11-18T08:10:00: ssh[E]: NEXT AUTHMETHOD: none 2025-11-18T08:10:00: ssh[E]: AUTH FAILURE 2025-11-18T08:10:00: ssh[E]: NEXT AUTHMETHOD: publickey 2025-11-18T08:10:00: ssh[E]: PASSPHRASE: /home//.ssh/id_ed25519 2025-11-18T08:10:05: ssh[E]: AUTH SUCCESS 2025-11-18T08:10:05: ssh[E]: CONNECTED 2025-11-18T08:10:05: ssh[E]: UPDATE HOST KEYS: 3 127.0.0.1 127.0.0.1 3333 2025-11-18T08:10:05: ssh[E]: UPDATED HOST KEY: 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 2025-11-18T08:10:05: ssh[E]: UPDATED HOST KEY: AAAAE2VjZHNhLXNoYTItbmlzdHAyNTYAAAAIbmlzdHAyNTYAAABBBKV3VZxQpc/0igchcDaDDcnL4wJy0ptnUKHZCSqwfgSM/SIz3BOnu0OhUr/6vJVntLPUoOhDm4QfLCrj5yzCICA= 2025-11-18T08:10:05: ssh[E]: UPDATED HOST KEY: AAAAC3NzaC1lZDI1NTE5AAAAIIT0BXX14xQervVShFvjahPmi3awWe5BPJ0ty0P7RPGX 2025-11-18T08:10:05: Updating host keys for [127.0.0.1]:3333. 2025-11-18T08:10:05: ssh[E]: THINLINC-LOGIN: HELLO 4.19.0 2025-11-18T08:10:05: ssh[E]: THINLINC-LOGIN: CONNECTED MASTER 2025-11-18T08:10:05: My hardware address is 005056C00001 2025-11-18T08:10:05: Calling XML-RPC method 'get_capabilities' 2025-11-18T08:10:05: Response: 0: Success 2025-11-18T08:10:05: Calling XML-RPC method 'get_user_sessions' 2025-11-18T08:10:05: Response: 0: Success 2025-11-18T08:10:05: Calling XML-RPC method 'reconnect_session' 2025-11-18T08:10:06: Response: 0: Success 2025-11-18T08:10:06: SSH command: /opt/thinlinc/lib/tlclient/ssh -N -o GlobalKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o UserKnownHostsFile=/dev/null -o UpdateHostKeys=yes -o PasswordAuthentication=no -o ChallengeResponseAuthentication=no -o KbdInteractiveAuthentication=no -o IdentityFile=\"/home//.ssh/id_ed25519\" -o CheckHostIP=no -o NumberOfPasswordPrompts=3 -o HostKeyAlgorithms=&ssh-rsa,rsa-sha2-256,rsa-sha2-512,ssh-ed25519,ecdsa-sha2-nistp256 @192.168.0.147 -p 3333 -L 33913:127.0.0.1:5910 -R 5005:127.0.0.1:45055 -R 5006:127.0.0.1:43141 -R 5003:127.0.0.1:40781 thinlinc-login dummy 2025-11-18T08:10:06: SSH pid is 726836 2025-11-18T08:10:06: ssh[E]: ssh: connect to host 192.168.0.147 port 3333: Connection refused 2025-11-18T08:10:06: ssh[E]: CONNECT ERROR: 111 ``` ---
**Author:** ![AnalogKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/958977/32.png) [@AnalogKid](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/AnalogKid)\ **Post date:** [18 November 2025 18:12 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/4 "2025-11-18T18:12:06Z")
This is what I see on the remote ThinLinc server **/var/log/vsmserver.log** (the system that I am trying to connect to): ```auto 2025-11-18 18:00:20 INFO vsmserver.loadinfo: Agent 127.0.0.1 is back up 2025-11-18 18:06:43 INFO vsmserver.session: User with uid 1000 (user) requested a new session 2025-11-18 18:06:44 INFO vsmserver.session: Session 127.0.0.1:10 created for user user ``` Then this after the connection fails and I click the **Close** button on the **Server refused the connection. Is this a ThinLinc server?** message ```auto 2025-11-18 18:09:40 INFO vsmserver.session: Session 127.0.0.1:10 for user has terminated. Removing. ``` ---
**Author:** ![aaron](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/community.thinlinc.com/aaron/32/13_2.png) [@aaron](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/aaron)\ **Post date:** [19 November 2025 00:35 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/5 "2025-11-19T00:35:17Z")
It looks like the second phase of the connection is failing, since the ThinLinc client tries to connect to `192.168.0.147` rather than the tunnel endpoint at `127.0.0.1`. The ThinLinc client connects in two phases: first to the master, then the agent. Both master and agent can reside on the same machine. The agent hostname reported to the client for the second phase defaults to the internal IP of the machine, which is probably where `192.168.0.147` is coming from. You can change this by setting `agent_hostname` in `/opt/thinlinc/etc/conf.d/vsmagent.hconf` on the ThinLinc server, and restarting the `vsmagent` service. In your case, it should be set to `127.0.0.1`. This will affect all connections though, including from clients without a local tunnel endpoint. If you’re connecting from other clients too (for example on the same network as the ThinLinc server) then you might want to use `HOST_ALIASES` on the clients which need it instead. Something like: ```auto HOST_ALIASES=192.168.0.147=127.0.0.1:3333 ``` ---
**Author:** ![AnalogKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/958977/32.png) [@AnalogKid](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/AnalogKid)\ **Post date:** [19 November 2025 01:49 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/6 "2025-11-19T01:49:59Z")
That was it!! _ **Many, many thanks!** _ Everything is the same except for the **HOST\_ALIASES=** line `HOST_ALIASES=192.168.0.147=127.0.0.1:3333` Here’s the complete setup Screenshot of the **~/.thinlinc/tlclient.conf** file ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/thinlinc/original/1X/e8402ee98b4dfb01021bc9f0ee03ac1857757f4d.png) Text of the **~/.thinlinc/tlclient.conf** file ```auto └─(17:35:24)──> cat ~/.thinlinc/tlclient.conf ──(Tue,Nov18)─┘ ALLOW_HOSTKEY_UPDATE=1 AUTHENTICATION_METHOD=publickey CERTIFICATE_NAMING=subject_commonName, pin_label, issuer_commonName CLIPBOARD_SYNC_ENABLED=1 CUSTOM_COMPRESSION=0 CUSTOM_COMPRESSION_LEVEL=2 DISPLAY_MODE= EMULATE_MIDDLE_BUTTON=0 FULL_SCREEN_MODE=0 FULL_SCREEN_SELECTED_MONITORS=1 HOST_ALIASES=192.168.0.147=127.0.0.1:3333 JPEG_COMPRESSION=1 JPEG_COMPRESSION_LEVEL=8 LOGIN_NAME=user NEW_PASSWORD_REGEXP=Retype new .*password|Re-enter .*password NFS_SERVER_ENABLED=0 OPTIONS_POPUP_KEY=F8 PKCS11_MODULE=lib/tlclient/opensc-pkcs11.so PRINTER_ENABLED=1 PRIVATE_KEY=/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519 RECONNECT_POLICY=single-disconnected SEND_SYSKEYS=1 SERVER_NAME=127.0.0.1 SHADOWING_ENABLED=0 SHADOW_NAME= SMARTCARD_EXPORT_ENABLED=1 SOUND_ENABLED=1 SSH_ARBITRARY=3333 SSH_COMPRESSION=0 SSH_PORT_SELECTION=2 START_PROGRAM_COMMAND=tl-single-app firefox START_PROGRAM_ENABLED=0 TLCLIENT_VERSION=4.19.0 UPDATE_ENABLED=1 UPDATE_INTERVAL=604800 UPDATE_LASTCHECK=1763404530 UPDATE_MANDATORY=0 UPDATE_URL=http://www.cendio.com/downloads/clients/clientupdate.conf VNC_AUTOSELECT=1 VNC_COLOR_LEVEL=3 VNC_ENCODING_SELECTION=7 YESNO_PROMPT_REGEXP=\[?y\]?es/\[?n\]?o ``` Client GUI configuration ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/thinlinc/original/1X/83866223720a740480840fc9c7b774200fd93325.png) ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/thinlinc/original/1X/237c223e351a4953b954b74d6667cc5d93d41844.png) Starting the connection / entering in the SSH key password ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/thinlinc/original/1X/66958921fdcb4391b2fe3e4b3876c67596c699cb.png) _ **Connection Success!!** _ ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/thinlinc/original/1X/9cbaedf3110e9a15f12072129754cce1ad56061e.jpeg) _ **Thanks Again!** _ ---
**Author:** ![AnalogKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/958977/32.png) [@AnalogKid](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/AnalogKid)\ **Post date:** [19 November 2025 01:54 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/7 "2025-11-19T01:54:44Z")
I would imagine that I could also save this as a configuration file with it’s own name and then call it like this `/opt/thinlinc/bin/tlclient-openconf ~/.thinlinc/tlclient-kali-linux-reverse-tunnel.conf &` Yes? No? Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![aaron](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/community.thinlinc.com/aaron/32/13_2.png) [@aaron](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/aaron)\ **Post date:** [19 November 2025 04:31 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/8 "2025-11-19T04:31:42Z")
Glad to hear you got it working! You can specify a client configuration file at the command line using the `-C` argument. More info here: > **[Client command line usage — ThinLinc Administrator's Guide](https://www.cendio.com/resources/docs/tag/client_cmdline.html#description-of-available-command-line-arguments)** > > Comprehensive overview of ThinLinc client command-line usage, including syntax, available options, and techniques for customizing client behavior and settings. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/958977/32.png) [@AnalogKid](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/AnalogKid)\ **Post date:** [19 November 2025 16:12 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/9 "2025-11-19T16:12:10Z")
The `-C` argument does work for me when the client is a Windows system. It does not work for me when the client is a Linux system. The command line I posted above is working for me on a Linux client. ---
**Author:** ![aaron](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/community.thinlinc.com/aaron/32/13_2.png) [@aaron](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/aaron)\ **Post date:** [19 November 2025 16:23 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/10 "2025-11-19T16:23:47Z")
@AnalogKid what is it specifically that doesn’t work on Linux? Could you describe what happens (or doesn’t happen)? ---
**Author:** ![AnalogKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/958977/32.png) [@AnalogKid](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/AnalogKid)\ **Post date:** [19 November 2025 18:22 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/11 "2025-11-19T18:22:00Z")
Basic usage failure when using `-C` or `-c` ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/thinlinc/original/1X/e2665a54024e0cb43c760a14a956348a0f0685c0.png) When I don’t use the `-C` it works just fine ![image](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/uploads/thinlinc/original/1X/ca1ab6809b9f7f68de7f909bda2c540af89bb3da.png) ---
**Author:** ![aaron](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex005/user_avatar/community.thinlinc.com/aaron/32/13_2.png) [@aaron](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/aaron)\ **Post date:** [19 November 2025 19:22 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/12 "2025-11-19T19:22:15Z")
The `-C` option should be used with `tlclient`. `tlclient-openconf` is really just a helper script and shouldn’t normally be called directly. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogKid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/958977/32.png) [@AnalogKid](https://community.thinlinc.com/u/AnalogKid)\ **Post date:** [19 November 2025 22:16 UTC](https://community.thinlinc.com/t/thinlinc-reverse-tunnel-connection/1805/13 "2025-11-19T22:16:38Z")
Got it / thank you! Yes, the `-C` is working when using that binary. [This says](https://www.cendio.com/resources/docs/tag/client_linux.html#running-the-linux-client) that `/opt/thinlinc/bin/` is supposed to be added to the path when the client is installed. I have installed the deb package on Pop!\_OS 22.04 NAME=“Pop!\_OS” VERSION=“22.04 LTS” ID=pop ID\_LIKE=“ubuntu debian” PRETTY\_NAME=“Pop!\_OS 22.04 LTS” VERSION\_ID=“22.04” I am not seeing that in the path.I can add it, but just figured that I would mention that I am not seeing that behavior in my situation.