PHP ActiveX

FTP through SSH Tunnel with Dynamic Port Forwarding

See more FTP Examples

Demonstrates how to start a background thread that runs a portable SSH tunnel w/ dynamic port forwarding that the foreground thread can be used for establishing FTP sessions through an SSH tunnel.

Note: Some developers may be accustomed to starting an stunnel.exe proxy from https://www.stunnel.org. The stunnel.exe is not necessary here. Chilkat's background thread fulfills the task of what the external stunnel.exe does. Therefore, your application is self-contained, meaning that it can run anywhere because the SSH tunnel proxy is built-in.

PHP ActiveX

<?php

$success = 0;

// This example assumes the Chilkat API to have been previously unlocked.
// See Global Unlock Sample for sample code.

$success = 0;

$tunnel = new COM("Chilkat.SshTunnel");

$sshHostname = 'sftp.example.com';
$sshPort = 22;

// Connect to an SSH server and establish the SSH tunnel:
$success = $tunnel->Connect($sshHostname,$sshPort);
if ($success != 1) {
    print $tunnel->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

// Authenticate with the SSH server via a login/password
// or with a public key.  
// This example demonstrates SSH password authentication.
$success = $tunnel->AuthenticatePw('mySshLogin','mySshPassword');
if ($success != 1) {
    print $tunnel->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

// Indicate that the background SSH tunnel thread will behave as a SOCKS proxy server
// with dynamic port forwarding:
$tunnel->DynamicPortForwarding = 1;

// We may optionally require that connecting clients authenticate with our SOCKS proxy server.
// To do this, set an inbound username/password.  Any connecting clients would be required to 
// use SOCKS5 with the correct username/password.
// If no inbound username/password is set, then our SOCKS proxy server will accept both
// SOCKS4 and SOCKS5 unauthenticated connections.

$tunnel->InboundSocksUsername = 'chilkat123';
$tunnel->InboundSocksPassword = 'password123';

// Start the listen/accept thread to begin accepting SOCKS proxy client connections.
// Listen on port 1080.
$success = $tunnel->BeginAccepting(1080);
if ($success != 1) {
    print $tunnel->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

// Now that a background thread is running a SOCKS proxy server that forwards connections
// through an SSH tunnel, it is possible to use any Chilkat implemented protocol that is SOCKS capable,
// such as HTTP, POP3, SMTP, IMAP, FTP, etc.  The protocol may use SSL/TLS because the SSL/TLS
// will be passed through the SSH tunnel to the end-destination.  Also, any number of simultaneous
// connections may be routed through the SSH tunnel.

$ftp = new COM("Chilkat.Ftp2");

// Indicate that the HTTP object is to use our portable SOCKS proxy/SSH tunnel running in our background thread.
$ftp->SocksHostname = 'localhost';
// The SocksPort must equal the port passed to BeginAccepting above.
$ftp->SocksPort = 1080;
$ftp->SocksVersion = 5;
// The SOCKS5 login/password set here must equal the InboundSocksUsername/Password set above.
$ftp->SocksUsername = 'chilkat123';
$ftp->SocksPassword = 'password123';

// This is the actual FTP server domain or IP address, and the login/password for the user account on the destination FTP server.
$ftp->Hostname = 'ftp.someFtpServer.com';
$ftp->Username = 'myLogin';
$ftp->Password = 'myPassword';
$ftp->AuthTls = 1;

// Connect and login (via the SSH tunnel) to the FTP server.
$success = $ftp->Connect();
if ($success != 1) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

// Change to the remote directory where the file is located.
// This step is only necessary if the file is not in the root directory
// for the FTP account.
$success = $ftp->ChangeRemoteDir('junk');
if ($success != 1) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

$localFilename = 'c:/temp/hamlet.xml';
$remoteFilename = 'hamlet.xml';

// Download a file.  (the data connection is also automatically established through the 
// SSH tunnel using dynamic port forwarding..)
$success = $ftp->GetFile($remoteFilename,$localFilename);
if ($success != 1) {
    print $ftp->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

// The disconnect is disconnecting with the FTP server and closes the SSH tunnel.
// The background tunnel thread is still running, and may be used for subsequent FTP connections,
// or even connections for any other purpose, such as HTTP, IMAP, SMTP, POP3, etc.
$success = $ftp->Disconnect();

// When the app is finished with the tunnel, it can cleanup..

// Stop the background listen/accept thread:
$waitForThreadExit = 1;
$success = $tunnel->StopAccepting($waitForThreadExit);
if ($success != 1) {
    print $tunnel->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}

// Close the SSH tunnel (would also kick any remaining connected clients).
$success = $tunnel->CloseTunnel($waitForThreadExit);
if ($success != 1) {
    print $tunnel->LastErrorText . "\n";
    exit;
}


?>