Pietro Battiston

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{{:reachme:reachme_0.7.5_all.deb|Click here to download version 0.7.5 of reachme.}}
 ({{:reachme:reachme-light_0.7.5_all.deb|Click here}} for the "light" version)

{{:reachme:reachthem_0.7.5_all.deb|Click here to download version 0.7.5 of reachthem.}} 


===== What is this? =====

**reachme** and **reachthem** are two python programs which simplify the operation of logging in to a remote machine without a public address.

Notice that in order to do so, a machine with public address is needed.

So here are the ingredients:
  * a machine **A** which cannot be reached from the net
  * a machine **B** which can be reached from the net
  * a machine **C** from which you want to reach **A**

If this sounds complicated, think to it as "LogMeIn except that you, not LogMeIn, provide **B**".

And this is how you use it:
  * **reachme** is run on **A**
  * **reachthem** is run on **C**, sees there is a connection to **A** available, and allows the user of **C** to connect to **A**.

There is nothing very new or complicated in this: it just uses SSH port forwarding, a classic (and pretty safe) tool. **reachme** and **reachthem** make the process just a bit simpler, in particular if the user of **A** is technically not very sophisticated.

===== Typical use cases =====

  * **A** is a computer in your office which you always want to be able to reach from anywhere. Unfortunately, it is behind a NAT. **B** is a server of your company which instead has a public IP.
  * **A** is your boyfriend/girlfriend/mother/grandmother/father/grandfather/sister/brother's((Half of these cases were personally tested by the author.)) computer, on which you installed Ubuntu some months ago. Now he/she needs to install a package, and he/she has no idea of how to do. **B** is your cheap VPS somewhere.

===== Here is how you use it, really =====

  * Install **reachme** (or **reachme-light**, if it is a server) on **A**, and create a file **~/.config/reachme/force_config** with content

  {'IP': 'example.com',
   'uname': 'piero',
   'port': '1333',
   'check_every': '30'}

  * Install **reachthem** (and **reachme**, on which it depends) on **C** (replace "example.com" with the IP or address of **B**)
  * Set up SSH keys((Click [[https://www.debian.org/devel/passwordlessssh|here]] if you don't know what this means.)) such that **C** is allowed passwordless access to **A**, and both **A** (with the username mentioned in the above configuration file, //which you will probably want to be an ad-hoc user, with limited rights!//) and **C** are allowed passwordless access to **B** (this is the only operation which must be done manually on **B**; things may change in the future).
  * (Tell your loved one to) start **reachme** on **A**
  * Start **reachthem** on **B**, and fill the fields **Address** (of **B**) and **Username** (on **B**) (as well as **Sshd port** if it is different than 22). Then retrieve the list of "**Available hosts**". **A** should appear: click on it, and then click **Open shell**


===== How to install =====

Download the above packages for Ubuntu/Debian, or clone the git repo:

  git clone https://gitlab.com/pbat/reachme.git

(both **reachme** and **reachthem** can be ran from the repo, without installing them).

===== How to run without user interaction =====

In order to reach a server at any time, you will presumably want to add a crontab line (with **crontab -e**) such as

<code>
    */10 * * * * reachme --daemon
</code>
===== What doesn't work =====

Currently, probably screen access. Terminal, filesystem access and port forwarding should work.