anderspitman/awesome-tunneling - Detailed Review#

1. Overview & GitHub Stats#

• URL: https://github.com/anderspitman/awesome-tunneling
• Stars: 18613

2. Project Description#

Anderspitman/awesome-tunneling is a meticulously curated list of tunneling software and services, emphasizing self-hosted alternatives to popular commercial solutions like ngrok and Cloudflare Tunnel. It serves as a comprehensive resource for developers, sysadmins, and DevOps professionals seeking to establish secure, private network tunnels without relying on third-party services. The repository categorizes tools based on features, protocols, and ease of use, making it an invaluable reference for anyone involved in networking, remote access, or service exposure.

3. What Software Does It Replace?#

This project provides alternatives to several widely-used tunneling and reverse proxy services, including:

• ngrok
• Cloudflare Tunnel
• PageKite
• LocalTunnel
• Serveo
• Teleconsole
• Beeceptor (for HTTP mocking)
• Various other proprietary or SaaS-based tunneling solutions.

4. Core Functionality#

The awesome-tunneling repository itself is not a software application but a categorized list of tools. Key features of the listed software typically include:

• Secure TCP/UDP/HTTP tunneling.
• Support for self-hosting to maintain data privacy.
• Reverse proxy capabilities.
• SSL/TLS termination.
• Dynamic DNS and subdomain management.
• Cross-platform compatibility (Linux, Windows, macOS).
• Integration with Docker, Kubernetes, and other orchestration tools.
• Authentication and access control mechanisms.

5. Pros and Cons#

Pros:

• Comprehensive and well-organized list of tools.
• Focus on open-source and self-hosted solutions enhances privacy and control.
• Regularly updated with new projects and improvements.
• Includes comparisons, making it easier to choose the right tool.
• Community-driven, with contributions from experts in the field.

Cons:

• As a list rather than a single tool, users must evaluate and deploy each solution individually.
• Some listed projects may have steep learning curves or limited documentation.
• Requires self-maintenance of the chosen tunneling software, including updates and security patches.

6. Detailed Installation Guide (Self-host)#

Since anderspitman/awesome-tunneling is a list of tools, here’s a general guide for self-hosting a popular tunneling software from the list, such as frp (Fast Reverse Proxy), on an Ubuntu server:

1
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

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wget https://github.com/fatedier/frp/releases/download/v0.52.3/frp_0.52.3_linux_amd64.tar.gz
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tar -xzf frp_0.52.3_linux_amd64.tar.gz
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cd frp_0.52.3_linux_amd64

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nano frps.ini

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[common]
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bind_port = 7000
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dashboard_port = 7500
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dashboard_user = admin
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dashboard_pwd = your_secure_password
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token = your_secret_token

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./frps -c frps.ini

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sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/frps.service

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[Unit]
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Description=Frp Server Service
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After=network.target
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[Service]
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Type=simple
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User=nobody
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Restart=on-failure
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RestartSec=5s
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ExecStart=/path/to/frps -c /path/to/frps.ini
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[Install]
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WantedBy=multi-user.target

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sudo systemctl enable frps
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sudo systemctl start frps

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sudo ufw allow 7000/tcp
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sudo ufw allow 7500/tcp
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sudo ufw reload