How to access Yellowfin via 'localhost' on a remote machine by using SSH Port Forwarding

Summary

The UploadLicence.i4 page can be a helpful way to apply a Yellowfin licence, however it requires the URL to be accessed from the application server itself. Yellowfin checks that the hostname in the URL is localhost.

This can be a problem when your Yellowfin instance is running on a headless Linux server with no browser available. This article explains how to use SSH port forwarding to work around this limitation on both Windows and Unix-based systems.

Windows - Using PuTTY

In this example, Yellowfin is running on a remote headless Linux box with IP address 10.10.1.90 on port 8080.

1. Enter the remote host in PuTTY

Open PuTTY and on the Session screen, enter the remote machine's IP address or hostname in the Host Name (or IP address) field.

PuTTY Session screen showing Host Name field

2. Navigate to the Tunnels settings

In the category panel on the left, expand SSH and select Tunnels.

3. Configure the port forward

Choose a free local port number to use in your browser. Note that port numbers below 1024 are reserved for system use. In this example we use 6666. Enter this in the Source port field.

In the Destination field, enter localhost:<Yellowfin port number> — in this example:

localhost:8080

PuTTY Tunnels screen showing Source port and Destination fields configured

4. Add the tunnel

Click Add. The new entry will appear in the Forwarded ports list.

PuTTY Forwarded ports list showing the new tunnel entry

5. Open the connection

Click Open to establish the tunnel. You will be prompted for the remote server's login credentials. Once authenticated, the tunnel is open and ready to use.

PuTTY terminal showing successful SSH connection

6. Access the UploadLicence page

Open a browser on your local machine and navigate to:

http://localhost:6666/UploadLicence.i4

This will tunnel through to http://10.10.1.90:8080/UploadLicence.i4 on the remote server, but Yellowfin will see the request as coming from localhost.

Linux and macOS - Using the Terminal

On Unix-based systems, run the following command in a terminal, substituting your own values:

ssh -N -L SOURCE_PORT:127.0.0.1:TARGET_PORT USERNAME@REMOTE_IP

For example:

ssh -N -L 8090:127.0.0.1:9696 <username>@18.154.59.60

Once the tunnel is open, navigate to the following in your browser:

http://localhost:8090/UploadLicence.i4

If you have any further questions on this article, contact Support with a new ticket or send us an email.