Basic socks proxy to a server

This will expose a socks proxy on your computer on port 1080.

ssh -ND 1080 example.com

The way I use them is to tunnel my web browser traffic.

In Firefox this can quickly be done by going to settings > network settings (at the bottom) > manual proxy

Address: 127.0.0.1
Port: 1080

Now when you visit a site you’re traffic is routed through the proxy!

Jumping through a server

Say you’ve got a host that is either protected by a firewall or behind NAT. Just jump through it!

ssh -J gateway.example.com host.example.com