NetHost  

NetHost is a lightweight networking tool that leverages Serveo, enabling you to expose local servers to the internet effortlessly, without requiring router or firewall configuration.

Whether you’re a developer looking for quick web hosting or a hobbyist needing secure SSH access, NetHost makes networking simple and effective.

Key Features

• Expose Local Services: Seamlessly expose HTTP, TCP, and SSH traffic from your local network to the internet for development and testing.
• Custom Web Hosting: Host web pages online with a custom subdomain. NetHost ensures your website stays live by periodically sending requests.
• Public SSH Server: Expose a local SSH server securely, allowing remote connections from any network.
• Network Flexibility: Run NetHost on one device to expose services running on another within the same local network.

Steps to Install

1. Download the .deb File

   First, download the nethost_v*.*.*.deb file from the GitHub repository. Or just use this wget command

   • wget https://github.com/aviyall/NetHost/raw/refs/heads/main/nethost_v1.0.1.deb   

2. Install the Package

   Open a terminal and navigate to the directory where the .deb file is located. Then, run the following command:

   sudo dpkg -i nethost_v1.0.1.deb && sudo apt-get install -f

Usage

nethost <protocol> <hostname> <local_port> [subdomain/remote_port/alias]

Positional Arguments

• <protocol> (REQUIRED):

  • Choose the type of tunnel:
    • http: Expose HTTP traffic.
    • tcp: Expose TCP traffic.
    • ssh: Expose SSH traffic.

• <hostname> (REQUIRED):

  • Specify the target host:
    • lh: Shortcut for localhost.
    • Public or local IP addresses or hostnames are also valid.
    • Ensure no firewall restrictions on port 22 on the host machine.

• <local_port> (REQUIRED):

  • Port on the host machine.

• [subdomain/remote_port/alias] (OPTIONAL):

  • For http: Specify a subdomain or leave blank for a random one.
  • For tcp: This field is treated as a remote port. If blank, a random port is assigned.
  • For ssh: This field is treated as an alias, This field is necessary.

Examples

HTTP Tunnels

Without Subdomain:

nethost http lh 8080

With Subdomain:

nethost http lh 8080 mysubdomain

With Specific Host IP:

nethost http 192.168.1.24 8080 mysubdomain

TCP Tunnels

Default Remote Port:

nethost tcp lh 1234

Specific Remote Port:

nethost tcp lh 1234 32545

SSH Tunnels

On localhost:

nethost ssh lh 22 myalias

On Specific Host:

nethost ssh 192.168.35.21 22 myalias

connect to ssh server with : ssh -J serveo.net user@myalias

Special Notes

HTTP Tunnel with Subdomain:

• Provides a custom URL for your web services: https://<subdomain>.serveo.net.

TCP Tunnels:

• Recommended range for local port : 1024–65535.
• If the remote port is kept as 0, Serveo assigns a random port. (better to use 0 in most cases)

SSH Tunnels:

• For SSH tunnel to work local port should be 22 .
• An alias is mandatory, allowing connections like:

  ssh -J serveo.net user@myalias

System Requirements

• Ensure curl, ssh, and awk are installed.
• For TCP tunnels, ncat (Netcat) is required.
• Supported operating systems: Linux (any common distros).

Error Handling

• Network Issues:
  • Automatically detects and waits for network reconnection, resuming tunnels afterward.
• Serveo Downtime:
  • Detects Serveo unavailability and retries until the service is back online.
• Invalid Subdomain:
  • Prompts an error if the chosen subdomain is unavailable.

Advanced Functionality

• Long-Term Hosting: NetHost ensures reliability by sending periodic requests to keep the connection alive.
• Multi-Device Support: Use NetHost on one device to expose services hosted on another device in the same network.

Important

The script.sh file is provided to help you understand the code and to encourage your contributions. After making changes, submit a pull request, and I will merge it into the main branch. After a particular number of changes to this file a new version of this tool (nethost_*.*.*.deb) will be released.

Tip

Instead of the keyword nethost you can also use nhost on the terminal.

lh can be used for localhost.

Note

Serveo.net is often reported as being unreliable or down for extended periods.