Polarhome service port-forwarding guide

polarhome.com realm offers shell accounts, as well as other access possibilities like web hosting, mail and other services on different operating systems, but because of limited IP addresses, we have to use port forwarding instead of normal direct access to certain hosts/services.

How does it work?

polarhome.com is accesable from both IPv4 and IPv6 (the next generation IP protocol) networks.

In IPv4 network resolution whole polarhome.com realm has one and only one IP address. Therefore not just IP based vhostsing is not possible but we have to use so called port forwarding techniqe (NAT/PAT mappings) in order to add direct access to inner servers that run behind the gateway server. These are non standard solutions and be prepared that it requires extra settings in your browser and mail client etc. However it is not magic either. If you follow the rules described below - you should be able to utilize whole polarhome.
IPv6, from other side has plenty of address space therefore polarhome.com can appreciate not just direct access to servers, but IP based vhosts as well, if needed. Most of the servers have IPv6 support and polarhome internal network is native IPv6 based. Drawback with IPv6 is that, it is not as popular as IPv4, thought polarhome.com generates about 5% of network traffic through IPv6 connections.

From IPv6 network all polarhome.com servers are accesable through domain name polarhome.com, as redhat.polarhome.com that is not visible on IPv4 is directly accesable from IPv6 as redhat.polarhome.com as well as all other server for ex. alpha.polarhome.com, freebsd.polarhome.com or solaris.polarhome.com etc.
Please note, that smtp is not configured to accept IPv6 connections for security resons (but e-mail addresses like username@hostname.polarhome.com can be used). Also on some hosts, some services might fail with IPv6. These services will be upgraded continously as soon IPv6 development on that platform moves forward.

IPv4 portforwarding
In IPv4 we have to make difference between Internet users (users coming from the Internet) and local users ( users that have already account on some polarhome server ). The table below describes how to access/use services on polarhome hosts, depending of user's relative source host.

Detailed description of services and servers

Service	Port	Server	Local user	from Internet	Internet example	Note
ftp	x1	gate.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com	n/a ftp vax ftp freebsd ftp solaris ftp openbsd ftp netbsd ftp debian ftp alpha ftp aix ftp hpux ftp redhat ftp ultrix ftp qnx ftp irix ftp tru64 ftp plan9 ftp suse ftp openstep ftp mandriva ftp ubuntu	21->redhat 701->21 711->21 721->21 731->21 741->21 751->21 761->21 771->21 781->21 791->21 801->21 811->21 821->21 831->21 841->21 851->21 861->21 871->21 881->21	ftp ftp.polarhome.com ftp ftp.polarhome.com 701 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 711 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 721 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 731 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 741 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 751 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 761 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 771 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 781 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 791 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 801 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 811 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 821 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 831 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 841 ftp suse.polarhome.com 851 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 861 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 871 ftp ftp.polarhome.com 881	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
telnet	x2	gate.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com	n/a telnet vax telnet freebsd telnet solaris telnet openbsd telnet netbsd telnet debian telnet alpha telnet aix telnet hpux telnet redhat telnet ultrix telnet qnx telnet irix telnet tru64 telnet plan9 telnet suse telnet openstep telnet mandriva telnet ubuntu	23->redhat 702->23 712->23 722->23 732->23 742->23 752->23 762->23 772->23 782->23 792->23 802->23 812->23 822->23 832->23 842->23 852->23 862->23 872->23 882->23	telnet gate.polarhome.com telnet gate.polarhome.com 702 telnet gate.polarhome.com 712 telnet gate.polarhome.com 722 telnet gate.polarhome.com 732 telnet gate.polarhome.com 742 telnet gate.polarhome.com 752 telnet gate.polarhome.com 762 telnet gate.polarhome.com 772 telnet gate.polarhome.com 782 telnet gate.polarhome.com 792 telnet gate.polarhome.com 802 telnet gate.polarhome.com 812 telnet gate.polarhome.com 822 telnet gate.polarhome.com 832 telnet gate.polarhome.com 842 telnet suse.polarhome.com 852 telnet gate.polarhome.com 862 telnet gate.polarhome.com 872 telnet gate.polarhome.com 882	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
http	x3	gate.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com	http://www http://vax http://freebsd http://solaris http://openbsd http://netbsd http://debian http://alpha http://aix http://hpux http://redhat http://ultrix http://qnx http://irix http://tru64 http://plan9 http://suse n/a http://mandriva http://ubuntu	direct 703->80 713->80 723->80 733->80 743->80 753->80 763->80 773->80 783->80 793->80 803->80 813->80 823->80 833->80 843->80 853->80 n/a 873->80 883->80	http://www.polarhome.com http://www.polarhome.com:703 http://www.polarhome.com:713 http://www.polarhome.com:723 http://www.polarhome.com:733 http://www.polarhome.com:743 http://www.polarhome.com:753 http://www.polarhome.com:763 http://www.polarhome.com:773 http://www.polarhome.com:783 http://www.polarhome.com:793 http://www.polarhome.com:803 http://www.polarhome.com:813 http://www.polarhome.com:823 http://www.polarhome.com:833 http://www.polarhome.com:843 http://suse.polarhome.com:853 n/a http://www.polarhome.com:873 http://www.polarhome.com:883	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
https/ssl	x4	gate.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com	https://www n/a https://freebsd n/a https://openbsd n/a https://debian https://alpha n/a n/a https://redhat n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a	direct - 714->443 - 734->443 - 754->443 764->443 - - 794->443 - - - - - - - - -	https://www.polarhome.com n/a https://www.polarhome.com:714 n/a https://www.polarhome.com:734 n/a https://www.polarhome.com:754 https://www.polarhome.com:764 n/a n/a https://www.polarhome.com:794 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a	- - - TODO - TODO - - - - - - - - - - TODO - - -
ssh	x5	gate.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com	n/a ssh vax ssh freebsd ssh solaris ssh openbsd ssh netbsd ssh debian ssh alpha ssh aix ssh hpux ssh redhat ssh ultrix ssh qnx ssh irix ssh tru64 ssh plan9 ssh suse ssh openstep ssh mandriva ssh ubuntu	22->redhat 705->22 715->22 725->22 735->22 745->22 755->22 765->22 775->22 785->22 795->22 805->22 815->22 825->22 835->22 845->22 855->22 865->22 875->22 885->22	ssh gate.polarhome.com ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 705 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 715 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 725 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 735 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 745 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 755 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 765 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 775 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 785 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 795 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 805 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 815 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 825 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 835 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 845 ssh suse.polarhome.com -p 855 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 865 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 875 ssh gate.polarhome.com -p 885	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
pop3	x6	gate.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com	direct access from hosts	110->redhat 706->110 716->110 726->110 736->110 746->110 756->110 766->110 776->110 786->110 796->110 806->110 816->110 826->110 836->110 846->110 856->110 866->110 876->110 886->110	mail.polarhome.com mail.polarhome.com:706 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:716 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:726 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:736 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:746 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:756 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:766 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:776 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:786 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:796 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:806 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:816 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:826 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:836 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:846 (or web) suse.polarhome.com:856 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:866 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:876 (or web) mail.polarhome.com:886 (or web)	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
imap	x7	gate.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com	direct access from hosts	143->redhat - 717->143 727->143 737->143 747->143 757->143 767->143 777->143 787->143 797->143 807->143 817->143 827->143 837->143 847->143 857->143 867->143 877->143 887->143	mail.polarhome.com n/a mail.polarhome.com:717 mail.polarhome.com:727 mail.polarhome.com:737 mail.polarhome.com:747 mail.polarhome.com:757 mail.polarhome.com:767 mail.polarhome.com:777 mail.polarhome.com:787 mail.polarhome.com:797 mail.polarhome.com:807 mail.polarhome.com:817 mail.polarhome.com:827 mail.polarhome.com:837 mail.polarhome.com:847 suse.polarhome.com:847 mail.polarhome.com:857 mail.polarhome.com:867 mail.polarhome.com:887	- TODO - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
usermin	x8	gate.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com	n/a n/a http://freebsd:81 http://solaris:81 http://openbsd:81 http://netbsd:81 http://debian:81 n/a http://aix:81 http://hpux:81 http://redhat:81 http://ultrix:81 http://qnx:81 http://irix:81 http://tru64:81 n/a http://suse:81 http://ubuntu:81 http://mandriva:81 n/a	- - 718->81 728->81 738->81 748->81 758->81 - 778->81 788->81 798->81 808->81 818->81 828->81 838->81 - 858->81 - 878->81 888->81	n/a n/a http://www.polarhome.com:718 http://www.polarhome.com:728 http://www.polarhome.com:738 http://www.polarhome.com:748 http://www.polarhome.com:758 n/a http://www.polarhome.com:778 http://www.polarhome.com:788 http://www.polarhome.com:798 http://www.polarhome.com:808 http://www.polarhome.com:818 http://www.polarhome.com:828 http://www.polarhome.com:838 n/a http://suse.polarhome.com:858 n/a http://www.polarhome.com:878 http://www.polarhome.com:888	- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - DISABLED - - -
smtp	-	gate.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com	direct access from hosts	port forward n/a using MX records	mail is forwarded to each host or relayed to Internet by mail.polarhome.com (port 25) but just via IPv4 POP3/IMAP auth needed before SMTP	- no relay - - - - - no relay no relay - - no relay - - - no relay no relay/to be fixed - - -

Easy key
To make the complicated path of port forwarding easier to remember and follow, we created a simple key. The rules are:

• all hosts ( using protocol IPv4) are accessable through gate.polarhome.com gateway server (or it's CNAME's)
• services are accesed through non standard ports
• port numbers are 3 digit numbers as [server part - 2 digits][service part - 1 digit]
•  
  [server] numbers table

  Server

  Number

  vax.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com ultrix.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com solaris-x86.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com scosysv.polarhome.com unixware.polarhome.com dragonfly.polarhome.com centos.polarhome.com miros.polarhome.com hurd.polarhome.com minix.polarhome.com hpux-ia64.polarhome.com raspbian.polarhome.com ia64.polarhome.com macosx.polarhome.com syllable.polarhome.com pidora.polarhome.com debian-ppc.polarhome.com beaglebone.polarhome.com cubieboard2.polarhome.com

  70x 71x 72x 73x 74x 75x 76x 77x 78x 79x 80x 81x 82x 83x 84x 85x 86x 87x 88x 89x 90x 91x 92x 93x 94x 95x 96x 97x 98x 99x 60x 61x 62x 63x 64x

•  
  [service] numbers table

  Service	Number
  ftp telnet http https ssh pop3 imap usermin imaps	xx1 xx2 xx3 xx4 xx5 xx6 xx7 xx8 xx9

• use port=[server no][service no] formula to combine server number with service number in order to get correct access port
• access polarhome services (from IPv4) through gate.polarhome.com:port

• - - gate.polarhome.com has always direct access (CNAMEs mail, ftp and www as well). There are no services running on gate. It is a simple router that provides port forwarding NAT/PAT functionality.
  because of historical reasons, all default ports are mapped to redhat.polarhome.com, but users should not count on that. It might change by time.
• 70 - vax.polarhome.com : replace x with 70for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 71 - freebsd.polarhome.com : replace x with 71 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 72 - solaris.polarhome.com : replace x with 72 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 73 - openbsd.polarhome.com : replace x with 73 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 74 - netbsd.polarhome.com : replace x with 74 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 75 - debian.polarhome.com : replace x with 75 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 76 - alpha.polarhome.com : replace x with 76 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 77 - aix.polarhome.com : replace x with 77 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 78 - hpux.polarhome.com : replace x with 78 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 79 - redhat.polarhome.com : replace x with 79 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 80 - ultrix.polarhome.com : replace x with 80 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 81 - qnx.polarhome.com : replace x with 81 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 82 - irix.polarhome.com : replace x with 82 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 83 - tru64.polarhome.com : replace x with 83 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 84 - openindiana.polarhome.com : replace x with 84 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 85 - suse.polarhome.com : replace x with 85 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through suse.polarhome.com
• 86 - solaris-x86.polarhome.com : replace x with 86 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 87 - mandriva.polarhome.com : replace x with 87 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 88 - ubuntu.polarhome.com : replace x with 88 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 89 - scosysv.polarhome.com : replace x with 89 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 90 - unixware.polarhome.com : replace x with 90 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 91 - dragonfly.polarhome.com : replace x with 91 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 92 - centos.polarhome.com : replace x with 92 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 93 - miros.polarhome.com : replace x with 93 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 94 - hurd.polarhome.com : replace x with 94 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 95 - minix.polarhome.com : replace x with 95 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 96 - hpux-ia64.polarhome.com : replace x with 96 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 97 - raspberrypi.polarhome.com : replace x with 97 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 98 - ia64.polarhome.com : replace x with 98 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com
• 99 - macosx.polarhome.com : replace x with 99 for the chosen service, if it is available and access through gate.polarhome.com

• check the table above, if POP3 is available on VAX
• POP3 is configured on vax.polarhome.com... looks good
• service number for POP3 is 6
• server number for vax.polarhome.com is 70
• the correct acces port should be: 706 (according to the formula [server no][service no])
• configure your mail client's pop3 server to mail.polarhome.com port 706
• SMTP server should be mail.polarhome.com (on default port 25)
• that's it.

Direct access ports

Because of mentioned port forward functionality, polarhome.com splits available port range among servers, to give equal Internet accesibility for each port-forwarded server. It means, that if user want to advertise some public service that should be accesible from the Internet, it should be listening on some port from the given range... otherwise service will run, but it will not be reachable from the Internet, just from polarhome.com servers.

Direct access ports table

Server

Open ports

ultrix.polarhome.com vax.polarhome.com alpha.polarhome.com qnx.polarhome.com redhat.polarhome.com freebsd.polarhome.com solaris.polarhome.com openbsd.polarhome.com netbsd.polarhome.com debian.polarhome.com aix.polarhome.com hpux.polarhome.com irix.polarhome.com tru64.polarhome.com openindiana.polarhome.com suse.polarhome.com openstep.polarhome.com mandriva.polarhome.com ubuntu.polarhome.com unixware.polarhome.com scosysv.polarhome.com dragonfly.polarhome.com centos.polarhome.com miros.polarhome.com

1025-1999 2000-2999 3000-3999 4000-4999 5000-9999 10000-14999 25000-29999 15000-19999 20000-24999 30000-34999 35000-39999 40000-44999 45000-46999 47000-49999 50000-51999 59000-59999 52000-52999 54000-55999 56000-58999 60000-60999 61000-61999 62000-62999 63000-63999 64000-64100

Example 3
We want to run an eggdrop on debian.polarhome.com:

• check the table above... debian has open ports in range 30000-34999
• to create one bot on some public irc, does not matter what admin port we choose
• for remote administration we need to choose an empty non used port on the server
• in statistics/netstat menu it is possible to find used ports
• if we choose for ex port 2000. Our eggdrop will accept remote login just from polarhome realm
• if we choose for ex port 31000 (that is in the range). Our eggdrop will accept remote login even from the Internet as telnet gate.polarhome.com 31000

polarhome.com IRC servers/services

Read more about irc.polarhome.com servers and IRC services that users can provide at IRC page

Guest account

In every listed system should exists guest account:
Username: guest
Password: guest

it might be limited access comparing with normal user accounts.
...on redhat, freebsd, solaris and other unix like system it is disabled because of heavy abuse.

Please send your questions to support@polarhome.com

Note: I'm terribly sorry because of inconvenience, but this is the only way how polarhome.com can provide services on more than one OS' for free (or almost for free).
More information how port forwarding works and how it can be implemented, could be find in Oskar Andreasson's excellent Iptables Tutorial and also in Kyle Wheeler's Firewalling - iptables.

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