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This guide covers:

  • Connecting one laptop’s terminal to another using SSH.
  • Mapping ports from one laptop to another using SSH port forwarding.
  • Using port forwarding to share Android Debug Bridge (ADB) between two laptops.

1. Connecting One Laptop’s Terminal to Another

To connect Laptop 2 to the terminal of Laptop 1 remotely, follow these steps:

Step 1: Enable SSH on Laptop 1

On Laptop 1 (the one you want to access), install and enable the SSH server:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install openssh-server
sudo systemctl enable - now ssh

This ensures that Laptop 1 is accessible over SSH.To check the IP address of Laptop 1, run:

ip a | grep inet

Step 2: Connect from Laptop 2

On Laptop 2, open a terminal and run:

ssh username@<Laptop_1_IP>

Example:

ssh inxeoz@192.168.0.163
  • Replace username with the actual username of Laptop 1.
  • Replace <Laptop_1_IP> with the actual IP of Laptop 1.
  • If prompted, type yes to accept the connection and enter the password of Laptop1 of user.

Once connected, you can execute commands on Laptop 1 directly from Laptop 2.

2. Mapping One Laptop’s Port to Another (SSH Port Forwarding)

SSH allows you to map a port from one machine to another. This is useful for forwarding services like ADB, web servers, databases, etc.

Step 1: Understand SSH Port Forwarding

The basic syntax for local port forwarding is:

ssh -L <local_port>:<target_host>:<remote_port> username@remote_host
  • -L: Enables local port forwarding.
  • <local_port>: The port on Laptop 2 (your current machine).
  • <target_host>: The host where the service runs (usually localhost).
  • <remote_port>: The actual port on Laptop 1.
  • username@remote_host: The SSH credentials of Laptop 1.

Step 2: Forwarding a Port (Example: ADB Debugging)

If Laptop 1 has a phone connected via ADB and you want to access it from Laptop 2, run:

ssh -L 5037:localhost:5037 inxeoz@192.168.0.163
  • This maps Laptop 2’s local port 5037 to Laptop 1’s ADB service (port 5037).
  • Any ADB command on Laptop 2 will now be sent to Laptop 1.

On Laptop 2, restart ADB to recognize the forwarded connection:

adb kill-server
adb start-server
adb devices

Now, Laptop 2 will detect the phone connected to Laptop 1!

3. Using SSH Reverse Port Forwarding

Reverse forwarding allows Laptop 1 to access services running on Laptop2.

Example: If you want to expose Laptop 2’s port 8080 to Laptop 1, run on Laptop 2:

ssh -R 8080:localhost:8080 inxeoz@192.168.0.163

Now, Laptop 1 can access localhost:8080 as if the service were running there.

4. Persistent Port Forwarding with SSH Tunnels

If you need persistent port forwarding, add this to ~/.ssh/config on Laptop 2:

Host laptop1
HostName 192.168.0.163
User inxeoz
LocalForward 5037 localhost:5037

Then simply connect using:

ssh laptop1

This will automatically forward port 5037 each time you SSH into Laptop 1.