Port Forwarding Commands

Overview

m87 port forwarding allows you to securely access services running on remote devices or devices on remote networks as if they were running locally. All traffic is encrypted through the m87 secure tunnel.

Forward Command

Forward ports from remote devices or remote network devices to your local machine.

Syntax

m87 <device> forward <TARGETS>...

Each target follows the format: [local_port:]remote_target[/protocol] Where:

remote_target is [host:]port
protocol is tcp (default) or udp

Port Forwarding Formats

Format	Description	Example
`port`	Forward remote port to same local port	`8080`
`local:remote`	Forward remote port to different local port	`3000:8080`
`host:port`	Forward from device on remote network	`192.168.1.50:554`
`local:host:remote`	Map remote network device to local port	`8554:192.168.1.50:554`
`port/protocol`	Specify protocol (tcp or udp)	`8080/udp`

Basic Examples

# Forward remote port 8080 to local port 8080
m87 rpi forward 8080

# Access at http://localhost:8080

# Forward remote port 8080 to local port 3000
m87 rpi forward 3000:8080

# Access at http://localhost:3000

# TCP is the default protocol
m87 rpi forward 8080/tcp

# Forward UDP traffic (e.g., DNS)
m87 rpi forward 53/udp

Network Device Forwarding

Access devices on the remote device’s network, not just services running on the device itself.

Use Cases

Access IP cameras on remote LANs
Connect to routers and switches through a jump host
Reach internal network services
Access IoT devices without public IPs

Examples

# Forward port 554 from IP camera at 192.168.1.50
m87 rpi forward 192.168.1.50:554

# Or expose locally on different port
m87 rpi forward 8554:192.168.1.50:554

# View RTSP stream locally
ffplay rtsp://localhost:8554/stream
vlc rtsp://localhost:8554/stream

# Router at 192.168.1.1 only accessible from office network
m87 office-pc forward 8080:192.168.1.1:80

# Open http://localhost:8080 in browser

# Access database on internal network
m87 gateway forward 5432:10.0.1.100:5432

# Connect to PostgreSQL
psql -h localhost -p 5432 -U myuser mydb

Multiple Port Forwarding

Forward multiple ports with a single command.

Examples

# Forward multiple ports (same local and remote)
m87 device forward 8080 9090 3000

# Forward web UI and API with different local ports
m87 device forward 3000:3000 8080:8000

# Access frontend at http://localhost:3000
# Access API at http://localhost:8080

# Forward frontend, backend, and database
m87 app-server forward 3000 8000 5432

Port Ranges

Forward ranges of ports efficiently.

Syntax

start-end                      Forward port range (same local/remote)
start-end:start-end            Map local range to different remote range
start-end:host:start-end       Range with specific remote host

Examples

# Forward ports 8080-8090 (same local and remote)
m87 device forward 8080-8090

# Map local range to different remote range
m87 device forward 8080-8090:9080-9090

# Forward range from network device
m87 device forward 8080-8090:192.168.1.50:9080-9090/tcp

Port ranges are particularly useful for applications that use multiple consecutive ports, such as media servers or game servers.

Real-World Examples

Web Development

# Remote Node.js app on port 3000
m87 dev-server forward 3000

# Access at http://localhost:3000
curl http://localhost:3000

# Forward both frontend and backend
m87 rpi forward 8080:80 3000:3000

# Frontend at http://localhost:8080
# API at http://localhost:3000

Database Access

# Forward PostgreSQL port
m87 db-server forward 5432

# Connect with psql
psql -h localhost -p 5432 -U myuser mydb

# Forward MongoDB with different local port
m87 db-server forward 27018:27017

# Connect with mongo client
mongo --host localhost --port 27018

# Forward Redis
m87 cache-server forward 6379

# Connect with redis-cli
redis-cli -h localhost -p 6379

IoT and Smart Home

# Access Home Assistant on remote Raspberry Pi
m87 rpi forward 8123

# Open http://localhost:8123 in browser

# Forward MQTT broker
m87 iot-gateway forward 1883

# Publish message
mosquitto_pub -h localhost -p 1883 -t test/topic -m "hello"

Media Streaming

# Forward RTSP stream from camera
m87 rpi forward 8554:192.168.1.50:554

# Stream with VLC
vlc rtsp://localhost:8554/stream

# Stream with ffmpeg
ffplay rtsp://localhost:8554/stream

SSH Tunneling

# Forward SSH from another device on remote network
m87 gateway forward 2222:10.0.1.100:22

# SSH to internal device through tunnel
ssh -p 2222 user@localhost

Serial Command

Connect to serial devices (USB, UART) on remote machines.

Syntax

m87 <device> serial <PATH> [BAUD]

Parameters

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
`PATH`	Yes	-	Path to serial device (e.g., `/dev/ttyUSB0`)
`BAUD`	No	115200	Baud rate for serial connection

Examples

# Connect to USB serial device (115200 baud)
m87 rpi serial /dev/ttyUSB0

# Connect with 9600 baud
m87 rpi serial /dev/ttyUSB0 9600

# Connect with 57600 baud
m87 rpi serial /dev/ttyACM0 57600

Common Serial Devices

Device Path	Description
`/dev/ttyUSB0`	USB-to-serial adapter
`/dev/ttyACM0`	Arduino, USB CDC devices
`/dev/ttyAMA0`	Raspberry Pi UART (GPIO pins)
`/dev/ttyS0`	Built-in serial port

Use Cases

Arduino development - Flash and debug Arduino boards
Router/switch configuration - Access console ports
Embedded systems - Debug embedded Linux devices
Industrial equipment - Monitor and control serial devices
IoT devices - Configure ESP32, ESP8266, and similar devices

Serial Examples

# Connect to Arduino on remote Pi
m87 rpi serial /dev/ttyACM0

# You can now use Arduino Serial Monitor output

# Access switch console through remote device
m87 admin-pc serial /dev/ttyUSB0 9600

# Configure switch via console

# Connect to ESP32 for debugging
m87 dev-board serial /dev/ttyUSB0 115200

# View ESP32 serial output

Use m87 <device> exec -- ls /dev/tty* to list available serial devices on the remote machine.

Security Features

All forwarding is secure by default:

All traffic is encrypted through the m87 secure tunnel
No need to expose ports publicly or configure firewalls
Authentication handled automatically by m87
End-to-end encryption for all forwarded connections

Connection Behavior

Forwarding runs in the foreground
Press Ctrl+C to stop forwarding
Connection automatically reconnects if network drops
Local ports are released when forwarding stops

Device Access - Execute commands on remote devices
Docker Integration - Forward ports from containers

Get Started

Core Concepts

CLI Commands

Guides

Advanced

Port Forwarding Commands

Overview

Forward Command

Syntax

Port Forwarding Formats

Basic Examples

Network Device Forwarding

Use Cases

Examples

Multiple Port Forwarding

Examples

Port Ranges

Syntax

Examples

Real-World Examples

Web Development

Database Access

IoT and Smart Home

Media Streaming

SSH Tunneling

Serial Command

Syntax

Parameters

Examples

Common Serial Devices

Use Cases

Serial Examples

Security Features

Connection Behavior

​Overview

​Forward Command

​Syntax

​Port Forwarding Formats

​Basic Examples

​Network Device Forwarding

​Use Cases

​Examples

​Multiple Port Forwarding

​Examples

​Port Ranges

​Syntax

​Examples

​Real-World Examples

​Web Development

​Database Access

​IoT and Smart Home

​Media Streaming

​SSH Tunneling

​Serial Command

​Syntax

​Parameters

​Examples

​Common Serial Devices

​Use Cases

​Serial Examples

​Security Features

​Connection Behavior

​Related Commands

Overview

Forward Command

Syntax

Port Forwarding Formats

Basic Examples

Network Device Forwarding

Use Cases

Examples

Multiple Port Forwarding

Examples

Port Ranges

Syntax

Examples

Real-World Examples

Web Development

Database Access

IoT and Smart Home

Media Streaming

SSH Tunneling

Serial Command

Syntax

Parameters

Examples

Common Serial Devices

Use Cases

Serial Examples

Security Features

Connection Behavior

Related Commands