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Cisco ASA 5500 Series Configuration Guide using the CLI
Chapter74 Configuring Clientless SSL VPN
Configuring Port Forwarding
Information About Port Forwarding
Port forwarding lets users access TCP-based applications over a clientless SSL VPN connection. Such
applications include the following:
Lotus Notes
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook Express
Perforce
Sametime
Secure FTP (FTP over SSH)
SSH
TELNET
Windows Terminal Service
XDDTS
Other TCP-based applications may also work, but we have not tested them. Protocols that use UDP do
not work.
Port forwarding is the legacy technology for supporting TCP-based applications over a clientless SSL
VPN connection. You may choose to use port forwarding because you have built earlier configurations
that support this technology.
Consider the following alternatives to port forwarding:
Smart tunnel access offers the following advantages to users:
Smart tunnel offers better performance than plug-ins.
Unlike port forwarding, smart tunnel simplifies the user experience by not requiring the user
connection of the local application to the local port.
Unlike port forwarding, smart tunnel does not require users to have administrator privileges.
Unlike port forwarding and smart tunnel access, a plug-in does not require the client application to
be installed on the remote computer.
When configuring port forwarding on the ASA, you specify the port the application uses. When
configuring smart tunnel access, you specify the name of the executable file or its path.
Prerequisites
The remote host must be running a 32-bit version of one of the following:
Microsoft WindowsVista, Windows XP SP2 or SP3; or Windows2000 SP4.
Apple Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5 with Safari 2.0.4(419.3).
Fedora Core 4
The remote host must also be running Sun JRE 1.5 or later.
Browser-based users of Safari on Mac OS X 10.5.3 must identify a client certificate for use with the
URL of the ASA, once with the trailing slash and once without it, because of the way Safari
interprets URLs. For example,
https://example.com/
https://example.com