Akom's Tech Ruminations

I've always set up autossh in /etc/rc.local, but with CentOS 8 that doesn't work well (things start too early, etc). Luckily, there is a nicer way using systemd templates. Essentially, all you have to do is create one symlink and one config file per instance of autossh.

Example:

Make a config file

/etc/autossh/mything.conf:

OPTIONS=-N  -M 20000 -R8888:1.2.3.4:8888 5.6.7.8

Make a symlink

ln -s /usr/lib/systemd/system/[email protected] /etc/systemd/system/[email protected]

Test

systemctl start [email protected]
journalctl -xe

But it's better to automate:

Puppet Recipe

define autossh(
    $service=$name,
    $args,
  ) {

    file {"/etc/systemd/system/autossh@${service}.service":
      ensure => link,
      target => '/usr/lib/systemd/system/[email protected]'
    } ->
    file {"/etc/autossh/${service}.conf":
      content => "OPTIONS=${args}"
    } ->
    service {"autossh@${service}":
      ensure => running,
      enable => true,
    }

}

# and example usage - random port forwarding
autossh{'mything': args => '-N  -M 20000 -R8888:1.2.3.4:8888 host1'}
autossh{'mything2': args => '-N  -M 20000 -R8888:1.2.3.4:8888 host2'}