Support Issues
Here you can find a list of some frequently asked questions about using the Firedrill client software and servers. If you are having a problem not listed here then you can send an email to support@fire-drill.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) Configuring the Firedrill client:
- 1 - What are the IP addresses of the Firedrill tunnel servers?
- 2 - How do I configure which Firedrill tunnel server to use?
- 3 - How do I use my Firedrill username & password to authenticate?
- 4 - What is the format of the Linux Firedrill configuration file?
- 5 - What are differences between the various types of tunnel?
- 6 - What tunnel type should I use?
- 7 - What is the secure (HTTPS) tunnelling mode?
- 8 - How do I use the secure (HTTPS) tunnelling mode?
- 9 - How can I run multiple Firedrill client instances simultaneously?
- 10 - How do I stop and delete a running Firedrill client instance?
2) Configuring applications to tunnel data using Firedrill:
3) Trouble shooting:
- 1 - The Windows firewall on my PC says that it has blocked some traffic from the Firedrill client. Is this a problem?
- 2 - Why can't I manage to tunnel SMTP (email) traffic via the Firedrill servers?
- 3 - I am unable to connect to the Firedrill servers using an old version (version 1.0.1 or older) of the Firedrill client.
- 4 - My Firedrill account has stopped working, can I check its status?
4) Other questions:
Answers to FAQs
1) Configuring the Firedrill client:
What are the IP addresses of the Firedrill tunnel servers?
The Firedrill tunnel servers are located at tun1.fire-drill.com (IP: 81.91.110.51) and tun2.fire-drill.com (IP: 81.91.110.52). There should be no noticable difference between these servers and you are free to use whichever you prefer.
How do I configure which Firedrill tunnel server to use?
Windows GUI client: Select the tunnel whose configuration you wish to edit from the list of configured tunnels in the Firedrill main window, then press Edit to bring up the tunnel configuration editor. For example; see Figure 1 below.
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In the tunnel configuration editing dialog enter the name or IP address of the Firedrill server you wish to use in the field labelled Tunnel Server Address. In the field labelled Port enter the value 80. For example; see Figure 2 below.
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Linux command line client: Create a [CLIENT] section in your configuration file that looks something like the example below.
| [CLIENT] |
| socks |
| listen 1080 |
| tunsvr tun1.fire-drill.com 80 |
| cliauth ABCDEFGHIJ 12345678 |
In this example we are specifying a SOCKS client listening on port 1080 which will connect out to a tunnel server at host tun1.fire-drill.com port 80 and login at that tunnel server using a username of ABCDEFGHIJ and a password 12345678.
For more details on the Linux Firedrill configuration file, please refer to the configuration file format description page.
How do I use my Firedrill username & password to authenticate?
Windows GUI client: Select the tunnel whose configuration you wish to edit from the list of configured tunnels in the Firedrill main window, then press "Edit" to bring up the tunnel configuration editor. For example; see Figure 1 above.
In the "Server Authentication" section of the tunnel configuration editing dialog, ensure that the Use Server Authentication option is enabled. Then enter your Firedrill username in the field labelled Login and your Firedrill password in the field labelled Password. For example; see Figure 3 below.
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Linux command line client: Include a cliauth line within the [CLIENT] section of your configuration file. For example:
| [CLIENT] |
| ... |
| cliauth Username Password |
In this example the Firedrill client will authenticate itself at the Firedrill server using the username Username and the password Password.
For more details on the Linux Firedrill configuration file, please refer to the configuration file format description page.
What is the format of the Linux Firedrill configuration file?
Starting with the release of the Linux Firedrill client version 0.9.1 all configuration is specified using a file rather than command line options. For a detailed description of how to create a suitable configuration file, please refer to the configuration file format description page.
What are differences between the various types of tunnel?
At the top level the Firedrill client can be configured to create 2 distinct types of tunnel; a SOCKS tunnel or a direct tunnel. Which type to use is selected using the Client Type radio buttons as shown below in Figure 4.
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When using SOCKS tunnels, the Firedrill client runs a SOCKS proxy server that listens on the port specified by the "Local Server Port" configuration value (usually the port 1080). Applications that support the SOCKS protocol may then have their data tunnelled by being configured to use the Firedrill client as a SOCKS proxy server. An arbitrary number of applications may simultaneously use a Firedrill client running in SOCKS mode to tunnel data to multiple different ultimate destinations.
Direct tunnels are less flexible than SOCKS tunnels, but can be used to tunnel data from applications that do not support the SOCKS protocol. When using direct tunnels, you must manually instruct the Firedrill client of the destination IP address and port for the tunnelled data using the Destination Address and Port configuration fields. All tunnels will then be created to send tunnelled data to that ultimate destination. In general, only a single application at a time will usefully be able to use a Firedrill client running in direct tunnelling mode. Direct tunnels are currently however the only supported way to tunnel UDP connections.
For either SOCKS or direct tunnels you may also specify an optional HTTP proxy for the Firedrill client to go via. If your local network requires you to send all HTTP traffic via an explicit proxy you must enable this option be selecting the Tunnel Via Proxy option from the "Proxy Settings" section of the tunnel configuration editor dialog, and configuring the IP address and port of that proxy as shown below in Figure 5.
If the HTTP proxy you need to use also requires you to authenticate yourself, then you should also select the Use Proxy Authentication option and configure the username and password to authenticate with.
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What tunnel type should I use?
Unless you are happy with the explanation given above about the differences between SOCKS and direct tunnels, it is recommended that you stick to using only SOCKS tunnels since they are much simpler to configure and use.
Whether or not to specify tunnelling via a proxy will depend on the setup of the local network that the machine the Firedrill client is running on. If you normally have to configure an explicit HTTP proxy to use when surfing the web normally in your usual web browser, then you will probably need to configure the Firedrill client to also use the same proxy. If your web browser can access pages on the Internet without needing an explicit HTTP proxy configured, then you will probably not need to configure one in the Firedrill client.
What is the secure (HTTPS) tunnelling mode?
Secure (HTTPS) tunnelling works in exactly the same way and standard tunnelling, except that all data between the Firedrill client and the Firedrill server is encrypted and sent over a secure socket. This means that anyone trying to snoop on what data is being tunnelled will only be able to see what appears to be a standard encrypted HTTPS connection and will not be able to tell that it is actually being used to tunnel other data.
Secure tunnelling therefore offers greater protection from eavesdropping and makes it harder for snoopers to tell that you are running a tunnelling application. The downsides are that the data transfer rate over the tunnel is likely to be slightly lower and the Firedrill client will require higher CPU usage.
Of course, if you are tunnelling out from behind a proxy, then that proxy will need to allow HTTPS traffic through before you will be able to make use of the HTTPS tunnelling mode.
How do I use the secure (HTTPS) tunnelling mode?
Windows GUI client: In the tunnel configuration editing dialog, enable the Secure (HTTPS) Tunnelling option as shown below in Figure 6. Depending on the settings of the Firedrill server you will be connecting to you may also need to change the tunnel server port; the public Firedrill servers for example only accept incoming HTTPS tunnel connections on port 443 rather than port 80.
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Linux command line client: Include the ssl option within the [CLIENT] section of your configuration file. Depending on the settings of the Firedrill server you will be connecting to you may also need to change the tunnel server port; the public Firedrill servers for example accept incoming HTTPS tunnel connections on port 443 rather than port 80. For example:
| [CLIENT] |
| ... |
| ssl |
| tunsvr tun1.fire-drill.com 443 |
| ... |
For more details on the Linux Firedrill configuration file, please refer to the configuration file format description page.
How can I run multiple Firedrill client instances simultaneously?
Windows GUI client: From the main Firedrill window press the New button. For example; see Figure 7 below. This will bring up the tunnel configuration editor dialog for a brand new tunnel. Once you have set the required options, press Save to add the new tunnel to the list of running tunnel instances.
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Linux command line client: Simply edit your Firedrill configuration file to include as many [CLIENT] or [SERVER] sections as you need to describe the Firedrill client and/or server instances you require. Then restart your Firedrill application. For example:
| [CLIENT] |
| socks |
| listen 1080 |
| ... |
| [CLIENT] |
| fixed localhost 22 |
| listen 2222 |
| ... |
How do I stop and delete a running Firedrill client instance?
Windows GUI client: From the main Firedrill window select the running tunnel instance you wish to remove from the list of configured tunnels, and then press the Delete button. For example; see Figure 8 below. This will bring up a confirmation dialog. If you confirm the deletion, that tunnel instance will be stopped and its configuration deleted.
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Linux command line client: Simply edit your Firedrill configuration file and remove or comment out the [CLIENT] or [SERVER] sections for the tunnel you wish to remove. Then restart your Firedrill application.
2) Configuring applications to tunnel data using Firedrill:
How do I configure some application to tunnel its data with Firedrill?
The exact configuration changes needed will vary from application to application. However, some guidance on the general principles of tunnelling application data using Firedrill and some specific examples for a few common applications are given on the application setup page.
3) Trouble shooting:
The Windows firewall on my PC says that it has blocked some traffic from the Firedrill client. Is this a problem?
Yes, this is usually a sign of a potential problem. You will need to modify the settings for the Windows firewall on your PC to allow the Firedrill client to freely send TCP traffic out using whichever ports you have configured it to contact the Firedrill server on (usually port 80, or port 8080 if going via a proxy), and allow the Firedrill client to run a local server on whichever port you configured it to listen for connecting applications on (probably port 1080 if you are running in SOCKS mode).
Why can't I manage to tunnel SMTP (email) traffic via the Firedrill servers?
To prevent abuse from spammers the Firedrill servers block any attempt to tunnel traffic using the SMTP service port (TCP port 25). This restriction is made clear in the terms & conditions of use.
I am unable to connect to the Firedrill servers using an old version (version 1.0.1 or older) of the Firedrill client.
Versions 1.1.1 and above of the Firedrill software are incompatible with any previous older versions of the software. Since the Firedrill servers upgraded to use version 1.1.1 therefore, any attempts to connect to them using old versions of the Firedrill client software will fail. The solution is to download and upgrade to the latest version of the Firedrill software, available from the downloads page.
My Firedrill account has stopped working, can I check its status?
You can retrieve the details for an existing Firedrill user account by going to the account check page and giving the user name for the account you wish to check. This will show you (for example) whether the account in question has expired. Alternatively, you can of course send an email to support@fire-drill.com.
4) Other questions:
How does the HTTP Tunnelling used by Firedrill actually work?
If you're really interested in understanding how Firedrill works your best option is to download and look at the source code for the Linux version available here. For a more high-level description of how Firedrill does what it does, see here.