Playit.gg Tunneling

Complete guide for setting up and managing Playit.gg tunneling for public SSH access.

🌐 Overview

Playit.gg provides secure tunneling that allows public SSH access to your NazDocker Lab environment without exposing your local network.

🔧 Setup

1. Get Playit.gg Secret Key

  1. Sign up at playit.gg
  2. Create a tunnel for SSH access
  3. Copy your secret key from the dashboard

2. Configure Environment 

# Edit .env file
PLAYIT_SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key_here

# Restart container to apply changes
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml down && docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml up -d

3. Verify Tunnel Status 

# Check tunnel logs
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml logs lab-environment-ubuntu | grep -i "playit\|tunnel\|url"

# Follow logs in real-time
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml logs -f lab-environment-ubuntu

# Check playit.gg process
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu ps aux | grep playit

🔍 Tunnel Management

Check Tunnel Status 

# View tunnel logs
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml logs lab-environment-ubuntu | grep -i "playit\|tunnel\|url"

# Follow logs in real-time
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml logs -f lab-environment-ubuntu

# Check playit.gg process
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu ps aux | grep playit

Update Playit.gg Secret Key 

# Edit .env file
nano .env

# Update the secret key
PLAYIT_SECRET_KEY=your_new_secret_key_here

# Restart container
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml down && docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml up -d

Method 2: Environment Variable 

# Stop container
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml down

# Set environment variable
export PLAYIT_SECRET_KEY=your_new_secret_key_here

# Start with new key
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml up -d

Method 3: Dockerfile 

# In Dockerfile.ubuntu
ENV PLAYIT_SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key_here

🔌 Connecting via Tunnel

Get Tunnel URL 

# Check logs for tunnel URL
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml logs lab-environment-ubuntu | grep -i "url\|tunnel"

# Example output:
# [INFO] Tunnel URL: your-lab.playit.gg:12345

SSH Connection 

# Connect via tunnel URL
ssh admin@your-lab.playit.gg -p 12345

# Connect to other users
ssh user1@your-lab.playit.gg -p 12345
ssh user2@your-lab.playit.gg -p 12345
# ... etc

SSH Config for Tunnel 

# Add to ~/.ssh/config
Host nazdocker-tunnel
    HostName your-lab.playit.gg
    Port 12345
    User admin
    IdentityFile ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
    ServerAliveInterval 60
    ServerAliveCountMax 3

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Tunnel Won’t Start 

# Check if secret key is loaded
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu env | grep PLAYIT

# Restart playit.gg service
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu pkill playit-agent

# Check tunnel connectivity
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu ping google.com

Connection Issues 

# Test tunnel connectivity
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu ping google.com

# Check DNS resolution
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu nslookup google.com

# Check network interfaces
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu ifconfig

Secret Key Issues 

# Verify secret key is set
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml config | grep PLAYIT_SECRET_KEY

# Check if key is loaded in container
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu env | grep PLAYIT

# Recreate .env file if needed
cp .env.example .env
# Edit with your secret key

🔧 Advanced Configuration

Custom Tunnel Settings 

# Access container
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu bash

# Check playit.gg configuration
cat /etc/playit/playit.conf

# Restart playit.gg with custom settings
pkill playit-agent
playit-agent --config /etc/playit/playit.conf

Multiple Tunnels 

# Set up multiple tunnel configurations
# Edit .env file with multiple keys
PLAYIT_SECRET_KEY_SSH=your_ssh_tunnel_key
PLAYIT_SECRET_KEY_WEB=your_web_tunnel_key

📊 Monitoring

Tunnel Status Monitoring 

#!/bin/bash
# tunnel-status.sh

echo "=== Playit.gg Tunnel Status ==="
echo ""

echo "1. Tunnel Process:"
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu ps aux | grep playit
echo ""

echo "2. Recent Tunnel Logs:"
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml logs lab-environment-ubuntu | grep -i "playit\|tunnel" | tail -10
echo ""

echo "3. Network Connectivity:"
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu ping -c 1 google.com
echo ""

echo "4. Environment Variables:"
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu env | grep PLAYIT
echo ""

Tunnel Health Check 

#!/bin/bash
# tunnel-health.sh

# Check if tunnel is active
TUNNEL_ACTIVE=$(docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu ps aux | grep playit | wc -l)

if [ "$TUNNEL_ACTIVE" -gt 0 ]; then
    echo "✅ Tunnel is active"
else
    echo "❌ Tunnel is not running"
fi

# Check for tunnel URL in logs
TUNNEL_URL=$(docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml logs lab-environment-ubuntu | grep -i "url" | tail -1)

if [ -n "$TUNNEL_URL" ]; then
    echo "✅ Tunnel URL found: $TUNNEL_URL"
else
    echo "❌ No tunnel URL found in logs"
fi

🔐 Security Considerations

Tunnel Security

  • Use HTTPS for tunnel management when possible
  • Rotate secret keys regularly
  • Monitor tunnel logs for suspicious activity
  • Use strong authentication for SSH access
  • Limit tunnel access to necessary users only

Best Practices 

# Regular tunnel health checks
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu ps aux | grep playit

# Monitor tunnel logs
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml logs lab-environment-ubuntu | grep -i "playit"

# Check for unauthorized access
docker-compose -f docker-compose.ubuntu.yml exec lab-environment-ubuntu tail -f /var/log/auth.log

🔗 Related Topics