What the heck is HTTP Tunneling...

The HTTP tunneling can be thought as a way to use an existing road of communication (HTTP) and create a subprotocol within it to perform specific tasks.

httptunnel creates a bidirectional virtual data connection tunnelled in HTTP requests. The HTTP requests can be sent via an HTTP proxy if so desired.

This can be useful for users behind restrictive firewalls. If WWW access is allowed through a HTTP proxy, it's possible to use httptunnel and, say, telnet or PPP to connect to a computer outside the firewall.

http://www.adventnet.com/products/snmp/help/developer_guide/sasapi/appletapi_http.html

From the question asked below, you can kind of figure out what tunneling is all about...

To: openldap-general@OpenLDAP.org
Subject: HTTP tunneling
From: "Alex Zakharov"
Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 16:21:14 GMT

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Hi,

I was wondering if there is a way to do HTTP tunneling with OpenLDAP.
Basically, is there a way to deal with the case where we have a client
running behind a firewall and the client wants to access an ldap server,
and the client's firewall allows for HTTP traffic _only_?

I know about stunnel and sslwrap, but I am not looking for a secure
connection, just a simple http connection.

At 04:21 PM 3/6/00 GMT, Alex Zakharov wrote:
>I was wondering if there is a way to do HTTP tunneling with OpenLDAP.
>Basically, is there a way to deal with the case where we have a client
>running behind a firewall and the client wants to access an ldap server,
>and the client's firewall allows for HTTP traffic _only_?

If the security policy is to only support HTTP, you shouldn't
be attempting to go around the policy. If the security allows
other protocols, than change the firewall configuration.

>I know about stunnel and sslwrap, but I am not looking for a secure
>connection, just a simple http connection.

LDAP isn't HTTP, but LDAP can operate just fine over the port 80
(HTTP) or 386 (HTTPS). This is not HTTP tunneling, per say, but
just operating LDAP over a port reserved for another protocol.

For specifics of how to configure OpenLDAP to operate over alternative
ports, see slapd(8). If you have questions specific to OpenLDAP Software,
please direct them to the OpenLDAP-software mailing list.
http://www.openldap.org/

However, my recommendation is to establish and implement appropriate
security policies to meet your needs.