Connect to remote server via ssh port forwarding

[GeorgOhneH]

Description of the feature

I would like to connect to HFSS on a remote server via ssh port forwarding. However currently it doesn't seem to work.

Steps for implementing the feature

I think the is_grpc_session_active function need to be changed to also consider active ports from ssh. When I short circuit this function I am able to connect to the HFSS instance on the server.

Useful links and references

No response

[Samuelopez-ansys]

Hi @GeorgOhneH ,

I need to investigate, but did you check the documentation?

https://aedt.docs.pyansys.com/version/stable/Getting_started/ClientServer.html#

If you do not need the output data, then you just need the gRPC connection, disabling these settings:
settings.grpc_secure_mode = False
settings.grpc_local = False,

If you have not installed the latest service pack, you probably need also to add this env. variable:

https://aedt.docs.pyansys.com/version/stable/Getting_started/ClientServer.html#pre-service-pack-compatibility

Please share what exactly you are trying, and the AEDT version (with or without SP).

If you also need output data, then you can use the internal rpyc, which manages the data too:

https://aedt.docs.pyansys.com/version/stable/Getting_started/ClientServer.html#pyaedt-remote-service-manager

[GeorgOhneH]

Thanks for the fast reply.

What I ideally want is the following.

1. Start the HFSS on the remote server ansysedt -grpcsrv 35038
2. Forward the port via ssh port forwarding by running the following command on the local machine ssh -L 35038:localhost:35038 user@remote_server_name
3. Connect via python on the local machine to HFSS hfss = Hfss(new_desktop=False,port=portnumber,)

With this approach I don't have to install anything new on the remote server.

I am not sure if this is currently possible and I couldn't find anything helpful regarding this issue in the documentation.

I am using the following version:
python: 3.12.12, pyaedt[all]==1.0.0rc1
AEDT: 2025R1

Thanks for your help.

[eblanco-ansys]

Hello @GeorgOhneH ,
we investigated your case and probably the easiest way to achieve something similar is using secure grpc remote connection to the server. Also ensure that you have latest service pack installed for your version.
Here you can find some documentation related to this: https://aedt.docs.pyansys.com/version/stable/Getting_started/ClientServer.html#secure-grpc-connections
For generating the certificate for remote and local machine (using ANSYS_GRPC_CERTIFICATES environment variable) you can use the code located in the tests

pyaedt/tests/system/general/test_desktop_grpc_transport.py

Line 138 in 85901d7

def create_ca_certificate(ca_key: rsa.RSAPrivateKey, validity_days: int) -> x509.Certificate: