How to Connect Hermes to a Local Browser from a VPS with an SSH Reverse Tunnel

When Hermes runs on a VPS, it cannot directly reach a browser session running on your local machine.

If you want Hermes to control your local Edge or Chrome browser, the most reliable approach is:

1. start the browser with remote debugging enabled
2. expose that local debugging port through an SSH reverse tunnel
3. connect Hermes to the VPS-side forwarded port

This setup is especially useful when the browser session is already logged in and you want Hermes to reuse it instead of starting from scratch.

Architecture

The connection flow looks like this:

Hermes on VPS
   ↓
VPS localhost:9222
   ↓
SSH reverse tunnel
   ↓
Local Windows localhost:9222
   ↓
Edge or Chrome remote debugging

The browser still runs locally on your Windows machine. Hermes just reaches it through the tunnel.

Step 1: Close Existing Browser Sessions

Before starting Edge or Chrome with remote debugging, close existing browser windows.

On Windows PowerShell:

taskkill /F /IM msedge.exe

For Chrome:

taskkill /F /IM chrome.exe

This matters because if the browser is already running, launching it again with --remote-debugging-port=9222 may simply open a normal window and ignore the debugging flag.

Step 2: Start Edge or Chrome with Remote Debugging Enabled

For Edge, try:

& "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir="C:\edge-hermes-profile"

If that path does not exist, try:

& "C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir="C:\edge-hermes-profile"

For Chrome:

& "C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir="C:\chrome-hermes-profile"

The --user-data-dir option creates a separate browser profile for Hermes. That keeps the debugging session isolated from your normal browser profile.

Step 3: Verify Remote Debugging Locally

On your Windows machine, open:

http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version

You should see a JSON response with browser information.

You can also verify the port from PowerShell:

netstat -ano | findstr :9222

Expected output should look similar to this:

TCP    127.0.0.1:9222    0.0.0.0:0    LISTENING

If this local test does not work, fix the browser startup first before moving to the VPS tunnel step.

Step 4: Enable Remote SSH Forwarding on the VPS

Hermes runs on the VPS, so the VPS must be able to forward traffic back to your local browser.

On the VPS, edit the SSH server config:

sudo nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Look for this setting:

AllowTcpForwarding local

That setting only allows local forwarding and will block the reverse tunnel.

Change it to:

AllowTcpForwarding remote
GatewayPorts no

Or use:

AllowTcpForwarding yes
GatewayPorts no

Then restart SSH:

sudo systemctl restart ssh

GatewayPorts no is safer because it binds the forwarded port only to the VPS localhost instead of exposing it publicly.

Step 5: Create the SSH Reverse Tunnel

From your local Windows PowerShell, run:

ssh -R 9222:127.0.0.1:9222 root@YOUR_VPS_IP

Replace YOUR_VPS_IP with your actual VPS IP address.

Keep that SSH session open.

This command means:

VPS port 9222 → forwards to → local Windows 127.0.0.1:9222

Step 6: Verify the Tunnel from the VPS

Inside the VPS SSH session, run:

curl http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version

If the reverse tunnel is working, this should return the same browser JSON that worked locally on Windows.

If that works, Hermes can now connect to your local browser through the VPS.

Step 7: Connect Hermes to the Browser

In Hermes, run:

/browser connect http://127.0.0.1:9222

If Hermes expects only a host and port, use:

/browser connect 127.0.0.1:9222

At this point, Hermes should be connected to your local Edge or Chrome browser.

Troubleshooting

Problem: msedge.exe is not recognized

If PowerShell cannot find Edge in your PATH, use the full executable path:

& "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir="C:\edge-hermes-profile"

If needed, find the exact location first:

Get-ChildItem "C:\Program Files*", "C:\Users\$env:USERNAME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Edge\Application" -Recurse -Filter msedge.exe -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Select-Object -First 5 FullName

Then use the returned path.

Problem: Browser opens, but /json/version does not work locally

If http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version does not return JSON, remote debugging is not active.

Try restarting the browser with the remote debugging flag:

taskkill /F /IM msedge.exe

& "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir="C:\edge-hermes-profile"

Then check the port again:

netstat -ano | findstr :9222

You need to see port 9222 listening.

Problem: Local browser works, but VPS curl fails

If the VPS shows this error:

curl: (7) Failed to connect to 127.0.0.1 port 9222

then the VPS cannot see the forwarded browser port.

Check the SSH tunnel:

ss -lntp | grep 9222

If nothing shows, the tunnel did not bind.

Reconnect from Windows with verbose logging:

ssh -v -R 9222:127.0.0.1:9222 root@YOUR_VPS_IP

Look for an error like:

remote port forwarding failed for listen port 9222

If you see that, check /etc/ssh/sshd_config on the VPS and make sure this is not limited to local forwarding:

AllowTcpForwarding local

Change it to:

AllowTcpForwarding remote

Then restart SSH:

sudo systemctl restart ssh

Problem: AllowTcpForwarding local

This was the key issue in this setup.

AllowTcpForwarding local only allows ssh -L forwarding.

For Hermes on a VPS connecting back to a local browser, you need ssh -R, which requires remote forwarding.

Correct setting:

AllowTcpForwarding remote
GatewayPorts no

Then restart SSH:

sudo systemctl restart ssh

Problem: Port 9222 already in use on the VPS

Use a different VPS-side port:

ssh -R 9333:127.0.0.1:9222 root@YOUR_VPS_IP

Then on the VPS:

curl http://127.0.0.1:9333/json/version

Then connect Hermes:

/browser connect http://127.0.0.1:9333

Problem: Tunnel binds to IPv6 instead of IPv4

Try these from the VPS:

curl http://localhost:9222/json/version
curl http://[::1]:9222/json/version

If localhost works but 127.0.0.1 does not, connect Hermes with:

/browser connect http://localhost:9222

Problem: Ubuntu shows System restart required

This message may appear when logging into the VPS:

*** System restart required ***

That is only an Ubuntu update notice. It is not related to Hermes or browser debugging.

You can handle it later with:

sudo reboot

Do not reboot while testing unless you are ready to reconnect the SSH tunnel and restart Hermes.

Security Notes

Do not expose the browser debugging port publicly.

Avoid starting Edge or Chrome with this flag:

--remote-debugging-address=0.0.0.0

Remote debugging gives control over the browser session. Anyone who can access that port may be able to inspect pages, cookies, sessions, and browser state.

The safer approach is:

Local browser debugging port → SSH reverse tunnel → VPS localhost only

Use:

GatewayPorts no

to avoid exposing the forwarded port to the public internet.

Final Working Command Set

On Windows

Start Edge:

taskkill /F /IM msedge.exe

& "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft\Edge\Application\msedge.exe" --remote-debugging-port=9222 --user-data-dir="C:\edge-hermes-profile"

Verify locally:

http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version

Create the reverse tunnel:

ssh -R 9222:127.0.0.1:9222 root@YOUR_VPS_IP

On the VPS

Verify the tunnel:

curl http://127.0.0.1:9222/json/version

Connect Hermes:

/browser connect http://127.0.0.1:9222

Once the VPS curl command returns browser JSON, Hermes should be able to connect successfully.