ProVide Gateway is a secure reverse proxy that lets external users reach your ProVide server without exposing the ProVide Gateway is a secure reverse proxy that lets external users reach your ProVide server without exposing the server, or any data, in your DMZ. You place the Gateway in the DMZ and keep ProVide on your internal network. The Gateway safely terminates all incoming connections and forwards only approved traffic to ProVide through a secure tunnel, and it never stores any data in the DMZ. It’s built for organizations that need very high security and helps meet compliance rules that forbid storing sensitive data in the DMZ.
How ProVide Gateway works #
The Gateway forms a secure tunnel between the internet-facing Gateway in the DMZ and your ProVide server on the internal network. It routes SFTP, HTTP, and HTTPS traffic to ProVide while blocking all other incoming traffic. Because the connection between ProVide and the Gateway originates from inside the firewall, you don’t need to open any external inbound ports into your internal network, which is what keeps the internal server unexposed. Routes can be enabled or disabled with a button press.
Benefits #
- Keeps the ProVide server off the public network, with nothing exposed in the DMZ.
- Stores no data in the DMZ, supporting compliance requirements.
- Requires no inbound port openings to the internal network; the tunnel is established from the inside.
- Routes only the protocols you allow (SFTP, HTTP, HTTPS) and blocks everything else.
- Easy route management from the ProVide interface.
Supported platforms #
ProVide Gateway runs on both Windows and Linux:
Linux: Ubuntu Server v16 or later is officially supported; it’s also known to run on CentOS, SUSE, and Debian.
Windows: Server 2016, 2019, 2022, 2025.
Setting up ProVide Gateway (at a high level): #
- Install ProVide Gateway on a host in your DMZ.
- In ProVide, configure the connection to the Gateway and set the shared password used to secure the tunnel (this is stored in
settings.ini). - Define which routes and protocols (SFTP, HTTP, HTTPS) the Gateway should forward to ProVide.
- Enable the routes. External clients now connect to the Gateway, which securely relays them to ProVide on the internal network.
Setting up ProVide Gateway (step-by-step): #
- Click Download Binaries at the bottom of the window to open the download window, where you can get the ProVide Gateway installer for your platform (Windows or Linux).
- In the ProVide Server administration interface, open the Services tab (top left).
- Click Gateway in the services sub-menu (next to FTP(S), SFTP, TFTP, HTTP(S), WebDAV, and Cluster).
- The Gateway Configuration window opens. From here you can create and manage routes to your Gateway. Since ProVide Gateway is a separate component that needs to be installed on a machine in your DMZ, it must be downloaded before you can configure a route.
Run the installer, on windows an exe file, on Linux a sh script.
ProVide Gateway Installer #
When you run the installer you will be faced with the following window.
Type the path you want to install ProVide in, or just press enter to install it into the default location
(C:\Program Files\ProVide Gateway).
ProVide Gateway will now install, and if it finds an old version it will stop its service and upgrade it.
When done simply press enter and the window will close.
Configuring ProVide Gateway #
Now we go back to ProVide Administrator interface, and click the New Route Button.
Enter the IP address / hostname to the computer you installed the ProVide Gateway on.
Enter a port that the gateway should listen to, recommended range are 49152-65535, since they are most likely not be used by anything else.
Finally select the service you wish to route through the Gateway and press ok.
You can now see that its routing. Should it fail, check any firewalls between the Gateway and ProVide, make sure port 1280 are open.
Verifying the connection #
Now you can go to the IP address / Hostname and the port you chose to test that you get a connection to ProVide.
If you use HTTPS, simply use a browser and enter HTTPS://xxxxxxxxx:port
SFTP, use your client and connect against gateway address and port.
