---
title: Tunnel CLI Arguments | Local website testing | TestingBot
description: The TestingBot Tunnel is a `jar` file which requires Java to run. When
  you open a terminal and navigate to the directory containing the tunnel jar, you
  can…
source_url:
  html: https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing/cli-arguments
  md: https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing/cli-arguments.md
---

Course

[Local website testing](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing)

Chapter 4 of 6 50%

1. [Learn about Local Testing](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing)
2. [Setting up TestingBot Tunnel](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing/setting-up-testingbot-tunnel)
3. [Example test with Tunnel](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing/example-tunnel-test)
4. [4 Tunnel CLI Arguments](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing/cli-arguments)
5. [5 Manual Testing Private Websites](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing/manual-testing-tunnel)
6. [6 Check your Knowledge](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing/knowledge-check)

[Exit course](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses)

 Chapter 4 of 6 Medium 2 mins read Updated Aug 2025 

# Tunnel CLI Arguments

The TestingBot Tunnel is a `jar` file which requires Java to run. When you open a terminal and navigate to the directory containing the tunnel jar, you can start the tunnel with a simple command:

`java -jar testingbot-tunnel.jar {key} {secret}`

Both the `key` and `secret` arguments are mandatory. There are more options you can pass in as well (run `-h` to see these), which we will cover below.

## TestingBot Tunnel Options

### Basic Authentication

`-a or --auth <host:port:user:password>` Allows you to specify a username and password to be used with Basic Authentication during testing for a specific host and port.

### Debug

`-d or --debug` Will enable more verbose logging, which might help with troubleshooting potential problems with the Tunnel.

### Custom DNS

`-dns or --dns IP` You can use a custom DNS server for requests passing through the tunnel.

### Doctor

`--doctor` will help you troubleshoot any potential problems that might indicate a misconfiguration.

### Tunnel Identifier

You can start multiple tunnels, each with their own identifier (`-i or --tunnel-identifier <id>`), which can be used by other team members in your organization.

### Log file

`-l or --logfile <FILE>` specifying this will write all output logs generated by the tunnel process to the specific file.

You can find a [full overview](https://testingbot.com/support/tunnel/commandline) of all the possible CLI arguments.

## Graceful exit

To stop the tunnel at the end of your testing, simply send a `KILL` signal to the process id (`pid`) of the tunnel:

```bash
kill $(ps aux | grep testingbot-tunnel | awk '{print $2}')
```

[Previous · Chapter 3 Example test with Tunnel](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing/example-tunnel-test) [Next · Chapter 5 Manual Testing Private Websites](https://testingbot.com/resources/courses/local-website-testing/manual-testing-tunnel)