Shell Tunnel

Shell Tunnel is a cool program that gives you options like -L and -R in ssh(1) for your regular shell. It’s really handy! Basically, it uses both a client program and a server program, which are just the same tool with different settings to make everything work.

How It Works

The client program runs from your machine and connects to your server using ssh. You can even change what program you want to launch by using the --shell option. On the server side, you start the program with --server options, which kicks off a shell for you. This means you can do pretty much anything you need and use port redirection too!

Technical Details

If you're into technical stuff, check out note.txt for more information. In short, both the server and client can spot some special formats in normal flow that act like data from sockets or control information.

Why Use Shell Tunnel?

One of the coolest uses for this tool is when you're working in a compile farm. You can test out some client programs without needing to install them on the server. This is super useful if installing them isn't an option or if they're just too heavy—like a proprietary database.

A Bit of History

This program started out being written in Perl but was later translated into C, adding some neat features like pseudo terminals along the way! If you're curious about it, there are Perl files called shtunnel and shserver available, but keep in mind they aren't compatible with the C version.

Classifier Utility

Another handy feature is the classifier utility. It helps tell apart single output/error streams, which can be great for scripting purposes when you're dealing with multiple streams—even if you've only got one stream at hand.

If you want to download Shell Tunnel, check it out on Softpas.com.