sshtunnel

Pure python SSH tunnels

sshtunnel Permissive license MIT AGING ★ 1,295 v0.4.0 released 2021-01-11

Install

sshtunnel on PyPI

pip

pip install sshtunnel

uv

uv add sshtunnel

poetry

poetry add sshtunnel

Package facts

License	MIT (permissive)
Python support	not specified
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	1 — paramiko
Maintenance	aging — 2,040 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2025-08-27
First released	2014-06-12
Popularity	one of the top 1,000 most-downloaded packages on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-13)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-13)

Evidence: sshtunnel-0.4.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: ssh, tunnel, paramiko, proxy, tcp-forward

Development Status :: 3 - AlphaIntended Audience :: DevelopersLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseProgramming Language :: Python :: 2Programming Language :: Python :: 2.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3Programming Language :: Python :: 3.4Programming Language :: Python :: 3.5Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Topic :: Software Development :: Build Tools

About sshtunnel

from the package's own PyPI description — quoted content, verbatim

|pyversions| |license|

Author: Pahaz_

Repo: https://github.com/pahaz/sshtunnel/

Inspired by https://github.com/jmagnusson/bgtunnel, which doesn't work on Windows.

See also: https://github.com/paramiko/paramiko/blob/master/demos/forward.py

Requirements

paramiko_

Installation

sshtunnel_ is on PyPI, so simply run:

pip install sshtunnel

or ::

easy_install sshtunnel

or ::

conda install -c conda-forge sshtunnel

to have it installed in your environment.

For installing from source, clone the repo <https://github.com/pahaz/sshtunnel>_ and run::

python setup.py install

Testing the package

In order to run the tests you first need tox <https://testrun.org/tox/latest/>_ and run::

python setup.py test

Usage scenarios

One of the typical scenarios where sshtunnel is helpful is depicted in the figure below. User may need to connect a port of a remote server (i.e. 8080) where only SSH port (usually port 22) is reachable. ::

----------------------------------------------------------------------...

Read as markdown · JSON record · Source repository · Homepage

AI interpretation — verify before relying

AI-generated interpretation of the package facts above; every digit, version, license, or vulnerability id it cites is grounded in the facts already shown on this page

sshtunnel creates SSH port forwarding tunnels in pure Python, allowing you to reach services behind firewalls or on private networks by routing connections through an SSH server.

Low friction: pure-Python wheel with a single runtime dependency (paramiko). However, the package is aging—last release was 2021-01-11, over 4 years old, and the repo shows no recent commits despite being active on GitHub (1295 stars). Maintenance status is uncertain for modern Python versions.

MIT license (permissive) means you can use, modify, and distribute sshtunnel freely in commercial and private projects, provided you retain the license notice.

Usage

pip install sshtunnel

from sshtunnel import SSHTunnelForwarder

server = SSHTunnelForwarder(
    'remote.host',
    ssh_username='user',
    ssh_password='pass',
    remote_bind_address=('127.0.0.1', 8080)
)
server.start()
print(server.local_bind_port)
server.stop()

Requires paramiko and its system-level dependencies (libffi, libssl); SSH server must be reachable on the specified host and port.

Verdict: sshtunnel is a stable, low-friction tool for SSH tunneling with no known vulnerabilities and permissive licensing. However, it has not been actively maintained since early 2021—over four years old—and classifiers indicate alpha status. Suitable for established use cases, but consider whether the package's age and lack of recent updates align with your project's maintenance expectations.

Needs verification

Whether paramiko's own security and maintenance status should influence adoption decisions for sshtunnel.
Whether the package's alpha classifier reflects actual stability or is outdated metadata.
Compatibility with Python versions beyond 3.8 (classifiers stop there; current Python is 3.12+).

ssh port forwardingssh tunnel pythonfirewall bypass sshremote port forwardssh proxy tunnelparamiko tunnel wrappertcp forward over ssh