Ah thanks. So it doesn't actually offer additional functionality, then?
The best tool I've ever used was https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle , because it was far lower level than a proxy. Unfortunately, it's super unstable on modern OSX versions.
In Gmail blocked in Chinaapenwarr
sshuttle
Python2010–2024
apenwarr / sshuttle
sshuttle
Wrong project! You should head over to http://github.com/sshuttle/sshuttle
56Distinct people
70Mentions
2Explicit recommenders
8.8KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
Wrong project! You should head over to http://github.com/sshuttle/sshuttle
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
sshuttle (https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle) is one of my favorite SSH tricks. It behaves like a VPN more than other ssh-based proxies that I've used.
robmccoll used a recommendation phrase. 2 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
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Also in these discussions
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This week on Hacker News
Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 4:01:40 AM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year70 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2010-09-08 20:56:13 UTC to 2024-07-28 04:25:32 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 2010-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2011-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 2011 | 2011-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 15 | 2 | 13 |
| 2012 | 2012-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 2013 | 2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 10 | 1 | 9 |
| 2014 | 2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 2015 | 2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 13 | 2 | 11 |
| 2016 | 2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 2017 | 2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
sshuttle: where transparent proxy meets VPN meets ssh
As far as I know, sshuttle is the only program that solves the following
common case:
Your client machine (or router) is Linux, FreeBSD, or MacOS.
You have access to a remote network via ssh.
You don't necessarily have admin access on the remote network.
The remote network has no VPN, or only stupid/complex VPN
protocols (IPsec, PPTP, etc). Or maybe you are the
admin and you just got frustrated with the awful state of
VPN tools.
You don't want to create an ssh port forward for every
single host/port on the remote network.
You hate openssh's port forwarding because it's randomly
slow and/or stupid.
You can't use openssh's PermitTunnel feature because
it's disabled by default on openssh servers; plus it does
TCP-over-TCP, which has terrible performance (see below).
Obtaining sshuttle
From PyPI:
pip install sshuttle
Clone:
git clone https://github.com/sshuttle/sshuttle.git
./setup.py install
Documentation
The documentation for the stable version is available at:
http://sshuttle.readthedocs.org/
The documentation for the latest development version is available at:
http://sshuttle.readthedocs.org/en/latest/
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
10 sources>>It will only catch people who have configured their proxy very poorly.
To add to this, in Firefox if you use this: http://i.imgur.com/ajT98xC.png , Flash does not obey it. I kinda think Mozilla should put some kind of warning-text on this dialog window to warn uses that it doesn't apply to flash, silverlight or any plugins. This surprised me at first but it makes sense if you think about it. You really have to do a system-wide VPN type thing. Something like this: https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle will actually tunnel everything on your PC.
In The FBI Used the Web’s Favorite Hacking Tool to Unmask Tor UsersCheckout sshuttle if you want an easy-to-use "VPN" over SSH.
https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle
In GitHub blocked in RussiaWhile not immediately relevant, if you find this discussion interesting, have a look at sshuttle:
sshuttle[0] is a pure-python one-way TCP VPN solution that is very well behaved and quite efficient. The source is highly readable as well. +1 to everything Avery Pennarun has released (including wvdial, bup)
[0] https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle
In What happens if you write a TCP stack in Python?sshuttle (https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle) is one of my favorite SSH tricks. It behaves like a VPN more than other ssh-based proxies that I've used.
In SSH TricksWhile the socks proxy does not require any root (local or remote), it is only useful for programs that support it - which are not many.
However, apenwarr's sshuttle https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle is a briliant semi-proxy-semi-vpn solution that, in return for local root and remote python (but not remote root), gives you transparent VPN-style forwarding of TCP connections (and DNS requests if you want). It works ridiculously well. Try it, if you haven't yet.
In SSH Kung FuAre there any advantages over something like sshuttle? [0]
Doing sshuttle --dns 0/0 seems more convinient especially since a regular sshd on my box is all I need, no additional software. And it instantly tunnels all my traffic, no need to configure socks proxies. It also avoids TCP-over-TCP which it seems like you're doing?
[0] https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle
In Spiped + SSH = Secure ProxyDon't forget sshuttle: https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle
In Spiped – symmetric, encrypted, authenticated pipes between socketsIf you're on *nix, sshuttle is the tool you want. It's ssh tunnel on steroids, and it works with every program even if they're not configured to use a SOCKS proxy (such as Flash). It's also faster because it avoids the TCP-over-TCP problem that the usual SOCKS proxy entails.
sshuttle --dns -v -r username@servername 0/0
https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle
In DNS results now being manipulated in TurkeyIf you just need secure browsing and you have a shell somewhere (like a VPS, EC2 instance, a Linode, etc.) just use ssh.
ssh -D <port> user@host
Then configure your browser (I use a plugin called FoxyProxy) to use localhost:<port> as SOCKS5 proxy.
This is also very cool: https://github.com/apenwarr/sshuttle
Edit: I should add that I do not think your DNS requests will go over the proxy. You might be able to configure your browser to do that. Caveat emptor.
In Show HN: Automatic VPN Generator – Protect Yourself at Sochi and Starbucks