install

Additional install commands

macOS

Homebrewverified · 100%

brew install tcptunnel

local Homebrew formula metadata

overview

Package summary

TCP port forwarder

Project links

Commands and aliases

tcptunnel

history

Project history and usage

tcptunnel is a small TCP port forwarder by Clemens Fuchslocher. It listens on a local TCP port and forwards received data to a remote host, making it a simple utility for redirecting TCP-based protocols.

Project history

The official homepage and ChangeLog date the first public release to 2000-08-15. Later entries show the portability-driven shape of the project: HP-UX and SunOS support in 2000, Windows support in 2004, renewed cleanup and fork-based concurrency in 2010, Cygwin fork support in 2013, and Mac OS X support in version 0.8.

Adoption history

The supplied package metadata shows Homebrew packaging, and the README explicitly thanks a Homebrew pull request for Mac OS X installation instructions. The official homepage also provided source and Windows binary downloads, so the tool was distributed both as a small upstream tarball and as a package-manager formula.

How it is used

The official documentation describes redirecting TCP-based protocols such as HTTP, IRC, NNTP, SSH, and SMTP. The CLI exposes local and remote port settings, remote host, bind and client address controls, buffer size, forked concurrency, logging, and stay-alive behavior.

Why package nerds care

tcptunnel is the kind of package that remains useful because it is minimal: install it, bind a local port, and forward bytes. It matters in the package-nerd niche as a compact alternative when a full proxy, SSH tunnel setup, or larger networking toolkit would be unnecessary.

Timeline

2000-08-15: tcptunnel 0.1 first public release.
2000-09-14: 0.1g added HP-UX and SunOS support.
2004-12-28: 0.2 added Windows support.
2010-09-21: Added fork-based concurrent client handling.
2013-10-27: 0.8 added Mac OS X support and a buffer-size option.

Related projects

The official page frames tcptunnel around TCP-based protocols including HTTP, IRC, NNTP, SSH, and SMTP; Cygwin and MinGW appear as Windows build environments in the README.

Sources

https://github.com/vakuum/tcptunnel#readme
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vakuum/tcptunnel/master/ChangeLog
https://vakuumverpackt.de/tcptunnel/
input source_facts.package-manager

security posture

Risk level: green

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.

Risk classifier

green risk · low confidence · appliance

Why

narrow executable package without higher-risk signals

Signals

metadata:no-higher-risk-signals

Install behavior

No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 13 platform targets.

Recommended review

Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.

executables

Installed executables

Command	Kind	Exposure	Note
`tcptunnel`	cli	global executable

freshness

Version and freshness

These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.

page generated2026-07-08

manager version0.8

manager updated

local dataok

upstreamcurrent

latest detectedv0.8

https://github.com/vakuum/tcptunnel

infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence

install metadata

Package metadata

Package key	brew:tcptunnel
Version	0.8
Package manager	Homebrew
Package manager page	https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/tcptunnel
Homepage	https://vakuumverpackt.de/tcptunnel/
Repository	https://github.com/vakuum/tcptunnel
Upstream docs	https://github.com/vakuum/tcptunnel#readme
License	GPL-2.0-or-later
Source archive	https://github.com/vakuum/tcptunnel/archive/refs/tags/v0.8.tar.gz
Bottle	available (on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux)
Homebrew post-install	not defined
Service	none declared

registry facts

Source database details

Source Database	Homebrew formula API
Tap	homebrew/core
Full Name	tcptunnel
Version Scheme	0
Revision	0
Bottle Stable Root URL	https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core
Deprecated	no
Disabled	no
Keg Only	no
URL Keys	stable

package graph

Links come from deterministic package relationships, av.db category and tag curation, ecosystem matches, and package hub membership.

source trail

Generated from repository data

This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.

Combined YAML source

View the package source record on GitHub.

combined/tcptunnel.yml

Used sources

Geiger risk classifier
Nucleus package database
av.db category and tag curation
cross-ecosystem install command graph
curated package history
package relationship graph
package version freshness
package-page enrichment

Install tcptunnel with Homebrew