dbclient

Connect to a remote host

$ dbclient [user]@[host]

$ dbclient [user]@[host] -p 2222

$ dbclient -i [path/to/key_file] [user]@[host]

$ dbclient [user]@[host] -t [command] [arguments]

$ dbclient -A [user]@[host]

dbclient [options] [user@]host [command]

dbclient is the SSH client from the Dropbear suite, a lightweight SSH implementation designed for embedded systems and environments with limited resources. It provides standard SSH functionality including remote shell access, command execution, port forwarding, and agent forwarding, all with a significantly smaller binary size and memory footprint than OpenSSH.
Dropbear is commonly found on routers, IoT devices, embedded Linux systems, and other resource-constrained environments. The entire suite (server and client) is typically under 110KB compressed, compared to several megabytes for OpenSSH.
dbclient supports the core SSH protocol features: public key authentication, password authentication, local and remote port forwarding, and TTY allocation for interactive sessions. However, it omits some advanced OpenSSH features to maintain its small size.
One notable difference is key format: dbclient uses Dropbear's own key format rather than OpenSSH's format. The dropbearconvert utility can convert between the two formats when needed.

-p port

Connect to specified port

Identity key file (Dropbear format)

Allocate a TTY

Forward authentication agent

Local port forwarding

Remote port forwarding

Don't request a shell

Uses Dropbear key format, not OpenSSH format. Use dropbearconvert to convert keys. Part of the Dropbear SSH suite, commonly used in embedded Linux systems.

ssh(1), dropbear(8), dropbearconvert(1)