gistfile1.rb

# in config/environments/production.rb
config.after_initialize do
  SshTunnel.establish
end

# in lib/ssh_tunnel.rb
class SshTunnel
  @@process_id = nil
  COMMAND = "ssh [email protected] -R 9988:localhost:3000 -N -T -o PasswordAuthentication=no"
  
  def self.establish
    
    if running? 
      STDERR.puts "SSH tunnel already running, not running."
    else
      @@process_id = Process.fork { exec COMMAND }
      Process.detach(@@process_id)
      Kernel.at_exit do
        kill
      end
    end
  end
  
  def self.running?
    @@process_id or `ps -ax | grep '#{COMMAND}' | grep -v 'grep' | wc -l`.chomp.to_i > 0
  end
  
  def self.kill
    if @@process_id
      Process.kill 'TERM', @@process_id
      @@process_id = nil
    end
  end
  
end