autossh -L fails with same command as ssh, how to make it work?

I'm running yum installed autossh 1.4a on fedora core 15 with the latest updates.

This works:

ssh -L 9000:valid.fqdn:80 another_valid_fqdn

However, autossh fails and prints its usage message:

ssh -L 9000:valid.fqdn:80 another_valid_fqdn

usage: autossh [-V] [-M monitor_port[:echo_port]] [-f] [SSH_OPTIONS]

    -M specifies monitor port. May be overridden by environment
       variable AUTOSSH_PORT. 0 turns monitoring loop off.
       Alternatively, a port for an echo service on the remote
       machine may be specified. (Normally port 7.)
    -f run in background (autossh handles this, and does not
       pass it to ssh.)
    -V print autossh version and exit.

Environment variables are:
    AUTOSSH_GATETIME   - how long must an ssh session be established
                         before we decide it really was established
                         (in seconds)
    AUTOSSH_LOGFILE    - file to log to (default is to use the syslog
                         facility)
    AUTOSSH_LOGLEVEL   - level of log verbosity
    AUTOSSH_MAXSTART   - max times to restart (default is no limit)
    AUTOSSH_MESSAGE    - message to append to echo string (max 64 bytes)
    AUTOSSH_PATH       - path to ssh if not default
    AUTOSSH_PIDFILE    - write pid to this file
    AUTOSSH_POLL       - how often to check the connection (seconds)
    AUTOSSH_FIRST_POLL - time before first connection check (seconds)
    AUTOSSH_PORT       - port to use for monitor connection
    AUTOSSH_DEBUG      - turn logging to maximum verbosity and log to

Any ideas how I might get autossh to work? According to the usage message it should just take ssh options directly.

Solution 1:

The monitor port is apparently not optional. Try autossh -M 0 -L 9000:host:80 ssh_host