netpipes - a package to manipulate BSD TCP/IP stream sockets

version 4.2

faucet port (--in|--out|--err|--fd n)+ [--once] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--unix] [--foreignhost addr] [--foreignport port] [--localhost addr] [--serial] [--daemon] [--shutdown (r|w) ] [--pidfile filename] [--noreuseaddr] [--backlog n] [-[i][o][e][#3[,4[,5...]]][v][1][q][u][d][s]] [-p foreign-port] [-h foreign-host] [-H local-host] command args

hose hostname port (--in|--out|--err|--fd n|--slave) [--verbose] [--unix] [--localport port] [--localhost addr] [--retry n] [--delay n] [--shutdown [r|w][a] ] [--noreuseaddr] [-[i][o][e][#3[,4[,5...]]][s][v][u]] [-p local-port] [-h local-host] command args

encapsulate --fd n [ --verbose ] [ --subproc [ --infd n[=sid] ] [ --outfd n[=sid] ] [ --duplex n[=sid] ] [ --Duplex n[=sid] ] [ --DUPLEX n[=sid] ] [ --prefer-local ] [ --prefer-remote ] [ --local-only ] [ --remote-only ] ] [ --client ] [ --server ] -[#n][v][s[in][on][dn][ion][oin][l][r][L][R]] command args ...

ssl-auth --fd n ( --server | --client ) [ --cert file ] [ --key file ] [ --verbose ] [ --verify n ] [ --CApath path/ ] [ --CAfile file ] [ --cipher cipher-list ] [ --criteria criteria-expr ] [ --subproc [ --infd n ] [ --outfd n ] ] [ -[#n][v][s[in][on]] ]

sockdown [fd [how] ]

getpeername [ -verbose ] [ -sock ] [ fd ]

getsockname [ -verbose ] [ -peer ] [ fd ]

timelimit [ -v ] [ -nokill ] time command args

The netpipes package makes TCP/IP streams usable in shell scripts. It can also simplify client/server code by allowing the programmer to skip all the tedious programming bits related to sockets and concentrate on writing a filter/service.

``Why would anyone want to do that?'' -- Richard Stallman

faucet is the server end of a TCP/IP stream. It listens on a port of the local machine waiting for connections. Every time it gets a connection it forks a process to perform a service for the connecting client.

hose is the client end of a TCP/IP stream. It actively connects to a remote port and execs a process to request a service.

encapsulate is an implementation of the Session Control Protocol. It allows you to multiplex several streams across a single TCP session and also transmits remote exit status.

ssl-auth is an encryption filter that encapsulates stdin/stdout from a subprocess (or its own stdin/stdout) in the Secure Socket Layer protocol as implemented by the SSLeay library. It can be used to communicate with encrypted daemons (HTTPS daemons, or SSL IMAP daemons) and can sometimes be used to jury-rig secure versions of such services.

sockdown is a simple program designed to shut down part or all of the socket connection. It is primarily useful when the processes connected to the socket perform both input and output.

getpeername and getsockname are two names for a program designed to print out the addresses of the ends of a socket. getpeername prints the address of the remote end and getsockname prints the address of the local end.

timelimit limits the amount of foreground wallclock time a process can consume. After the time limit runs out it either kills the process or exits and leaves it in the background.

Here is a simple command I often perform to transfer directory trees between machines. (rsh does not work because one machine is connected using SLIP and .rhosts are out of the question).

server$ faucet 3000 --out tar cf - .
client$ hose server 3000 --in tar xvf -

Here is a minimal HTTP client. It is so minimal it speaks old HTTP.

cairo$ hose www.cis.ufl.edu 80 --in --out \
	sh -c "(echo 'GET /'; sockdown) & cat > result"

And of course, there is Nick Trown's metaserver for Netrek

cairo$ hose metaserver.ecst.csuchico.edu 3521 --in cat

Allow me to apologize ahead of time for the convolutedness of the following example. It requires an understanding of Bourne shell file descriptor redirection syntax (and illustrates why csh and tcsh suck eggs). Do not try to type this from your tcsh command line. Get a bash (GNU's Bourne Again SHell).

Suppose you want to distinguish between stdout and stderr of a remote process

remote$ faucet 3000 --fd 3 \
   encapsulate --fd 3 --infd 0 --outfd 1 --outfd 2 --subproc \
	remote-app
local$ hose remote 3000 --fd 3 \
   encapsulate --fd 3 --outfd 3 --infd 4 --infd 5 --subproc \
	sh -c "cat 0<&4 3>&- & cat 0<&5 1>&2 3>&- & \
	    cat 1>&3 ; exec 3>&-"

Close all unneeded file descriptors when you spawn a background task. That's why the backgrounded cats have 3>&-.

server$ faucet 3000 --in --out --verbose enscript -2rGhp -
client$ ps aux | hose server 3000 --in --out \
	sh -c " (cat <&3; sockdown ) & cat >&4 " 3<&0 4>&1 | \
	lpr -Pps422
#or perhaps this, but I haven't tested it
client$ ps aux | hose server 3000 --fd 3 \
	sh -c " (cat >&3; sockdown 3 ) & cat <&3 " | \
	lpr -Pps422

This proves that hose can be used as part of a pipeline to perform a sort of remote procedure call (RPC). After you have figured out that example, you will know how to use Bourne shell to shuffle file descriptors around. It is a handy skill.

Now we go to the extreme, but simplify things by using the --slave option of hose. The following is a socket relay

gateway$ faucet 3000 -io hose server 4000 --slave

It's a handy little bugger when you want to tunnel through a firewall on an occasional basis. If you experience ``hanging'' of the connection, try using the --netslave option instead of --slave. (telnet proxies would benefit from this)

For those of you who use ssh, here's how to tunnel some information through an encrypted SSH port forward.

server$ faucet 3000 -1v --fd 1 --foreignhost server echo blah 
client$ ssh -n -x -L 3000:server:3000 server sleep 60 &
client$ hose localhost 3000 --fd 0 -retry 10 cat

The trick with ssh's port forwarding, is that the shutdown(2) system call causes ssh to close both halves of the full-duplex connection instead of only one half. That's why you have to use --fd 1 and --fd 0. If you need to be able to close half of the connection while still using the other, use the encapsulate wrapper.

server$ faucet 3000 -1v --fd 3 --foreignhost server \
	encapsulate --fd 3 --server -si0o1 tr a-z A-Z
client$ ssh -n -x -L 3000:server:3000 server sleep 60 &
client$ echo blah | hose localhost 3000 --fd 3 -retry 10 \
	encapsulate --fd 3 --client

faucet (1), hose (1), encapsulate (1), sockdown (1), getpeername (1), timelimit (1), ssl-auth (1)

Report any bugs or feature requests to thoth@purplefrog.com

Thanks to Harbor Development Inc. for funding some of the netpipes development.

Thanks to Michal Jaegermann <michal@ellpspace.math.ualberta.ca> for some bug fixes and glibc portability suggestions against 4.1.1 .

Big thanks to Joe Traister <traister@gate.net> for his signal handling patches, strerror surrogate, and other assorted hacks.

Copyright (C) 1995-98 Robert Forsman

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

Export Version: ftp://ftp.purplefrog.com/pub/netpipes/

U.S./Canada version with ssl-auth: http://www.cryptography.org/ , then find it in the network/ subdirectory.

Robert Forsman thoth@purplefrog.com Purple Frog Software http://web.purplefrog.com/~thoth/