Socket Programming in C

Socket Programming in C Slides Adapted on Jörn Altmann‘s Slides

Questions that will be Addressed • What mechanisms are available for a programmer who writes network applications? • How to write a network application that sends packets between hosts (client and server) across an IP network? • Answer: socket API IP Network Client Server

Socket ProgrammingTable of Contents • Network Application Programming Interface: Sockets and Internet Sockets • Network Programming Tips • Client-Server Architecture • Example: Client Programming • Example: Server Programming • Network Programmer’s Mistakes

e.g. ftp Application Layer e.g. TCP, UDP Transport Layer e.g. IP Network Layer Ethernet Link Layer Layers of the IP Protocol Suite Application Layer Transport Layer Network Layer Link Layer

Location Applications(e.g. browser, game, ftp) Application ProgrammingInterface (API)(e.g. network API) Operating System(e.g. Unix) Interface to the Network Card Network Card & Device Driver(e.g. Ethernet card) Protocol Suite Location • Internet Protocol Layer Application Layer Transport Layer (TCP, UDP) Network Layer (IP) Link Layer

Network API • Operating system provides Application Programming Interface (API) for network application • API is defined by a set of function types, data structures, and constants • Desirable characteristics of the network interface • Simple to use • Flexible • independent from any application • allows program to use all functionality of the network • Standardized • allows programmer to learn once, write anywhere • Application Programming Interface for networks is called socket

Sockets • Sockets provide mechanisms to communicate between computers across a network • There are different kind of sockets • DARPA Internet addresses (Internet Sockets) • Unix interprocess communication (Unix Sockets) • CCITT X.25 addresses • and many others • Berkeley sockets is the most popular Internet Socket • runs on Linux, FreeBSD, OS X, Windows • fed by the popularity of TCP/IP

Internet Sockets • Support stream and datagram packets (e.g. TCP, UDP, IP) • Is Similar to UNIX file I/O API (provides a file descriptor) • Based on C, single thread model • does not require multiple threads

Types of Internet Sockets • Different types of sockets implement different communication types (stream vs. datagram) • Type of socket: stream socket • connection-oriented • two way communication • reliable (error free), in order delivery • can use the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) • e.g. telnet, ssh, http • Type of socket: datagram socket • connectionless, does not maintain an open connection, each packet is independent • can use the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) • e.g. IP telephony • Other types exist: similar to the one above

Network Programming Tips • Byte Ordering • Naming • Addressing

memoryaddress A +1 memoryaddress A Stored at little-endian computer high-order byte low-order byte low-order byte high-order byte Stored at big-endian computer Byte Ordering of Integers • Different CPU architectures have different byte ordering Integer representation (2 byte) D3 F2

Message is: [Hello,256] Processing Processing Message in Memory ofof big-endian Computer Message in Memory oflittle-endian Computer Message is sent across Network 48 45 4C 4C 6F 01 00 48 45 4C 4C 6F 01 00 Byte Ordering Problem • Question: What would happen if two computers with different integer byte ordering communicate? • Answer: • Nothing if they do not exchange integers! • But: If they exchange integers, they would get the wrong order of bytes, therefore, the wrong value! • Example: Message is: [Hello,1]

Byte Ordering Solution • There are two solutions if computers with different byte ordering system want to communicate • They must know the kind of architecture of the sending computer(bad solution, it has not been implemented) • Introduction of a network byte order. The functions are: uint16_t htons(uint16_t host16bitvalue) uint32_t htonl(uint32_t host32bitvalue) uint16_t ntohs(uint16_t net16bitvalue) uint32_t ntohs(uint32_t net32bitvalue) • Note: use for all integers (short and long), which are sent across the network • Including port numbers and IP addresses

Network Programming Tips • Byte Ordering • Naming • Addressing

Naming and Addressing • Host name • identifies a single host (see Domain Name System slides) • variable length string (e.g. www.berkeley.edu) • is mapped to one or more IP addresses • IP Address • written as dotted octets (e.g. 10.0.0.1) • 32 bits. Not a number! But often needs to be converted to a 32-bit to use. • Port number • identifies a process on a host • 16 bit number

Client-Server Architecture • Client requests service from server • Server responds with sending service or error message to client response Client Server request

Simple Client-Server Example response Client Server request socket()connect()send()recv()close() socket()bind()listen()accept()recv()send()recv()close() Connectionestablishment Data request Data response End-of-file notification

Example: Client Programming • Create stream socket (socket()) • Connect to server (connect() ) • While still connected: • send message to server (send() ) • receive (recv() ) data from server and process it • Close TCP connection and Socket (close())

socket(): Initializing Socket • Getting the file descriptor int chat_sock; if ((chat_sock = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) < 0) { perror("socket"); printf("Failed to create socket\n"); abort (); } • 1.parameter specifies protocol/address family • 2.parameter specifies the socket type Other possibilities: SOCK_DGRAM • 3.parameter specifies the protocol. 0 means protocol is chosen by the OS.

IP AddressData Structure struct sockaddr_in { short int sin_family; // Address family unsigned short int sin_port; // Port number struct in_addr sin_addr; // Internet address unsigned char sin_zero[8]; }; struct in_addr { unsigned long s_addr; // 4 bytes }; • Padding of sin_zeros:struct sockaddr_inhas same size asstruct sockaddr

connect(): Making TCP Connection to Server struct sockaddr_in sin; struct hostent *host = gethostbyname (argv[1]); unsigned int server_address = *(unsigned long *) host->h_addr_list[0]; unsigned short server_port = atoi (argv[2]); memset (&sin, 0, sizeof (sin)); sin.sin_family = AF_INET; sin.sin_addr.s_addr =server_address; sin.sin_port = htons (server_port); if (connect(chat_sock, (struct sockaddr *) &sin, sizeof (sin)) < 0) { perror("connect"); printf("Cannot connect to server\n"); abort(); }

send(): Sending Packets int send_packets(char *buffer, int buffer_len) { sent_bytes = send(chat_sock, buffer, buffer_len, 0); if (send_bytes < 0) { perror (“send"); } return 0; } • Needs socket descriptor, • Buffer containing the message, and • Length of the message • Can also use write()

Receiving Packets:Separating Data in a Stream • Use records (data structures) to partition the data stream Fixed length record Fixed length record A B C D 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 slide through receive buffer

Receiving Packets int receive_packets(char *buffer, int buffer_len, int *bytes_read) { int left = buffer_len - *bytes_read; received = recv(chat_sock, buffer + *bytes_read, left, 0); if (received < 0) { perror (“recv"); } if (received <= 0) { return close_connection(); } *bytes_read += received; while (*bytes_read > RECORD_LEN) { process_packet(buffer, RECORD_LEN); *bytes_read -= RECORD_LEN; memmove(buffer, buffer + RECORD_LEN, *bytes_read); } return 0; } buffer_len buffer *bytes_read Can also use read()

Server Programming: Simple • Create stream socket (socket() ) • Bind port to socket (bind() ) • Listen for new client (listen() ) • While • accept user connection and create a new socket (accept() ) • data arrives from client (recv() ) • data has to be send to client (send() )

bind(): Assign IP and Port struct sockaddr_in sin; struct hostent *host = gethostbyname (argv[1]); unsigned int server_address = *(unsigned long *) host->h_addr_list[0]; unsigned short server_port = atoi (argv[2]); memset (&sin, 0, sizeof (sin)); sin.sin_family = AF_INET; sin.sin_addr.s_addr =server_address; sin.sin_port = htons (server_port); if (bind(chat_sock, (struct sockaddr *) &sin, sizeof (sin)) < 0) { perror("bind"); printf("Cannot bind server application to network\n"); abort(); }

bind(): • bind() tells the OS toassign a local IP address and local port number to the socket. • Many applications let the OS choose an IP address. Use wildcard INADDR_ANY as local address in this case. • At server, user process must call bind() to assign a port • At client, bind() is not required since OS mayassign available port and IP address • The server will get the port number of the client through the UDP/TCP packet header • Note: Each application is represented by a server port number

listen(): Wait for Connections int listen(int sockfd, int backlog); • Puts socket in a listening state, willing to handle incoming TCP connection request. • Backlog: number of TCP connections that can be queued at the socket.

Server Example #define MYPORT 3490 // the port users will be connecting to #define BACKLOG 10 // how many pending connections queue will hold int main(void) { int sockfd, new_fd; // listen on sockfd, new connection on new_fd struct sockaddr_in my_addr; // my address information struct sockaddr_in their_addr; // connector's address information int sin_size; if ((sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) == -1) { perror("socket"); exit(1); } my_addr.sin_family = AF_INET; // host byte order my_addr.sin_port = htons(MYPORT); // short, network byte order my_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY; // auto. filled with local IP memset(&(my_addr.sin_zero), '\0', 8); // zero the rest of the struct

if (bind(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *)&my_addr, sizeof(struct sockaddr)) == -1) { perror("bind"); exit(1); } if (listen(sockfd, BACKLOG) == -1) { perror("listen"); exit(1); } while(1) { // main accept() loop sin_size = sizeof(struct sockaddr_in); if ((new_fd = accept(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *)&their_addr, &sin_size)) == -1) { perror("accept"); continue; } printf("server: got connection from %s\n", inet_ntoa(their_addr.sin_addr)); if (send(new_fd, "Hello, world!\n", 14, 0) == -1) perror("send"); close(new_fd); } return 0; }

Client Example #include <netinet/in.h> #include <sys/socket.h> #define PORT 3490 // the port client will be connecting to #define MAXDATASIZE 100 // max number of bytes we can get // at once int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { int sockfd, numbytes; char buf[MAXDATASIZE]; struct hostent *he; struct sockaddr_in their_addr; // server's address information if (argc != 2) { fprintf(stderr,"usage: client hostname\n"); exit(1); } if ((he=gethostbyname(argv[1])) == NULL) { // get the host info perror("gethostbyname"); exit(1); } if ((sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) == -1) { perror("socket"); exit(1); }

their_addr.sin_family = AF_INET; // host byte order their_addr.sin_port = htons(PORT); // short, network byte order their_addr.sin_addr = *((struct in_addr *)he->h_addr); // already network byte order memset(&(their_addr.sin_zero), '\0', 8); // zero the rest of the struct if (connect(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *)&their_addr, sizeof(struct sockaddr)) == -1){ perror("connect"); exit(1); } if ((numbytes=recv(sockfd, buf, MAXDATASIZE-1, 0)) == -1) { perror("recv"); exit(1); } buf[numbytes] = '\0'; printf("Received: %s",buf); close(sockfd); return 0; }

I/O Blocking socket(); bind() ; listen(); while accept(); recv() ; send() ; • Simple server has blocking problem • Suppose 5 connections accepted. • Suppose next accept() blocks. • Other connections cannot send and receive. • Cannot get keyboard input either.

select() :I/O Multiplexing • waits on multiple file descriptors and timeout • returns when any file descriptor • is ready to be read or • written or • indicate an error, or • timeout exceeded • advantages • simple • application does not consume CPU cycles while waiting • disadvantages • doesnot scale to large number of file descriptors

Example: Server Programming • create stream socket (socket() ) • Bind port to socket (bind() ) • Listen for new client (listen() ) • While • Wait for (select() ) (depending on which file descriptors are ready) • accept user connection and create a new socket (accept() ) • data arrives from client (recv() ) • data has to be send to client (send() )

Server: Alternative Ways of Handling Many Clients • Forking a new process for each client: fork() • But, creating new process is expensive. • Multithreaded implementation: have one thread handling each client. • Thread is like a process but light-weighted.

Network Programmer’s Mistakes • byte ordering • separating records in streams • use of select() • misinterpreting the project specification • not knowing all available system calls

There are more System Calls • Depends on communication type • Datagram sockets use recvfrom() and sendto() for receiving and sending data • Closing connection: close(),shutdown() • Convenient functions (on UNIX) • inet_aton, inet_ntoa • inet_pton, inet_ntop

Literature • short tutorial:Beej's Guide to Network Programming http://www.ecst.csuchico.edu/~beej/guide/net/ • Unix Network Programming, volumes 1 and 2 by W. Richard Stevens. Published by Prentice Hall; ISBNs for volumes 1 and 2: 013490012X, 0130810819. • Advanced Programming in the Unix Environment by W. Richard Stevens. Published by Addison Wesley. ISBN 0201563177. • man pages on a Unix computer

Socket Programming in C