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gstrauss, 2021-07-14 20:57

mod_wstunnel

Module: mod_wstunnel

(since lighttpd 1.4.46)

WebSocket tunnel endpoint. This module terminates the websocket tunnel from a client. This module then passes data (without websocket frames) to a backend and encodes responses from backend in websocket frames before sending responses to client.

Note: if looking to proxy websockets to a backend, then see Docs_ModProxy, Docs_ModCGI, or other backends, some of which can be enabled to be transparent proxies to backends after client sends Upgrade: websocket

Description

Brief description of mod_wstunnel directives

option description
wstunnel.server backend server definition(s) for hosts to which to send requests; options for each backend host
wstunnel.balance load-balancing algorithm for backends ("fair", "least-connection", "round-robin", "hash", or "sticky")
wstunnel.debug debug level (value between 0 and 65535)
wstunnel.frame-type websocket frame type: "text" or "binary"
wstunnel.map-extensions map multiple extensions to the same backend
wstunnel.origins list of permitted origins in Origin request header (optional)
wstunnel.ping-interval send websocket PING frame at given interval in sec (default 0; none sent)

Details for wstunnel.server parameters can be found in mod_fastcgi documentation, since the wstunnel module shares the same code infrastructure with the FastCGI module, and fastcgi.server parameters are very similar.

Example: websocket tunnel to VNC server via noVNC client

Follow instructions to download and install, or use available packages for your Linux/*BSD distribution.
https://github.com/novnc/noVNC
x11vnc

If noVNC files are installed in /usr/share/novnc, and x11vnc is running as VNC server with x11vnc -localhost -forever -display :0 then lighttpd mod_wstunnel can be configured with:

server.document-root = "/usr/share/novnc" 
server.indexfiles = ("index.html")
server.modules += ( "mod_wstunnel" )
$HTTP["url"] =~ "^/websockify" {
    wstunnel.server = ( "" => ( ( "host" => "127.0.0.1", "port" => "5900" ) ) )
    wstunnel.frame-type = "binary" 
    server.stream-request-body  = 2
    server.stream-response-body = 2
}

Please take proper precautions to limit access to the VNC server, possibly including requiring proper authentication and limiting access to certain source IPs.

Example: websocket tunnel to a trivial "echo" script which reads and echoes line-by-line

Simple example showing lighttpd mod_proxy supporting websockets to another lighttpd instance using mod_wstunnel to terminate the websocket tunnel and send/receive payloads to backend "echo" script.

  • /dev/shm/echo.pl
    #!/usr/bin/perl -Tw
use Socket;
$SIG{PIPE} = 'IGNORE';
for (my $FH; accept($FH, STDIN); close $FH) {
    select($FH); $|=1;
    print $FH $_ while (<$FH>);
}
  • /dev/shm/lighttpd-wstunnel.conf (listening on port 8081; start with lighttpd -D -f /dev/shm/lighttpd-wstunnel.conf; Ctrl-C to quit)
    server.document-root = "/tmp"  # not used in this example
server.bind = "127.0.0.1" 
server.port = 8081

server.modules += ("mod_wstunnel")
wstunnel.server = (
  "" => (
    (
      "socket" => "/dev/shm/psock",
      "bin-path" => "/dev/shm/echo.pl",
      "max-procs" => 1
    )
  )
)
  • /dev/shm/lighttpd-proxy.conf (listening on port 8080; start with lighttpd -D -f /dev/shm/lighttpd-proxy.conf in another shell; Ctrl-C to quit)
    server.document-root = "/tmp"  # not used in this example
server.bind = "127.0.0.1" 
server.port = 8080

server.modules += ("mod_proxy")
proxy.server = ( "/" => (( "host" => "127.0.0.1", "port" => "8081" )))
proxy.header = ( "upgrade" => "enable" )
  • /dev/shm/count.html (load into local browser as ///dev/shm/count.html and watch it count 1 .. 5; connects to localhost:8080)
    <!DOCTYPE html>
<!-- modified from example in https://github.com/joewalnes/websocketd README.md -->
<pre id="log"></pre>
<script>
  // helper function: log message to screen
  var logelt = document.getElementById('log');
  function log(msg) { logelt.textContent += msg + '\n'; }
  // helper function: send websocket msg with count (1 .. 5)
  var ll = 0;
  function send_msg() { if (++ll <= 5) { log('SEND: '+ll); ws.send(ll+'\n'); } }
  // setup websocket with callbacks
  var ws = new WebSocket('ws://localhost:8080/');
  ws.onopen = function()         { log('CONNECT\n'); send_msg(); };
  ws.onclose = function()        { log('DISCONNECT'); };
  ws.onmessage = function(event) { log('RECV: ' + event.data); send_msg(); };
</script>

Updated by gstrauss over 3 years ago · 8 revisions