COMS 4995 Advanced Systems Programming

Domain sockets

Summary of UNIX IPC so far

Shared memory

1. Multiple threads in a single process
   • Process address space is already shared among the threads
2. Related processes (i.e., parent and child)
   • Anonymous mmap
3. Unrelated processes
   • File-backed mmap

Synchronization

1. Multiple threads in a single process
   • pthread mutex, condition variable, reader-writer lock
2. Multiple processes with some shared memory
   • pthread mutex, condition variable, reader-writer lock with PTHREAD_PROCESS_SHARED attribute
   • Unnamed POSIX semaphore
3. Multiple processes with no shared memory
   • Named POSIX semaphore

Data passing

1. Related processes
   • Unnamed pipe
     • created by pipe()
     • half duplex (i.e., one way communication)
2. Unrelated processes
   • Named pipe (aka FIFO)
     • created by mkfifo()
     • still half duplex
3. Distant processes (i.e., anywhere on the Internet)
   • TCP socket
     • full duplex
     • reliable byte stream delivery
     • high protocol overhead
     • message boundaries are not preserved
   • UDP socket
     • full duplex
     • unreliable datagram delivery
     • low protocol overhead
     • message boundaries are preserved

UNIX domain sockets

Best of pipes and sockets, but only for local processes:

1. Unnamed pair of connected sockets for related processes
   • created by socketpair(AF_UNIX, ... )
   • just like a pipe, but full duplex
2. Named local-only socket for unrelated processes
   • created by socket(AF_UNIX, ... )
   • represented by a special file

3. reliable when used in datagram mode

4. can transport special things like open file descriptor

Unnamed socket pair as Full duplex pipe

int socketpair(int domain, int type, int protocol, int sv[2]);

        // Returns 0 if OK, -1 on error

Same picture as the one for pipe() but arrows going both ways:

Example of exchanging datagram using named domain socket

• recv-unix.c:

  static void die(const char *m) { perror(m); exit(1); }
      
  void handle_sigint(int signo) {}
      
  int main(int argc, char **argv)
  {
      struct sigaction sa;
      sa.sa_handler = &handle_sigint;
      sigemptyset(&sa.sa_mask);
      sa.sa_flags = 0;
      if (sigaction(SIGINT, &sa, NULL) != 0) {
          die("sigaction");
      }
      
      if (argc != 2) {
          fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s <num-chars>\n", argv[0]);
          exit(1);
      }
      
      int num_to_recv = atoi(argv[1]);
      int fd;
      
      struct sockaddr_un  un,  clnt_un;
      socklen_t           len, clnt_len;
          
      char *name = "serv-dom-sock";
      assert(strlen(name) < sizeof(un.sun_path));
      
      // create a UNIX domain datagram socket
      if ((fd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_DGRAM, 0)) < 0)
          die("socket failed");
      
      // remove the server domain socket file if exists already
      unlink(name);
      
      // fill in the server domain socket address structure
      memset(&un, 0, sizeof(un));
      un.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
      strcpy(un.sun_path, name);
      len = offsetof(struct sockaddr_un, sun_path) + strlen(name);
      
      // bind the server domain socket name to the descriptor
      if (bind(fd, (struct sockaddr *)&un, len) < 0) 
          die("bind failed");
      
      char *buf = malloc(num_to_recv + 1);
      char reply[100];
      int i = 0, n;
      
      for (;;) {
          memset(buf, 0, num_to_recv + 1);
          clnt_len = sizeof(clnt_un);
          n = recvfrom(fd, buf, num_to_recv, 0,
                       (struct sockaddr *) &clnt_un, &clnt_len);
          if (n < 0) {
              if (errno == EINTR)
                  break;
              else
                  die("recvfrom failed");
          }
          fprintf(stderr, "\"%s\" received from ", buf);
          write(STDERR_FILENO, clnt_un.sun_path,
                  clnt_len - offsetof(struct sockaddr_un, sun_path));
          fprintf(stderr, " (clnt_len:%d), ", clnt_len);
      
          snprintf(reply, sizeof(reply), "[%d](%s)", ++i, buf);
          n = sendto(fd, reply, strlen(reply), 0, 
                     (struct sockaddr *) &clnt_un, clnt_len);
          if (n != strlen(reply)) {
              die("sendto failed");
          }
          fprintf(stderr, "sent back %d bytes: %s\n", n, reply);
      }
      
      // Clean up
      fprintf(stderr, "Server shutting down\n");
      free(buf);
      close(fd);
      unlink(name);
  }
  

• send-unix.c:

  static void die(const char *m) { perror(m); exit(1); }
      
  int main(int argc, char **argv)
  {
      if (argc != 3) {
          fprintf(stderr, "usage: %s <msg> <num-repeat>\n", argv[0]);
          exit(1);
      }
      
      const char *msg = argv[1];
      int num_repeat = atoi(argv[2]);
      
      int fd;
      socklen_t my_len;
      struct sockaddr_un my_un;
      
      char my_name[sizeof(my_un.sun_path)];
      snprintf(my_name, sizeof(my_name), "clnt-dom-sock.%d", getpid());
      
      // create a UNIX domain datagram socket
      if ((fd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_DGRAM, 0)) < 0)
          die("socket failed");
      
      // fill in my own domain socket address structure
      memset(&my_un, 0, sizeof(my_un));
      my_un.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
      strcpy(my_un.sun_path, my_name);
      my_len = offsetof(struct sockaddr_un, sun_path) + strlen(my_name);
      
      // bind my own domain sock name to the descriptor
      if (bind(fd, (struct sockaddr *)&my_un, my_len) < 0) 
          die("bind failed");
      
      socklen_t serv_len;
      struct sockaddr_un serv_un;
      char *serv_name = "serv-dom-sock";
      assert(strlen(serv_name) < sizeof(serv_un.sun_path));
      
      // fill in the server's domain socket address structure
      memset(&serv_un, 0, sizeof(serv_un));
      serv_un.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
      strcpy(serv_un.sun_path, serv_name);
      serv_len = offsetof(struct sockaddr_un, sun_path) + strlen(serv_name);
      
      int i, n;
      
      // send messages
      for (i = 0; i < num_repeat; i++) {
          n = sendto(fd, msg, strlen(msg), 0,
                     (struct sockaddr *) &serv_un, serv_len);
          if (n != strlen(msg))
              die("sendto failed");
          else 
              fprintf(stderr, "[%d] sent %d bytes: \"%s\"\n", i+1, n, msg);
      }
      
      // receive replies
      char reply[100];
      for (i = 0; i < num_repeat; i++) {
          memset(reply, 0, sizeof(reply));
          n = recvfrom(fd, reply, sizeof(reply), 0, NULL, NULL);
          if (n < 0) 
              die("recvfrom failed");
          else
              fprintf(stderr, "%d bytes received: \"%s\"\n", n, reply);
      }
      
      // clean up
      close(fd);
      unlink(my_name);
  }
  

Passing open file descriptors

Duplicate a file descriptor across running processes:

Real-world application: a set of worker processes collectively processing activities on a set of long running TCP connections (e.g., WebSocket: first use HTTP request/response to establish a persistent WebSocket connection, then client and server exchange JSON messages freely).

Why not use multiple threads instead of processes? That’s an option for sure, but there are advantages in both approaches; with multiple processes:

1. One worker crashing won’t bring down the server
2. Different processes can run as different users to have different security levels

---

Last updated: 2024-10-15