A demonstration of simple Internet client-server applications in C++ (Linux-based).
The client application tries to connect to the remote server application using the IP address of the remote server (‘localhost’ or 127.0.0.1) and the server port number which defaulted to 1234.
The server application listens to port number 1234 for a connection request. When the server application receives the connection request it sends the text message “Hello!\r\n” to the client.
When the client application has successfully connected to the server and received the “Hello” message it sends the message “Thanks! Bye-bye” to the server, and terminates.
When the server application receives the “Thanks! Bye-bye” answer from the client it terminates.
To test these applications, first compile and run the Server.cpp as a C++ executable. When this is running, you can then run or debug the Client.cpp code as a separate application.
Console output as shown (ignore the ‘GDB: Failed to set controlling terminal’ warning as this is harmless in this instance)
Code listings for client and server applications as follows.
Server.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
static void usage();
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
if (argc > 1 && *(argv[1]) == '-')
{
usage(); exit(1);
}
int listenPort = 1234;
if (argc > 1)
listenPort = atoi(argv[1]);
// Create a socket
int s0 = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
if (s0 < 0)
{
std::cerr << "Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
exit(1);
}
// Fill in the address structure containing self address
struct sockaddr_in myaddr;
memset(&myaddr, 0, sizeof(struct sockaddr_in));
myaddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
myaddr.sin_port = htons(listenPort); // Port to listen
myaddr.sin_addr.s_addr = htonl(INADDR_ANY);
// Bind a socket to the address
int res = bind(s0, (struct sockaddr*) &myaddr, sizeof(myaddr));
if (res < 0)
{
std::cerr << "Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
exit(1);
}
// Set the "LINGER" timeout to zero, to close the listen socket
// immediately at program termination.
struct linger linger_opt = { 1, 0 }; // Linger active, timeout 0
setsockopt(s0, SOL_SOCKET, SO_LINGER, &linger_opt, sizeof(linger_opt));
// Now, listen for a connection
res = listen(s0, 1); // "1" is the maximal length of the queue
if (res < 0)
{
std::cerr << "Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
exit(1);
}
// Accept a connection (the "accept" command waits for a connection with
// no timeout limit...)
struct sockaddr_in peeraddr;
socklen_t peeraddr_len;
int s1 = accept(s0, (struct sockaddr*) &peeraddr, &peeraddr_len);
if (s1 < 0)
{
std::cerr << "Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
exit(1);
}
// A connection is accepted. The new socket "s1" is created
// for data input/output. The peeraddr structure is filled in with
// the address of connected entity, print it.
std::cout << "Connection from IP "
<< ( ( ntohl(peeraddr.sin_addr.s_addr) >> 24) & 0xff ) << "." // High byte of address
<< ( ( ntohl(peeraddr.sin_addr.s_addr) >> 16) & 0xff ) << "."
<< ( ( ntohl(peeraddr.sin_addr.s_addr) >> 8) & 0xff ) << "."
<< ( ntohl(peeraddr.sin_addr.s_addr) & 0xff ) << ", port " // Low byte of addr
<< ntohs(peeraddr.sin_port);
res = close(s0); // Close the listen socket
write(s1, "Hello!\r\n", 8);
char buffer[1024];
res = read(s1, buffer, 1023);
if (res < 0) {
std::cerr << "Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
exit(1);
}
buffer[res] = 0;
std::cout << "Received " << res << " bytes:\n" << buffer;
close(s1);
return 0;
}
static void usage() {
std::cout << "A simple Internet server application.\n"
<< "It listens to the port written in command line (default 1234),\n"
<< "accepts a connection, and sends the \"Hello!\" message to a client.\n"
<< "Then it receives the answer from a client and terminates.\n\n"
<< "Usage:\n"
<< " server [port_to_listen]\n"
<< "Default is the port 1234.\n";
}
Client.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include <sstream>
#include <errno.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
#include <netdb.h>
static void usage();
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
if (argc > 1 && *(argv[1]) == '-')
{
usage(); exit(1);
}
// Create socket
int s0 = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
if (s0 < 0)
{
std::cerr << "Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
exit(1);
}
// Fill in server IP address
struct sockaddr_in server;
int serverAddrLen;
bzero( &server, sizeof( server ) );
char* peerHost = "localhost";
if (argc > 1)
peerHost = argv[1];
// Resolve server address (convert from symbolic name to IP number)
struct hostent *host = gethostbyname(peerHost);
if (host == NULL)
{
std::cerr << "Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
exit(1);
}
server.sin_family = AF_INET;
short peerPort = 1234;
if (argc >= 3)
peerPort = (short) atoi(argv[2]);
server.sin_port = htons(peerPort);
// Print a resolved address of server (the first IP of the host)
std::cout << "server address = " << (host->h_addr_list[0][0] & 0xff) << "." <<
(host->h_addr_list[0][1] & 0xff) << "." <<
(host->h_addr_list[0][2] & 0xff) << "." <<
(host->h_addr_list[0][3] & 0xff) << ", port " <<
static_cast<int>(peerPort) << std::endl;
// Write resolved IP address of a server to the address structure
memmove(&(server.sin_addr.s_addr), host->h_addr_list[0], 4);
// Connect to the remote server
int res = connect(s0, (struct sockaddr*) &server, sizeof(server));
if (res < 0)
{
std::cerr << "Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
exit(1);
}
std::cout << "Connected. Reading a server message" << std::endl;
char buffer[1024];
res = read(s0, buffer, 1024);
if (res < 0)
{
std::cerr << "Error: " << strerror(errno) << std::endl;
exit(1);
}
std::cout << "Received:" << "\n" << buffer;
write(s0, "Thanks! Bye-bye...\r\n", 20);
close(s0);
return 0;
}
static void usage()
{
std::cout << "A simple Internet client application.\n"
<< "Usage:\n"
<< " client [IP_address_of_server [port_of_server]]\n"
<< " where IP_address_of_server is either IP number of server\n"
<< " or a symbolic Internet name, default is \"localhost\";\n"
<< " port_of_server is a port number, default is 1234.\n"
<< "The client connects to a server which address is given in a\n"
<< "command line, receives a message from a server, sends the message\n"
<< "\"Thanks! Bye-bye...\", and terminates.\n";
}
