Wultiplexor
What?
Wultiplexor is a reverse proxy server and client that uses websockets to multiplex tcp connections or unix sockets.
You can use it to forward connections from one machine to another both behind NAT or firewall.
How?
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<img alt="Diagram" src="diagram.png">
</picture>
Why?
In the beginning, I had needed to redirect a unix socket for one specific application.
Later I implemented this in a general way.
Deploy server using docker compose
shell
docker network create wultiplexor
DOMAIN=wultiplexor.example.com ACME_EMAIL=acmeexample.com SECRET=sEcReTkEy docker compose -p wultiplexor -f compose.yaml up --build -d
**WARNING:** The server is not intended to be used "as is" in a public accessible infrastructure.
Use a reverse proxy like [Traefik](https://github.com/traefik/traefik) to secure the connection like I did in the `compose.yaml` file.
Install the client utility
shell
pip install wultiplexor
Usage: Forward tcp port
- On one machine, called the server or acceptor:
shell
whannel ws://example.com/ acceptor -s sEcReTkEy localhost 8080 sEcReTGaTeWaYnAmeE
shell
nc -l 8080
- On another machine, called client or requestor:
shell
whannel ws://example.com/ requestor sEcReTGaTeWaYnAmeE 9090
shell
nc localhost 9090
And now you can chat between two machines.
Usage: Forward unix socket file
- On one machine, called the server or acceptor:
shell
whannel wss://example.com/ sock-acceptor -s sEcReTkEy ./server sEcReTGaTeWaYnAmeE
shell
socat UNIX-LISTEN:./server,fork STDIO
- On another machine, called client or requestor:
shell
whannel wss://example.com/ sock-requestor sEcReTGaTeWaYnAmeE ./client
shell
socat STDIO UNIX-CONNECT:./client
And now you can chat between two machines.
Mixed usage
You can mix unix sockets and tcp ports. To do that, use tcp-acceptor from one side and sock-requestor from the another.
Or vice versa. This is also a way to "convert" a unix socket to a tcp port on the same machine.