6 htparser - Root HTTP server for use with ashd(7)
10 *htparser* [*-hSf*] [*-u* 'USER'] [*-r* 'ROOT'] [*-p* 'PIDFILE'] 'PORTSPEC'... `--` 'ROOT' ['ARGS'...]
15 The *htparser* program is the root HTTP server of *ashd*(7). It
16 listens to specified TCP ports, speaks HTTP with connecting clients,
17 and passes requests on to the root handler program.
19 When *htparser* starts, it will first begin listening to all ports
20 specified by 'PORTSPEC'. Once all ports have been bound successfully,
21 it will fork off and start the root handler specified by 'ROOT',
22 searching the *PATH* environment variable if necessary, and passing it
23 all the 'ARGS' as command-line arguments. Only after that will
24 *htparser* do any daemonizing or chrooting as specified by options.
26 The root handler must be a persistent program as specified in
27 *ashd*(7). If the handler program exits, *htparser* will exit too.
32 'PORTSPEC' is given in the form
33 'HANDLER'[*:*'PAR'[*=*'VAL'][(*,*'PAR'[*=*'VAL'])...]]. The
34 'PAR'='VAL' pairs are used for specifying key-value arguments to the
35 'HANDLER'. An example of a valid 'PORTSPEC' is `plain:port=8080`.
37 Currently, the available 'HANDLERs' are *plain* and *ssl*, for
38 handling plain TCP connections and SSL/TLS-protected connections,
39 respectively. For details regarding the arguments that each handler
40 accept, simply run *htparser* with 'HANDLER'*:help*. For example, the
41 command "`htparser ssl:help`" will display help for the *ssl* handler to
42 standard output and then exit.
44 The port specifications must be followed by the `--` argument to
45 distinguish them from the root handler specification.
52 Print a brief usage message on standard output and exit.
56 Log messages to *syslog*(3) instead of standard error. Also
57 sets the ASHD_USESYSLOG environment variable in the root
58 handler process, which indicates to the standard ashd programs
63 Daemonize after all specified ports have been successfully
64 bound and the root handler has been started.
68 Change UID to 'USER' once all specified ports have been
69 successfully bound and the root handler has been
70 started. 'USER' must be specified symbolically (i.e. not as a
75 Change root directory to 'ROOT' once all specified ports have
76 been successfully bound and the root handler has been started.
80 After having daemonized, write the PID of the new process to
86 `htparser plain -- dirplex /srv/www`::
88 This simple invocation will listen for HTTP requests on port
89 80 and use *dirplex*(1) to serve files from the /srv/www
92 `htparser plain:port=8080 -- dirplex /srv/www`::
94 The same as the previous example, but uses port 8080 instead,
95 so that it can be started without root privileges.]
97 `htparser plain ssl:cert=/etc/ssl/private/web.pem -- dirplex /srv/www`::
99 The same as above, but will listen on port 443 for SSL
100 connections as well. The file `/etc/ssl/private/web.pem` needs
101 to contain both the server certificate and its private key.
103 `htparser plain -- sudo -u www-user dirplex /srv/www`::
105 The same as above, but uses *sudo*(8) to ensure that *dirplex*
106 runs as a non-privileged user.
108 `htparser -f -u nobody -r /var/empty plain -- patplex /etc/ashd/rootpat`::
110 Will listen to port 80 for plain HTTP requests and use the
111 *patplex*(1) program to serve requests based on patterns
112 specified in the `/etc/ashd/rootpat` file. *htparser* will
113 daemonize, change user-ID to `nobody` and change its root
114 directory to `/var/empty` once *patplex* has been
115 started. Note that *patplex* still runs as root in the normal
116 file system, so that it can start other handler programs as
119 `htparser -f plain -- errlogger -n ashd dirplex /srv/www`::
121 The same as the first example, but will daemonize and use the
122 *errlogger*(1) program to ensure that any errors or other
123 messages written by any handler program to its stderr are
124 recorded in the *syslog*(3).
129 *htparser* strips away all headers from incoming requests that begin
130 with the `X-Ash-` prefix, and adds the following headers to requests:
134 The IP address that the client connected from. May be an IPv6
139 The client-side port number of the TCP connection.
141 *X-Ash-Server-Address*::
143 The IP address of the server where the connection was
144 accepted. May be an IPv6 address.
146 *X-Ash-Server-Port*::
148 The server-side port number of the TCP connection.
152 Either *http* or *https*, depending on whether the request was
153 received by the *plain* or the *ssl* handler.
157 Fredrik Tolf <fredrik@dolda2000.com>