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PTTH

An HTTP server that can run behind a firewall by connecting out to a relay.

Outside the tunnel
+--------+         +------------+         +-------------+
| Client |   >>>   | PTTH relay |   <<<   | PTTH server |
+--------+         +------------+         +-------------+

Inside the tunnel
+--------+         --------------         +-------------+
| Client |   >>>        >>>         >>>   |   Server    |
+--------+         --------------         +-------------+

The server can run behind a firewall, because it is actually a special HTTP client.

Configuration

ptth_server:

Copy ptth_server or ptth_server.exe onto the server
Create ptth_server.toml in the server's working dir
Add a human-readable name and a secret API key generated by diceware
Run ptth_server --print-tripcode and copy the output into ptth_relay.toml

ptth_relay first-time config:

Copy ptth_relay onto the server (A Dockerfile is provided with no guarantees)
Create ptth_relay.toml in the relay's working dir

Example server config: (Won't run because the key is too weak)

name = "my_server"
api_key = "secretpassword"
relay_url = "http://127.0.0.1:4000"
file_server_root = "./data"

ptth_relay.toml:

[[servers]]
name = "my_server"
tripcode = "czpCob1t1T7IU9zIlYyoNRomyeN7pqKSg1R0EUPz6Pw="

[[servers]
name = "some_other_server"
tripcode = "su2wWbTyf5xih4yiCTfAzqDlASatV+0dI+UVKFBIsEI="

Use

Start the relay
Start a server
Use a client to access a server through the relay

From the source code directory:

cargo run --bin ptth_relay
cargo run --bin ptth_server
firefox http://127.0.0.1:4000/servers/my_server/files/

If you only have pre-built binaries:

./ptth_relay
./ptth_server
firefox http://127.0.0.1:4000/servers/my_server/files/

To run the relay behind Nginx, these directives improve time-to-first-byte when streaming:

client_max_body_size 0;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_request_buffering off;
proxy_buffering off;

Glossary

(sorted alphabetically)

Backend API - The HTTP API that ptth_server uses to establish the tunnel. Noted in the code with the cookie "7ZSFUKGV".
Client - Any client that connects to ptth_relay in order to reach a destination server. Admins must terminate TLS between ptth_relay and all clients.
Frontend - The human-friendly, browser-friendly HTTP+HTML interface that ptth_relay serves directly or relays from ptth_server. This interface has no auth by default. Admins must provide their own auth in front of ptth_relay. OAuth2 is recommended.
ptth_file_server - A standalone file server. It uses the same code as ptth_server, so production environments don't need it.
ptth_relay or Relay server - The ptth_relay app. This must run on a server that can accept incoming HTTP connections.
ptth_server or Destination server - The ptth_server app. This should run behind a firewall. It will connect out to the relay and accept incoming connections through the PTTH tunnel.
Scraper API - An optional HTTP API for scraper clients to access ptth_relay and the destination servers using machine-friendly auth.
Tripcode - The base64 hash of a server's private API key. When adding a new server, the tripcode must be copied to ptth_relay.toml on the relay server.
Tunnel - The reverse HTTP tunnel between ptth_relay and ptth_server. ptth_server connects out to ptth_relay, then ptth_relay forwards incoming connections to ptth_server through the tunnel.

Comparison with normal HTTP

Normal HTTP:

Client       Server

       H1
  O ---------> O
               | H2
  O <--------- O
          H3

The client connects to the server and sends a request
The server accepts the connection and processes the request
The server responds with a response

We'll call these steps "H1", "H2", and "H3" in the next section.

PTTH:

Client    Relay    Server

                P1
            O <----- O
    P2/H1   |
  O ------> O
            |   P3
            O -----> O
                     | P4/H2
            O <----- O
            |   P5
  O <------ O
      P6/H3 |   P7
            O -----> O

We'll call these steps "P1" through "P7".

The server makes a "listen" request to the relay, punching out through the server's firewall. The server and relay are now in a long-polling state with each other, waiting for a client to make a request.
A client makes a request to the relay. (P2 == H1)
The relay packages the request and sends it as a response to the server, completing the server's request in P1. The client and relay are now in a long-polling state, waiting for the server to respond.
The server processes the request. (P4 == H2)
The server packages its response in another request to the relay.
The relay unwraps the request and forwards it to the client. (P6 == H3)
When the full response body has been streamed through the relay and to the client, the relay will respond to the server.

Every step of the normal HTTP process is inverted for the server:

It must stay connected to the relay even when nothing is happening
A request arrives packaged in a response
A response is sent out packaged as a request

There are twice as many steps, and the per-connection and per-request overhead is probably high. But once the connections are established, the only overhead is that of using a relay, which is similar to many other file transfer or remote desktop software.

Comparison with similar software

PTTH is very similar to PageKite. PTTH's relay is equivalent to PageKite's front-end server, and PTTH's server is equivalent to (I think) PageKite's backend.

WireGuard can also pierce firewalls, but it requires root permissions, and the client must be a WireGuard node. PTTH allows any normal HTTP client such as curl, Firefox, etc.

Module overview

+------------+       +-------------+       +------------------+
| ptth_relay |       | ptth_server |       | ptth_file_server |
+------------+       +-------------+       +------------------+
            |         |           |          |
             \       /             \        /
              V     V               V      V
           +------------+       +-------------+
           | http_serde |       | file_server |
           +------------+       +-------------+

The top-level binaries are ptth_relay, ptth_server, and ptth_file_server.

ptth_relay should run on a well-known public server, behind an HTTPS proxy such as Caddy, Nginx, or Apache.

ptth_file_server is a standalone HTTP file server, similar to Python2's -m SimpleHTTPServer command, or Python3's -m http.server.

ptth_server and ptth_file_server use the file_server module. ptth_server will connect out to a ptth_relay instance and serve files through the reverse HTTP tunnel.

The http_serde module is shared by ptth_relay and ptth_server so that they can communicate with each other easily.

Why are GitHub issues disabled?

Because they are not part of Git.

For now, either email me (if you know me personally) or make a pull request to add an item to todo.md.

License

PTTH is licensed under the GNU AGPLv3

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