README

                     -------------------------------
                         spoa-mirror for HAProxy
                     -------------------------------


Summary
------------------------------------------------------------------------

  1. Introduction
  2. Build instructions
  3. Use of the program
  4. Known bugs and limitations


1. Introduction
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Replicating (mirroring) HTTP requests using the HAProxy SPOP, i.e. Stream
Processing Offload Protocol.

This is a very simple program that can be used to replicate HTTP requests
via the SPOP protocol.  All requests are replicated to the web address (URL)
selected when running the program.

The program originated from a test program located in the contrib/spoa_example
directory.  spoa.c is an original program that comes with HAProxy source.

The program uses the libev event library, as opposed to the original program
that uses the libevent library.


2. Build instructions
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prerequisites for configuring and compiling the program:

  * GNU autoconf
    https://www.gnu.org/software/autoconf/

  * GNU automake
    https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/

  * POSIX threads library

  * cURL library
    https://curl.haxx.se/

  * libev library
    http://software.schmorp.de/pkg/libev.html


Creating the build subsystem (configure script):

  % ./scripts/bootstrap


Configuring the program:

  % ./configure

The program can be configured with debugging features enabled, but it is
not recommended for actual use:

  % ./configure --enable-debug

To configure the program, the system must have installed development packages
for cURL and libev, which will be selected automatically when running the
configure script.


Compiling the program:

  % make all

After that, in the directory src will be located spoa-mirror program.


3. Use of the program
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The options supported by the program can be found using the '-h' option:

  % ./src/spoa-mirror -h

--- help output -------
Usage: spoa-mirror { -h --help }
       spoa-mirror { -V --version }
       spoa-mirror { -r --runtime=TIME } [OPTION]...

Options are:
  -a, --address=NAME              Specify the address to listen on (default: "0.0.0.0").
  -B, --libev-backend=TYPE        Specify the libev backend type (default: AUTO).
  -b, --connection-backlog=VALUE  Specify the connection backlog size (default: 10).
  -c, --capability=NAME           Enable the support of the specified capability.
  -D, --daemonize                 Run this program as a daemon.
  -F, --pidfile=FILE              Specifies a file to write the process-id to.
  -h, --help                      Show this text.
  -i, --monitor-interval=TIME     Set the monitor interval (default: 5.00s).
  -l, --logfile=[MODE:]FILE       Log all messages to logfile (default: stdout/stderr).
  -m, --max-frame-size=VALUE      Specify the maximum frame size (default: 16384 bytes).
  -n, --num-workers=VALUE         Specify the number of workers (default: 10).
  -p, --port=VALUE                Specify the port to listen on (default: 12345).
  -r, --runtime=TIME              Run this program for the specified time (0 = unlimited).
  -t, --processing-delay=TIME     Set a delay to process a message (default: 0).
  -u, --mirror-url=URL            Specify the URL for the HTTP mirroring.
  -I, --mirror-interface=NAME     Specify the interface/address for outgoing connections.
  -P, --mirror-local-port=VALUE   Specify the local port range for outgoing connections.
  -V, --version                   Show program version.

Supported libev backends: select, poll, epoll, linuxaio.

Supported capabilities: fragmentation, pipelining, async.

Allowed logging file opening modes: a, w.  The 'a' mode allows openning or
creating file for writing at end-of-file.  The 'w' mode allows truncating
the file to zero length or creating a new file.  If a capital letter is used
for the mode, then line buffering is used when writing to the log file.

The time delay/interval is specified in milliseconds by default, but can be
in any other unit if the number is suffixed by a unit (us, ms, s, m, h, d).

Copyright 2018-2020 HAProxy Technologies
SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
--- help output -------


The program simultaneously supports short and long format options.


The test directory contains the configuration files for HAProxy (haproxy.cfg)
and SPOE (spoe.cfg).  ssl-cert.pem is a certificate intended for testing if we
want to use HTTPS HAProxy frontend.

During the normal work of the program, should be placed under the comment the
following lines in the spoe.cfg:

--- spoe.cfg ----------
  messages check-client-ip
  messages test
--- spoe.cfg ----------

These two rows can be used when debugging the program, especially if it is
configured with the option --enable-debug .


First, the spoa-mirror program should be launched by referring to the URL to
which the HTTP request will be copied.  In the example below, URL is set to
http://localhost:8100/ .

  % ./src/spoa-mirror -r0 -u"http://localhost:8100/"

'-r' is the option that must be specified when launching a program.  It is
used to prevent the program from starting unnecessarily when testing the
program options, or printing the program help.  In addition, with this option,
the program runtime is set.  If the time is set to 0, the program runtime is
unlimited.


After that, the HAProxy should be started (as the root user), using haproxy.cfg
configuration file:

  # /path-to/haproxy -f haproxy.cfg


Note related to SPOE configuration: in the 'spoe-message' section (in the
given example, this section is called 'mirror') the 'args' keyword must always
(and only) contain the following arguments (after the sign '=' there is a
permitted argument type):

  arg_method=STR arg_path=STR arg_ver=STR arg_hdrs=(BIN|STR) arg_body=BIN

'arg_hdrs' can have a binary (req.hdrs_bin) or string (req.hdrs) data type
argument specified.  In case we want to make some changes in the HTTP headers
that are sent to the mirror URL, then we will use the string data type for
that argument to which we can add the regsub() converter, as in the example:

  .. arg_hdrs=req.hdrs,regsub(foo,bar)


4. Known bugs and limitations
------------------------------------------------------------------------

HAProxy should be used in SSL termination mode if HTTPS is used in the HAProxy
frontend part.

HTTP methods that certainly work are GET, HEAD, POST and PUT.  Other methods
can be added if necessary.  In order for the HTTP PUT method to work properly,
it is necessary to add the 'option http-buffer-request' to the HAProxy
configuration, because otherwise the contents of the HTTP body will not be
transferred.