HTTP Tunnel¶

HTTP is the most widely used data exchange protocol on the Internet. With the development of the Internet, the protocol has undergone several major version upgrades, from the original HTTP/1 to HTTP/2, and then to the current QUIC-based protocol HTTP/3.

The original HTTP protocol is a request-response interaction method. The client initiates the request actively, and the server sends the processing result back to the client after receiving the request. This method cannot maintain a long connection between the client and the server, so it is difficult to achieve two-way real-time data transmission. In order to realize full-duplex communication, the HTTP protocol has been extended in various ways, such as adding CONNECT method, Websocket extension protocol, HTTP/2 server push and HTTP/3 WebTransport. GOST already supports most of the above functions.

Note

The CONNECT method is used to establish a proxy connection for HTTP. Strictly speaking, it cannot be called a tunnel. However, its essence is to establish a long connection that can communicate in both directions, so it is uniformly regarded as a tunnel here.

HTTP CONNECT MEthod¶

Server

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http://user:pass@:8080

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8080"
  handler:
    type: http
    auth:
      username: user
      password: pass
  listener:
    type: tcp

The above is a simplest HTTP proxy service with authentication function.

Client

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http://:8000 -F http://user:pass@:8080

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8000"
  handler:
    type: http
    chain: chain-0
  listener:
    type: tcp
chains:
- name: chain-0
  hops:
  - name: hop-0
    nodes:
    - name: node-0
      addr: :8080
      connector:
        type: http
        auth:
          username: user
          password: pass
      dialer:
        type: tcp

The client itself is also an HTTP proxy service and forwards the request to the up-stream HTTP proxy service through the forwarding chain.

Plain HTTP Tunnel(pht)¶

The CONNECT method is not supported by all services. In order to be as general as possible, GOST uses the GET and POST methods in the original HTTP protocol to implement data tunnel, including encrypted phts and plaintext pht modes.

Server

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L relay+pht://:8080?authorizePath=/authorize&pushPath=/push&pullPath=/pull

or

gost -L relay+phts://:8080

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8080"
  handler:
    type: relay
  listener:
    type: pht
    # type: phts
    metadata:
      authorizePath: /authorize
      pullPath: /pull
      pushPath: /push

Client

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http://:8000 -F relay+pht://:8080?authorizePath=/authorize&pushPath=/push&pullPath=/pull

or

gost -L http://:8000 -F relay+phts://:8080

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8000"
  handler:
    type: http
    chain: chain-0
  listener:
    type: tcp
chains:
- name: chain-0
  hops:
  - name: hop-0
    nodes:
    - name: node-0
      addr: :8080
      connector:
        type: relay
      dialer:
        type: pht
        # type: phts
        metadata:
          authorizePath: /authorize
          pullPath: /pull
          pushPath: /push

Websocket¶

Websocket is an extension protocol added in HTTP/1 for establishing long connections.

Server

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L socks5+ws://user:pass@:1080

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":1080"
  handler:
    type: socks5
    auth:
      username: user
      password: pass
  listener:
    type: ws

Client

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http://:8000 -F socks5+ws://user:pass@:1080

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8000"
  handler:
    type: http
    chain: chain-0
  listener:
    type: tcp
chains:
- name: chain-0
  hops:
  - name: hop-0
    nodes:
    - name: node-0
      addr: :1080
      connector:
        type: socks5
        auth:
          username: user
          password: pass
      dialer:
        type: ws

Caution

The authentication information here is set for SOCKS5 proxy, and websocket currently does not support authentication settings.

HTTP/2¶

There are two ways to use HTTP/2 in GOST, proxy mode and tunnel mode.

HTTP/2 CONNECT Method¶

HTTP/2 implements proxy mode using the same CONNECT method as HTTP.

Server

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http2://user:pass@:8443

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8443"
  handler:
    type: http2
    auth:
      username: user
      password: pass
  listener:
    type: http2

Client

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http://:8000 -F http2://user:pass@:8443

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8000"
  handler:
    type: http
    chain: chain-0
  listener:
    type: tcp
chains:
- name: chain-0
  hops:
  - name: hop-0
    nodes:
    - name: node-0
      addr: :8443
      connector:
        type: http2
        auth:
          username: user
          password: pass
      dialer:
        type: http2

HTTP/2 Tunnel¶

HTTP/2 can use encrypted (h2) and plaintext (h2c) modes as a tunnel.

Server

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L socks5+h2://user:pass@:8443

or

gost -L socks5+h2c://user:pass@:8443

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8443"
  handler:
    type: socks5
    auth:
      username: user
      password: pass
  listener:
    type: h2
    # type: h2c

Client

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http://:8000 -F socks5+h2://user:pass@:8443

or

gost -L http://:8000 -F socks5+h2c://user:pass@:8443

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8000"
  handler:
    type: http
    chain: chain-0
  listener:
    type: tcp
chains:
- name: chain-0
  hops:
  - name: hop-0
    nodes:
    - name: node-0
      addr: :8443
      connector:
        type: socks5
        auth:
          username: user
          password: pass
      dialer:
        type: h2
        # type: h2c

Server Push

GOST does not support the server push function of HTTP/2.

gRPC¶

gRPC is based on HTTP/2, so it has the inherent advantages of HTTP/2 itself. In addition, gRPC naturally supports bidirectional streaming, so it is very suitable as a tunnel.

Server

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L relay+grpc://user:pass@:8443

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8443"
  handler:
    type: relay 
    auth:
      username: user
      password: pass
  listener:
    type: grpc

Client

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http://:8000 -F relay+grpc://user:pass@:8443

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8000"
  handler:
    type: http
    chain: chain-0
  listener:
    type: tcp
chains:
- name: chain-0
  hops:
  - name: hop-0
    nodes:
    - name: node-0
      addr: :8443
      connector:
        type: relay
        auth:
          username: user
          password: pass
      dialer:
        type: grpc

gRPC uses TLS encryption by default and can communicate in clear text by setting the grpcInsecure parameter.

Server

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L relay+grpc://user:pass@:8443?grpcInsecure=true

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8443"
  handler:
    type: relay 
    auth:
      username: user
      password: pass
  listener:
    type: grpc
    metadata:
      grpcInsecure: true

Client

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http://:8000 -F relay+grpc://user:pass@:8443?grpcInsecure=true

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8000"
  handler:
    type: http
    chain: chain-0
  listener:
    type: tcp
chains:
- name: chain-0
  hops:
  - name: hop-0
    nodes:
    - name: node-0
      addr: :8443
      connector:
        type: relay
        auth:
          username: user
          password: pass
      dialer:
        type: grpc
        metadata:
          grpcInsecure: true

HTTP/3¶

The HTTP/3 protocol supports the CONNECT method and the WebTransport method to establish a tunnel.

GOST currently does not support the above two methods, but establishes a tunnel by using pht on top of HTTP/3

WebTransport

WebTransport is currently in the early draft stage, and GOST will add support for it when the time is right.

Server

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L h3://:8443?authorizePath=/authorize&pushPath=/push&pullPath=/pull

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8443"
  handler:
    type: auto
  listener:
    type: h3
    metadata:
      authorizePath: /authorize
      pullPath: /pull
      pushPath: /push

Client

CLIFile (YAML)

gost -L http://:8000 -F h3://:8443?authorizePath=/authorize&pushPath=/push&pullPath=/pull

services:
- name: service-0
  addr: ":8000"
  handler:
    type: http
    chain: chain-0
  listener:
    type: tcp
chains:
- name: chain-0
  hops:
  - name: hop-0
    nodes:
    - name: node-0
      addr: :8443
      connector:
        type: http
      dialer:
        type: h3
        metadata:
          authorizePath: /authorize
          pullPath: /pull
          pushPath: /push

HTTP Tunnel¶

HTTP CONNECT MEthod¶

Plain HTTP Tunnel(pht)¶

Websocket¶

HTTP/2¶

HTTP/2 CONNECT Method¶

HTTP/2 Tunnel¶

gRPC¶

HTTP/3¶

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