stream-connector

Transfers data between sockets and pipes.

• Usage
• Options
• Examples
• Build
• License

Usage

Executes with listener and connector options (see below). When the program starts, the icon will be appear on the taskbar. The status window will be shown when double-clicking the taskbar icon.

To exit, use 'Exit' command on the context menu of the taskbar icon.

Options

--listener (-l) and --connector (-c) are required. If specified options are not valid, the usage dialog will be shown.

Usage: stream-connector.exe <options>

<options>:
  -h, -?, --help : Show this help
  -l <listener>, --listener <listener> : [Required] Add listener (can be specified more than one)
  -c <connector>, --connector <connector> : [Required] Set connector
  -n <name>, --name <name> : User-defined name
  --log <level> : Set log level
    <level>: error, info, debug (default: error)
  --wsl-socat-log-level <level> : Set log level for WSL socat
    <level>: 0 (nothing), 1 (-d), 2 (-dd), 3 (-ddd), 4 (-dddd) (default: 0)
  --wsl-timeout <millisec> : Set timeout for WSL preparing (default: 30000)

<listener>:
  tcp-socket [-4 | -6] [<address>:]<port> : TCP socket listener (port num. can be 0 for auto-assign)
    alias for 'tcp-socket': s, sock, socket, tcp
  unix-socket [--abstract] <file-path> : Unix socket listener (listener with the socket file)
    alias for 'unix-socket': u, unix
  cygwin-sockfile <win-file-path> : Listener with Cygwin-spec socket file
    alias for 'cygwin-sockfile': c
  pipe <pipe-name> : Named-pipe listener
    alias for 'pipe': p
  wsl-tcp-socket [-d <distribution>] [-4 | -6] [<address>:]<port> : TCP socket listener in WSL (port num. can be 0 for auto-assign)
    alias for 'wsl-tcp-socket': ws, wt
  wsl-unix-socket [-d <distribution>] <wsl-file-path> : Unix socket listener in WSL (listener with the socket file in WSL)
    alias for 'wsl-unix-socket': wu

<connector>:
  tcp-socket <address>:<port> : TCP socket connector (port num. cannot be 0)
  unix-socket [--abstract] <file-name> : Unix socket connector
  pipe <pipe-name> : Named-pipe connector
  wsl-tcp-socket [-d <distribution>] <address>:<port> : TCP socket connector in WSL (port num. cannot be 0)
  wsl-unix-socket [-d <distribution>] [--abstract] <wsl-file-path> : Unix socket connector in WSL

-h, -?, --help

Shows usage and exit.

-l <listener>, --listener <listener>

(Required option)

Specifies 'listener', the data source to transfer. The listener can be specified more than one; multiple listeners are allowed. The listeners are created when the program starts.

The followings are the listeners which can be specified as <listener>.

tcp-socket [-4 | -6] [<address>:]<port>

Alias for tcp-socket: s sock socket tcp

Creates TCP socket and listens with specified address and port.

• If -4 is specified, IPv4 is used.
• If -6 is specified, IPv6 is used.
• If -4 or -6 is not specified and <address> starts with [, IPv6 is used; otherwise IPv4 is used.

If <address> is omitted, 127.0.0.1 or [::1] is used.

unix-socket [--abstract] <file-path>

Alias for unix-socket: u unix

Creates Unix socket and listens with specified file. If --abstract (or -a) is specified, the socket is bound as 'abstract'.
The file specified in <file-path> must writable and not be exist. When program exits, the file will be removed.

Note: Unix socket doesn't work well for some Windows 10 version (at least Build 19042 is required)

cygwin-sockfile <file-name>

Alias for cygwin-sockfile: c

Creates 'Cygwin'-based Unix socket and listens with specified file. Unlike 'unix-socket', the file is created as a regular file which emulates Unix socket for Cygwin or MSYS2. When program exits, the file will be removed.

Note: This option does not require Cygwin or MSYS2 environments.

pipe <pipe-name>

Alias for pipe: p

Creates named pipe and waits for connected. The pipe name (<pipe-name>) must start with \\.\pipe\.

wsl-tcp-socket [--distribution <distro>] [-4 | -6] [<address>:]<port>

Alias for wsl-tcp-socket: ws wt

Not supported for x86 version.

Creates TCP socket and listens with specified address and port on WSL environment.

Note: socat must be installed on specified WSL environment. Also, WSL must be installed on Windows. :)

• --distribution <distro> (or -d <distro>) : Specifies existing distribution name to listen.
• If --distribution (or -d) is omitted, the default distribution is used.
• If -4 is specified, IPv4 (tcp4-listen) is used.
• If -6 is specified, IPv6 (tcp6-listen) is used.
• If -4 or -6 is not specified and <address> starts with [, IPv6 is used; otherwise IPv4 is used.

If <address> is omitted, 127.0.0.1 or [::1] is used.

wsl-unix-socket [--distribution <distro>] [<wsl-file-path>]

Alias for wsl-unix-socket: wu

Not supported for x86 version.

Creates Unix socket and listens with specified file on WSL environment.

Note: socat must be installed on specified WSL environment. Also, WSL must be installed on Windows. :)

• --distribution <distro> (or -d <distro>) : Specifies existing distribution name to listen.
• If --distribution (or -d) is omitted, the default distribution is used.
• The file path <wsl-file-path> must be the valid file path on the WSL environment. The file will be removed when the program exits.

-c <connector>, --connector <connector>

(Required option)

Specifies 'connector', the target to transfer. The connector is created when the listener(s) accepts; not when the program starts.

The followings are the connectors which can be specified as <connector>.

tcp-socket <address>:<port>

Alias for tcp-socket: s sock socket tcp

Creates TCP socket and connects with specified address and port.

unix-socket [--abstract] <file-path>

Alias for unix-socket: u unix

Creates Unix socket and connects with specified file. If --abstract (or -a) is specified, the socket is bound as 'abstract'.
The file specified in <file-path> must be accessible as a Unix socket.

Note: Unix socket doesn't work well for some Windows 10 version (at least Build 19042 is required)

pipe <pipe-name>

Alias for pipe: p

Opens named pipe. The pipe name (<pipe-name>) must start with \\.\pipe\.

wsl-tcp-socket [--distribution <distro>] <address>:<port>

Alias for wsl-tcp-socket: ws wt

Not supported for x86 version.

Creates TCP socket and connects with specified address and port on WSL environment.

• --distribution <distro> (or -d <distro>) : Specifies existing distribution name to listen.
• If --distribution (or -d) is omitted, the default distribution is used.

Note: socat must be installed on specified WSL environment. Also, WSL must be installed on Windows. :)

wsl-unix-socket [--distribution <distro>] [<wsl-file-path>]

Alias for wsl-unix-socket: wu

Not supported for x86 version.

Creates Unix socket and connects with specified file on WSL environment.

• --distribution <distro> (or -d <distro>) : Specifies existing distribution name to listen.
• If --distribution (or -d) is omitted, the default distribution is used.
• The file path <wsl-file-path> must be must be accessible as a Unix socket on the WSL environment.

Note: socat must be installed on specified WSL environment. Also, WSL must be installed on Windows. :)

-n <name>, --name <name>

Specifies any user-defined name. This name is used for the taskbar icon name and the window title, so you can use this option for distinguishing stream-connector programs executed with different options.

--log <level>

Specifies the log level (logged on the status window). Valid <level> values are: error (default; only logged for errors), info (a bit verbose), debug (more verbose)

--wsl-timeout <millisec>

Specifies the timeout value for preparing WSL processes (default: 30000)

--wsl-socat-log-level <level>

Alias: --wsl-socat-log

Specifies the log-level value for WSL socat. Following values are valid:

• 0 : Default logs (default)
• 1 : -d
• 2 : -dd
• 3 : -ddd
• 4 : -dddd

Note: -d, -dd, -ddd, and -dddd can be used as <level> value.

-x <proxy-id>, --proxy <proxy-id>

Used internally.

Examples

stream-connector -l tcp-socket 127.0.0.1:3001 -c tcp-socket my-host.mydomain:3001

Listens port 3001 (for 127.0.0.1) and transfers to my-host.mydomain:3001.

Note: To make simple port forwardings, use netsh interface portproxy rather than this program.

stream-connector -l wsl-tcp-socket 6000 -c tcp-socket localhost:6000

Listens port 6000 on WSL environment (using default distribution) and transfers to localhost:6000.

stream-connector -l cygwin-sockfile C:\Temp\my-agent.sock -l wsl-unix-socket -d Ubuntu-20.04 /tmp/my-agent.sock -c pipe \\.\pipe\openssh-ssh-agent

Creates my-agent.sock files both on C:\Temp (as Cygwin socket) and on /tmp of WSL Ubuntu-20.04 environment, and transfers received data to the pipe \\.\pipe\openssh-ssh-agent. This allows to forward SSH agent from Cygwin/MSYS2 based SSH clients and WSL SSH clients to Windows OpenSSH agent.

Build

Use Visual Studio 2019 or Build Tools (using MSBuild).

msbuild /p:Configuration=Debug,Platform=x64 stream-connector.vcxproj

License

BSD 3-Clause License