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+Tutorial: HTTP/2 client
+=========================
+
+In this tutorial, we are going to write a very primitive HTTP/2
+client. The complete source code, `libevent-client.c`_, is attached at
+the end of this page. It also resides in the examples directory in
+the archive or repository.
+
+This simple client takes a single HTTPS URI and retrieves the resource
+at the URI. The synopsis is:
+
+.. code-block:: text
+
+ $ libevent-client HTTPS_URI
+
+We use libevent in this tutorial to handle networking I/O. Please
+note that nghttp2 itself does not depend on libevent.
+
+The client starts with some libevent and OpenSSL setup in the
+``main()`` and ``run()`` functions. This setup isn't specific to
+nghttp2, but one thing you should look at is setup of ALPN. Client
+tells application protocols that it supports to server via ALPN::
+
+ static SSL_CTX *create_ssl_ctx(void) {
+ SSL_CTX *ssl_ctx;
+ ssl_ctx = SSL_CTX_new(SSLv23_client_method());
+ if (!ssl_ctx) {
+ errx(1, "Could not create SSL/TLS context: %s",
+ ERR_error_string(ERR_get_error(), NULL));
+ }
+ SSL_CTX_set_options(ssl_ctx,
+ SSL_OP_ALL | SSL_OP_NO_SSLv2 | SSL_OP_NO_SSLv3 |
+ SSL_OP_NO_COMPRESSION |
+ SSL_OP_NO_SESSION_RESUMPTION_ON_RENEGOTIATION);
+
+ SSL_CTX_set_alpn_protos(ssl_ctx, (const unsigned char *)"\x02h2", 3);
+
+ return ssl_ctx;
+ }
+
+Here we see ``SSL_CTX_get_alpn_protos()`` function call. We instructs
+OpenSSL to notify the server that we support h2, ALPN identifier for
+HTTP/2.
+
+The example client defines a couple of structs:
+
+We define and use a ``http2_session_data`` structure to store data
+related to the HTTP/2 session::
+
+ typedef struct {
+ nghttp2_session *session;
+ struct evdns_base *dnsbase;
+ struct bufferevent *bev;
+ http2_stream_data *stream_data;
+ } http2_session_data;
+
+Since this program only handles one URI, it uses only one stream. We
+store the single stream's data in a ``http2_stream_data`` structure
+and the ``stream_data`` points to it. The ``http2_stream_data``
+structure is defined as follows::
+
+ typedef struct {
+ /* The NULL-terminated URI string to retrieve. */
+ const char *uri;
+ /* Parsed result of the |uri| */
+ struct http_parser_url *u;
+ /* The authority portion of the |uri|, not NULL-terminated */
+ char *authority;
+ /* The path portion of the |uri|, including query, not
+ NULL-terminated */
+ char *path;
+ /* The length of the |authority| */
+ size_t authoritylen;
+ /* The length of the |path| */
+ size_t pathlen;
+ /* The stream ID of this stream */
+ int32_t stream_id;
+ } http2_stream_data;
+
+We create and initialize these structures in
+``create_http2_session_data()`` and ``create_http2_stream_data()``
+respectively.
+
+``initiate_connection()`` is called to start the connection to the
+remote server. It's defined as::
+
+ static void initiate_connection(struct event_base *evbase, SSL_CTX *ssl_ctx,
+ const char *host, uint16_t port,
+ http2_session_data *session_data) {
+ int rv;
+ struct bufferevent *bev;
+ SSL *ssl;
+
+ ssl = create_ssl(ssl_ctx);
+ bev = bufferevent_openssl_socket_new(
+ evbase, -1, ssl, BUFFEREVENT_SSL_CONNECTING,
+ BEV_OPT_DEFER_CALLBACKS | BEV_OPT_CLOSE_ON_FREE);
+ bufferevent_enable(bev, EV_READ | EV_WRITE);
+ bufferevent_setcb(bev, readcb, writecb, eventcb, session_data);
+ rv = bufferevent_socket_connect_hostname(bev, session_data->dnsbase,
+ AF_UNSPEC, host, port);
+
+ if (rv != 0) {
+ errx(1, "Could not connect to the remote host %s", host);
+ }
+ session_data->bev = bev;
+ }
+
+``initiate_connection()`` creates a bufferevent for the connection and
+sets up three callbacks: ``readcb``, ``writecb``, and ``eventcb``.
+
+The ``eventcb()`` is invoked by the libevent event loop when an event
+(e.g. connection has been established, timeout, etc.) occurs on the
+underlying network socket::
+
+ static void eventcb(struct bufferevent *bev, short events, void *ptr) {
+ http2_session_data *session_data = (http2_session_data *)ptr;
+ if (events & BEV_EVENT_CONNECTED) {
+ int fd = bufferevent_getfd(bev);
+ int val = 1;
+ const unsigned char *alpn = NULL;
+ unsigned int alpnlen = 0;
+ SSL *ssl;
+
+ fprintf(stderr, "Connected\n");
+
+ ssl = bufferevent_openssl_get_ssl(session_data->bev);
+
+ SSL_get0_alpn_selected(ssl, &alpn, &alpnlen);
+
+ if (alpn == NULL || alpnlen != 2 || memcmp("h2", alpn, 2) != 0) {
+ fprintf(stderr, "h2 is not negotiated\n");
+ delete_http2_session_data(session_data);
+ return;
+ }
+
+ setsockopt(fd, IPPROTO_TCP, TCP_NODELAY, (char *)&val, sizeof(val));
+ initialize_nghttp2_session(session_data);
+ send_client_connection_header(session_data);
+ submit_request(session_data);
+ if (session_send(session_data) != 0) {
+ delete_http2_session_data(session_data);
+ }
+ return;
+ }
+ if (events & BEV_EVENT_EOF) {
+ warnx("Disconnected from the remote host");
+ } else if (events & BEV_EVENT_ERROR) {
+ warnx("Network error");
+ } else if (events & BEV_EVENT_TIMEOUT) {
+ warnx("Timeout");
+ }
+ delete_http2_session_data(session_data);
+ }
+
+Here we validate that HTTP/2 is negotiated, and if not, drop
+connection.
+
+For ``BEV_EVENT_EOF``, ``BEV_EVENT_ERROR``, and ``BEV_EVENT_TIMEOUT``
+events, we just simply tear down the connection.
+
+The ``BEV_EVENT_CONNECTED`` event is invoked when the SSL/TLS
+handshake has completed successfully. After this we're ready to begin
+communicating via HTTP/2.
+
+The ``initialize_nghttp2_session()`` function initializes the nghttp2
+session object and several callbacks::
+
+ static void initialize_nghttp2_session(http2_session_data *session_data) {
+ nghttp2_session_callbacks *callbacks;
+
+ nghttp2_session_callbacks_new(&callbacks);
+
+ nghttp2_session_callbacks_set_send_callback(callbacks, send_callback);
+
+ nghttp2_session_callbacks_set_on_frame_recv_callback(callbacks,
+ on_frame_recv_callback);
+
+ nghttp2_session_callbacks_set_on_data_chunk_recv_callback(
+ callbacks, on_data_chunk_recv_callback);
+
+ nghttp2_session_callbacks_set_on_stream_close_callback(
+ callbacks, on_stream_close_callback);
+
+ nghttp2_session_callbacks_set_on_header_callback(callbacks,
+ on_header_callback);
+
+ nghttp2_session_callbacks_set_on_begin_headers_callback(
+ callbacks, on_begin_headers_callback);
+
+ nghttp2_session_client_new(&session_data->session, callbacks, session_data);
+
+ nghttp2_session_callbacks_del(callbacks);
+ }
+
+Since we are creating a client, we use `nghttp2_session_client_new()`
+to initialize the nghttp2 session object. The callbacks setup are
+explained later.
+
+The `delete_http2_session_data()` function destroys ``session_data``
+and frees its bufferevent, so the underlying connection is closed. It
+also calls `nghttp2_session_del()` to delete the nghttp2 session
+object.
+
+A HTTP/2 connection begins by sending the client connection preface,
+which is a 24 byte magic byte string (:macro:`NGHTTP2_CLIENT_MAGIC`),
+followed by a SETTINGS frame. The 24 byte magic string is sent
+automatically by nghttp2. We send the SETTINGS frame in
+``send_client_connection_header()``::
+
+ static void send_client_connection_header(http2_session_data *session_data) {
+ nghttp2_settings_entry iv[1] = {
+ {NGHTTP2_SETTINGS_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS, 100}};
+ int rv;
+
+ /* client 24 bytes magic string will be sent by nghttp2 library */
+ rv = nghttp2_submit_settings(session_data->session, NGHTTP2_FLAG_NONE, iv,
+ ARRLEN(iv));
+ if (rv != 0) {
+ errx(1, "Could not submit SETTINGS: %s", nghttp2_strerror(rv));
+ }
+ }
+
+Here we specify SETTINGS_MAX_CONCURRENT_STREAMS as 100. This is not
+needed for this tiny example program, it just demonstrates use of the
+SETTINGS frame. To queue the SETTINGS frame for transmission, we call
+`nghttp2_submit_settings()`. Note that `nghttp2_submit_settings()`
+only queues the frame for transmission, and doesn't actually send it.
+All ``nghttp2_submit_*()`` family functions have this property. To
+actually send the frame, `nghttp2_session_send()` has to be called,
+which is described (and called) later.
+
+After the transmission of the client connection header, we enqueue the
+HTTP request in the ``submit_request()`` function::
+
+ static void submit_request(http2_session_data *session_data) {
+ int32_t stream_id;
+ http2_stream_data *stream_data = session_data->stream_data;
+ const char *uri = stream_data->uri;
+ const struct http_parser_url *u = stream_data->u;
+ nghttp2_nv hdrs[] = {
+ MAKE_NV2(":method", "GET"),
+ MAKE_NV(":scheme", &uri[u->field_data[UF_SCHEMA].off],
+ u->field_data[UF_SCHEMA].len),
+ MAKE_NV(":authority", stream_data->authority, stream_data->authoritylen),
+ MAKE_NV(":path", stream_data->path, stream_data->pathlen)};
+ fprintf(stderr, "Request headers:\n");
+ print_headers(stderr, hdrs, ARRLEN(hdrs));
+ stream_id = nghttp2_submit_request(session_data->session, NULL, hdrs,
+ ARRLEN(hdrs), NULL, stream_data);
+ if (stream_id < 0) {
+ errx(1, "Could not submit HTTP request: %s", nghttp2_strerror(stream_id));
+ }
+
+ stream_data->stream_id = stream_id;
+ }
+
+We build the HTTP request header fields in ``hdrs``, which is an array
+of :type:`nghttp2_nv`. There are four header fields to be sent:
+``:method``, ``:scheme``, ``:authority``, and ``:path``. To queue the
+HTTP request, we call `nghttp2_submit_request()`. The ``stream_data``
+is passed via the *stream_user_data* parameter, which is helpfully
+later passed back to callback functions.
+
+`nghttp2_submit_request()` returns the newly assigned stream ID for
+the request.
+
+The next bufferevent callback is ``readcb()``, which is invoked when
+data is available to read from the bufferevent input buffer::
+
+ static void readcb(struct bufferevent *bev, void *ptr) {
+ http2_session_data *session_data = (http2_session_data *)ptr;
+ ssize_t readlen;
+ struct evbuffer *input = bufferevent_get_input(bev);
+ size_t datalen = evbuffer_get_length(input);
+ unsigned char *data = evbuffer_pullup(input, -1);
+
+ readlen = nghttp2_session_mem_recv(session_data->session, data, datalen);
+ if (readlen < 0) {
+ warnx("Fatal error: %s", nghttp2_strerror((int)readlen));
+ delete_http2_session_data(session_data);
+ return;
+ }
+ if (evbuffer_drain(input, (size_t)readlen) != 0) {
+ warnx("Fatal error: evbuffer_drain failed");
+ delete_http2_session_data(session_data);
+ return;
+ }
+ if (session_send(session_data) != 0) {
+ delete_http2_session_data(session_data);
+ return;
+ }
+ }
+
+In this function we feed all unprocessed, received data to the nghttp2
+session object using the `nghttp2_session_mem_recv()` function.
+`nghttp2_session_mem_recv()` processes the received data and may
+invoke nghttp2 callbacks and queue frames for transmission. Since
+there may be pending frames for transmission, we call immediately
+``session_send()`` to send them. ``session_send()`` is defined as
+follows::
+
+ static int session_send(http2_session_data *session_data) {
+ int rv;
+
+ rv = nghttp2_session_send(session_data->session);
+ if (rv != 0) {
+ warnx("Fatal error: %s", nghttp2_strerror(rv));
+ return -1;
+ }
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+The `nghttp2_session_send()` function serializes pending frames into
+wire format and calls the ``send_callback()`` function to send them.
+``send_callback()`` has type :type:`nghttp2_send_callback` and is
+defined as::
+
+ static ssize_t send_callback(nghttp2_session *session _U_, const uint8_t *data,
+ size_t length, int flags _U_, void *user_data) {
+ http2_session_data *session_data = (http2_session_data *)user_data;
+ struct bufferevent *bev = session_data->bev;
+ bufferevent_write(bev, data, length);
+ return (ssize_t)length;
+ }
+
+Since we use bufferevent to abstract network I/O, we just write the
+data to the bufferevent object. Note that `nghttp2_session_send()`
+continues to write all frames queued so far. If we were writing the
+data to the non-blocking socket directly using the ``write()`` system
+call, we'd soon receive an ``EAGAIN`` or ``EWOULDBLOCK`` error, since
+sockets have a limited send buffer. If that happens, it's possible to
+return :macro:`NGHTTP2_ERR_WOULDBLOCK` to signal the nghttp2 library
+to stop sending further data. When writing to a bufferevent, you
+should regulate the amount of data written, to avoid possible huge
+memory consumption. In this example client however we don't implement
+a limit. To see how to regulate the amount of buffered data, see the
+``send_callback()`` in the server tutorial.
+
+The third bufferevent callback is ``writecb()``, which is invoked when
+all data written in the bufferevent output buffer has been sent::
+
+ static void writecb(struct bufferevent *bev _U_, void *ptr) {
+ http2_session_data *session_data = (http2_session_data *)ptr;
+ if (nghttp2_session_want_read(session_data->session) == 0 &&
+ nghttp2_session_want_write(session_data->session) == 0 &&
+ evbuffer_get_length(bufferevent_get_output(session_data->bev)) == 0) {
+ delete_http2_session_data(session_data);
+ }
+ }
+
+As described earlier, we just write off all data in `send_callback()`,
+so there is no data to write in this function. All we have to do is
+check if the connection should be dropped or not. The nghttp2 session
+object keeps track of reception and transmission of GOAWAY frames and
+other error conditions. Using this information, the nghttp2 session
+object can state whether the connection should be dropped or not.
+More specifically, when both `nghttp2_session_want_read()` and
+`nghttp2_session_want_write()` return 0, the connection is no-longer
+required and can be closed. Since we're using bufferevent and its
+deferred callback option, the bufferevent output buffer may still
+contain pending data when the ``writecb()`` is called. To handle this
+situation, we also check whether the output buffer is empty or not. If
+all of these conditions are met, then we drop the connection.
+
+Now let's look at the remaining nghttp2 callbacks setup in the
+``initialize_nghttp2_setup()`` function.
+
+A server responds to the request by first sending a HEADERS frame.
+The HEADERS frame consists of response header name/value pairs, and
+the ``on_header_callback()`` is called for each name/value pair::
+
+ static int on_header_callback(nghttp2_session *session _U_,
+ const nghttp2_frame *frame, const uint8_t *name,
+ size_t namelen, const uint8_t *value,
+ size_t valuelen, uint8_t flags _U_,
+ void *user_data) {
+ http2_session_data *session_data = (http2_session_data *)user_data;
+ switch (frame->hd.type) {
+ case NGHTTP2_HEADERS:
+ if (frame->headers.cat == NGHTTP2_HCAT_RESPONSE &&
+ session_data->stream_data->stream_id == frame->hd.stream_id) {
+ /* Print response headers for the initiated request. */
+ print_header(stderr, name, namelen, value, valuelen);
+ break;
+ }
+ }
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+In this tutorial, we just print the name/value pairs on stderr.
+
+After the HEADERS frame has been fully received (and thus all response
+header name/value pairs have been received), the
+``on_frame_recv_callback()`` function is called::
+
+ static int on_frame_recv_callback(nghttp2_session *session _U_,
+ const nghttp2_frame *frame, void *user_data) {
+ http2_session_data *session_data = (http2_session_data *)user_data;
+ switch (frame->hd.type) {
+ case NGHTTP2_HEADERS:
+ if (frame->headers.cat == NGHTTP2_HCAT_RESPONSE &&
+ session_data->stream_data->stream_id == frame->hd.stream_id) {
+ fprintf(stderr, "All headers received\n");
+ }
+ break;
+ }
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+``on_frame_recv_callback()`` is called for other frame types too.
+
+In this tutorial, we are just interested in the HTTP response HEADERS
+frame. We check the frame type and its category (it should be
+:macro:`NGHTTP2_HCAT_RESPONSE` for HTTP response HEADERS). We also
+check its stream ID.
+
+Next, zero or more DATA frames can be received. The
+``on_data_chunk_recv_callback()`` function is invoked when a chunk of
+data is received from the remote peer::
+
+ static int on_data_chunk_recv_callback(nghttp2_session *session _U_,
+ uint8_t flags _U_, int32_t stream_id,
+ const uint8_t *data, size_t len,
+ void *user_data) {
+ http2_session_data *session_data = (http2_session_data *)user_data;
+ if (session_data->stream_data->stream_id == stream_id) {
+ fwrite(data, len, 1, stdout);
+ }
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+In our case, a chunk of data is HTTP response body. After checking the
+stream ID, we just write the received data to stdout. Note the output
+in the terminal may be corrupted if the response body contains some
+binary data.
+
+The ``on_stream_close_callback()`` function is invoked when the stream
+is about to close::
+
+ static int on_stream_close_callback(nghttp2_session *session, int32_t stream_id,
+ nghttp2_error_code error_code,
+ void *user_data) {
+ http2_session_data *session_data = (http2_session_data *)user_data;
+ int rv;
+
+ if (session_data->stream_data->stream_id == stream_id) {
+ fprintf(stderr, "Stream %d closed with error_code=%d\n", stream_id,
+ error_code);
+ rv = nghttp2_session_terminate_session(session, NGHTTP2_NO_ERROR);
+ if (rv != 0) {
+ return NGHTTP2_ERR_CALLBACK_FAILURE;
+ }
+ }
+ return 0;
+ }
+
+If the stream ID matches the one we initiated, it means that its
+stream is going to be closed. Since we have finished receiving
+resource we wanted (or the stream was reset by RST_STREAM from the
+remote peer), we call `nghttp2_session_terminate_session()` to
+commence closure of the HTTP/2 session gracefully. If you have
+some data associated for the stream to be closed, you may delete it
+here.