pojntfx / weron

Overlay networks based on WebRTC.
GNU Affero General Public License v3.0
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golang nat networking overlay-network p2p pion tuntap vpn webrtc
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weron

Overlay networks based on WebRTC.


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Overview

weron provides lean, fast & secure overlay networks based on WebRTC.

It enables you to:

Installation

Library

You can add weron to your Go project by running the following:

$ go get github.com/pojntfx/weron/...@latest

Containerized

You can get the OCI image like so:

$ podman pull ghcr.io/pojntfx/weron

Natively

Static binaries are available on GitHub releases.

On Linux, you can install them like so:

$ curl -L -o /tmp/weron "https://github.com/pojntfx/weron/releases/latest/download/weron.linux-$(uname -m)"
$ sudo install /tmp/weron /usr/local/bin
$ sudo setcap cap_net_admin+ep /usr/local/bin/weron # This allows rootless execution

On macOS, you can use the following:

$ curl -L -o /tmp/weron "https://github.com/pojntfx/weron/releases/latest/download/weron.darwin-$(uname -m)"
$ sudo install /tmp/weron /usr/local/bin

On Windows, the following should work (using PowerShell as administrator):

PS> Invoke-WebRequest https://github.com/pojntfx/weron/releases/latest/download/weron.windows-x86_64.exe -OutFile \Windows\System32\weron.exe

You can find binaries for more operating systems and architectures on GitHub releases.

Tutorial

TL;DR: Join a layer 3 (IP) overlay network on the hosted signaling server with sudo weron vpn ip --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey --ips 2001:db8::1/32,192.0.2.1/24 and a layer 2 (Ethernet) overlay network with sudo weron vpn ethernet --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey

1. Start a Signaling Server with weron signaler

The signaling server connects peers with each other by exchanging connection information between them. It also manages access to communities through the --password flag of clients and can maintain persistent communities even after all peers have disconnected.

While it is possible and reasonably private (in addition to TLS, connection information is encrypted using the --key flag of clients) to use the hosted signaling server at wss://weron.up.railway.app/, hosting it yourself has many benefits, such as lower latency and even better privacy.

The signaling server can use an in-process broker with an in-memory database or Redis and PostgreSQL; for production use the latter configuration is strongly recommended, as it allows you to easily scale the signaling server horizontally. This is particularly important if you want to scale your server infrastructure across multiple continents, as intra-cloud backbones usually have lower latency than residential connections, which reduces the amount of time required to connect peers with each other.

Expand containerized instructions ```shell $ sudo podman network create weron $ sudo podman run -d --restart=always --label "io.containers.autoupdate=image" --name weron-postgres --network weron -e POSTGRES_HOST_AUTH_METHOD=trust -e POSTGRES_DB=weron_communities postgres $ sudo podman generate systemd --new weron-postgres | sudo tee /lib/systemd/system/weron-postgres.service $ sudo podman run -d --restart=always --label "io.containers.autoupdate=image" --name weron-redis --network weron redis $ sudo podman generate systemd --new weron-redis | sudo tee /lib/systemd/system/weron-redis.service $ sudo podman run -d --restart=always --label "io.containers.autoupdate=image" --name weron-signaler --network weron -p 1337:1337 -e DATABASE_URL='postgres://postgres@weron-postgres:5432/weron_communities?sslmode=disable' -e REDIS_URL='redis://weron-redis:6379/1' -e API_PASSWORD='myapipassword' ghcr.io/pojntfx/weron:unstable weron signaler $ sudo podman generate systemd --new weron-signaler | sudo tee /lib/systemd/system/weron-signaler.service $ sudo systemctl daemon-reload $ sudo systemctl enable --now weron-postgres $ sudo systemctl enable --now weron-redis $ sudo systemctl enable --now weron-signaler $ sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=1337/tcp $ sudo firewall-cmd --reload ```
Expand native instructions ```shell sudo podman run -d --restart=always --label "io.containers.autoupdate=image" --name weron-postgres -e POSTGRES_HOST_AUTH_METHOD=trust -e POSTGRES_DB=weron_communities -p 127.0.0.1:5432:5432 postgres sudo podman generate systemd --new weron-postgres | sudo tee /lib/systemd/system/weron-postgres.service sudo podman run -d --restart=always --label "io.containers.autoupdate=image" --name weron-redis -p 127.0.0.1:6379:6379 redis sudo podman generate systemd --new weron-redis | sudo tee /lib/systemd/system/weron-redis.service sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/weron-signaler.service<<'EOT' [Unit] Description=weron Signaling Server After=weron-postgres.service weron-redis.service [Service] ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/weron signaler --verbose=7 Environment="DATABASE_URL=postgres://postgres@localhost:5432/weron_communities?sslmode=disable" Environment="REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379/1" Environment="API_PASSWORD=myapipassword" [Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target EOT sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl restart weron-postgres sudo systemctl restart weron-redis sudo systemctl restart weron-signaler sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=1337/tcp sudo firewall-cmd --reload ```

It should now be reachable on ws://localhost:1337/.

To use it in production, put this signaling server behind a TLS-enabled reverse proxy such as Caddy or Traefik. You may also either want to keep API_PASSWORD empty to disable the management API completely or use OpenID Connect to authenticate instead; for more information, see the signaling server reference. You can also embed the signaling server in your own application using it's Go API.

2. Manage Communities with weron manager

While it is possible to create ephemeral communities on a signaling server without any kind of authorization, you probably want to create a persistent community for most applications. Ephemeral communities get created and deleted automatically as clients join or leave, persistent communities will never get deleted automatically. You can manage these communities using the manager CLI.

If you want to work on your self-hosted signaling server, first set the remote address:

$ export WERON_RADDR='http://localhost:1337/'

Next, set the API password using the API_PASSWORD env variable:

$ export API_PASSWORD='myapipassword'

If you use OIDC to authenticate, you can instead set the API password using goit like so:

$ export OIDC_CLIENT_ID='Ab7OLrQibhXUzKHGWYDFieLa2KqZmFzb' OIDC_ISSUER='https://pojntfx.eu.auth0.com/' OIDC_REDIRECT_URL='http://localhost:11337'
$ export API_KEY="$(goit)"

If we now list the communities, we see that none currently exist:

$ weron manager list
id,clients,persistent

We can create a persistent community using weron create:

$ weron manager create --community mycommunity --password mypassword
id,clients,persistent
mycommunity,0,true

It is also possible to delete communities using weron delete, which will also disconnect all joined peers:

$ weron manager delete --community mycommunity

For more information, see the manager reference. You can also embed the manager in your own application using its Go API.

3. Test the System with weron chat

If you want to work on your self-hosted signaling server, first set the remote address:

$ export WERON_RADDR='ws://localhost:1337/'

The chat is an easy way to test if everything is working correctly. To join a chatroom, run the following:

$ weron chat --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey --names user1,user2,user3 --channels one,two,three

On another peer, run the following (if your signaling server is public, you can run this anywhere on the planet):

$ weron chat --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey --names user1,user2,user3 --channels one,two,three
.wss://weron.up.railway.app/
user2!
+user1@one
+user1@two
+user1@three
user2>

You can now start sending and receiving messages or add new peers to your chatroom to test the network.

For more information, see the chat reference. You can also embed the chat in your own application using its Go API.

4. Measure Latency with weron utility latency

An insightful metric of your network is its latency, which you can measure with this utility; think of this as ping, but for WebRTC. First, start the latency measurement server like so:

$ weron utility latency --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey --server

On another peer, launch the client, which should start measuring the latency immediately; press CTRL C to stop it and get the total statistics:

$ weron utility latency --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey
# ...
128 B written and acknowledged in 110.111µs
128 B written and acknowledged in 386.12µs
128 B written and acknowledged in 310.458µs
128 B written and acknowledged in 335.341µs
128 B written and acknowledged in 264.149µs
^CAverage latency: 281.235µs (5 packets written) Min: 110.111µs Max: 386.12µs

For more information, see the latency measurement utility reference. You can also embed the utility in your own application using its Go API.

5. Measure Throughput with weron utility throughput

If you want to transfer large amounts of data, your network's throughput is a key characteristic. This utility allows you to measure this metric between two nodes; think of it as iperf, but for WebRTC. First, start the throughput measurement server like so:

$ weron utility throughput --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey --server

On another peer, launch the client, which should start measuring the throughput immediately; press CTRL C to stop it and get the total statistics:

$ weron utility throughput --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey
# ...
97.907 MB/s (783.253 Mb/s) (50 MB read in 510.690403ms)
64.844 MB/s (518.755 Mb/s) (50 MB read in 771.076908ms)
103.360 MB/s (826.881 Mb/s) (50 MB read in 483.745832ms)
89.335 MB/s (714.678 Mb/s) (50 MB read in 559.692495ms)
85.582 MB/s (684.657 Mb/s) (50 MB read in 584.233931ms)
^CAverage throughput: 74.295 MB/s (594.359 Mb/s) (250 MB written in 3.364971672s) Min: 64.844 MB/s Max: 103.360 MB/s

For more information, see the throughput measurement utility reference. You can also embed the utility in your own application using it's Go API.

6. Create a Layer 3 (IP) Overlay Network with weron vpn ip

If you want to join multiple nodes into an overlay network, the IP VPN is the best choice. It works similarly to i.e. Tailscale/WireGuard and can either dynamically allocate an IP address from a CIDR notation or statically assign one for you. On Windows, make sure to install TAP-Windows first. Also note that due to technical limitations, only one IPv4 or IPv6 network and only one VPN instance at a time is supported on Windows; on macOS, only IPv6 networks are supported and IPv4 networks are ignored. To get started, launch the VPN on the first peer:

$ sudo weron vpn ip --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey --ips 2001:db8::1/64,192.0.2.1/24
{"level":"info","addr":"wss://weron.up.railway.app/","time":"2022-05-06T22:20:51+02:00","message":"Connecting to signaler"}
{"level":"info","id":"[\"2001:db8::6a/64\",\"192.0.2.107/24\"]","time":"2022-05-06T22:20:56+02:00","message":"Connected to signaler"}

On another peer, launch the VPN as well:

$ sudo weron vpn ip --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey --ips 2001:db8::1/64,192.0.2.1/24
{"level":"info","addr":"wss://weron.up.railway.app/","time":"2022-05-06T22:22:30+02:00","message":"Connecting to signaler"}
{"level":"info","id":"[\"2001:db8::b9/64\",\"192.0.2.186/24\"]","time":"2022-05-06T22:22:36+02:00","message":"Connected to signaler"}
{"level":"info","id":"[\"2001:db8::6a/64\",\"192.0.2.107/24\"]","time":"2022-05-06T22:22:36+02:00","message":"Connected to peer"}

You can now communicate between the peers:

$ ping 2001:db8::b9
PING 2001:db8::b9(2001:db8::b9) 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 2001:db8::b9: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.07 ms
64 bytes from 2001:db8::b9: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=1.36 ms
64 bytes from 2001:db8::b9: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=1.20 ms
64 bytes from 2001:db8::b9: icmp_seq=4 ttl=64 time=1.10 ms
^C
--- 2001:db8::b9 ping statistics ---
4 packets transmitted, 4 received, 0% packet loss, time 3002ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 1.066/1.180/1.361/0.114 ms

If you temporarily lose the network connection, the network topology changes etc. it will automatically reconnect. For more information and limitations on proprietary operating systems like macOS, see the IP VPN reference. You can also embed the utility in your own application using its Go API.

7. Create a Layer 2 (Ethernet) Overlay Network with weron vpn ethernet

If you want more flexibility or work on non-IP networks, the Ethernet VPN is a good choice. It works similarly to n2n or ZeroTier. Due to API restrictions, this VPN type is not available on macOS; use Asahi Linux, a computer that respects your freedoms or the layer 3 (IP) VPN instead. To get started, launch the VPN on the first peer:

$ sudo weron vpn ethernet --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey
{"level":"info","addr":"wss://weron.up.railway.app/","time":"2022-05-06T22:42:10+02:00","message":"Connecting to signaler"}
{"level":"info","id":"fe:60:a5:8b:81:36","time":"2022-05-06T22:42:11+02:00","message":"Connected to signaler"}

If you want to add an IP address to the TAP interface, do so with iproute2 or your OS tools:

$ sudo ip addr add 192.0.2.1/24 dev tap0
$ sudo ip addr add 2001:db8::1/32 dev tap0

On another peer, launch the VPN as well:

$ sudo weron vpn ethernet --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey
{"level":"info","addr":"wss://weron.up.railway.app/","time":"2022-05-06T22:52:56+02:00","message":"Connecting to signaler"}
{"level":"info","id":"b2:ac:ae:b6:32:8c","time":"2022-05-06T22:52:57+02:00","message":"Connected to signaler"}
{"level":"info","id":"fe:60:a5:8b:81:36","time":"2022-05-06T22:52:57+02:00","message":"Connected to peer"}

And add the IP addresses:

$ sudo ip addr add 192.0.2.2/24 dev tap0
$ sudo ip addr add 2001:db8::2/32 dev tap0

You can now communicate between the peers:

$ ping 2001:db8::2
PING 2001:db8::2(2001:db8::2) 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 2001:db8::2: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=1.20 ms
64 bytes from 2001:db8::2: icmp_seq=2 ttl=64 time=1.14 ms
64 bytes from 2001:db8::2: icmp_seq=3 ttl=64 time=1.24 ms
^C
--- 2001:db8::2 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 2002ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 1.136/1.193/1.239/0.042 ms

If you temporarily lose the network connection, the network topology changes etc. it will automatically reconnect. You can also embed the utility in your own application using its Go API.

8. Write your own protocol with wrtcconn

It is almost trivial to build your own distributed applications with weron, similarly to how PeerJS works. Here is the core logic behind a simple echo example:

// ...
for {
    select {
    case id := <-ids:
        log.Println("Connected to signaler", id)
    case peer := <-adapter.Accept():
        log.Println("Connected to peer", peer.PeerID, "and channel", peer.ChannelID)

        go func() {
            defer func() {
                log.Println("Disconnected from peer", peer.PeerID, "and channel", peer.ChannelID)
            }()

            reader := bufio.NewScanner(peer.Conn)
            for reader.Scan() {
                log.Printf("%s", reader.Bytes())
            }
        }()

        go func() {
            for {
                if _, err := peer.Conn.Write([]byte("Hello!\n")); err != nil {
                    return
                }

                time.Sleep(time.Second)
            }
        }()
    }
}

You can either use the minimal adapter or the named adapter; the latter negotiates a username between the peers, while the former does not check for duplicates. For more information, check out the Go API and take a look at the provided examples, utilities and services in the package for examples.

🚀 That's it! We hope you enjoy using weron.

Reference

Library API

Command Line Arguments

$ weron --help
Overlay networks based on WebRTC.

Find more information at:
https://github.com/pojntfx/weron

Usage:
  weron [command]

Available Commands:
  chat        Chat over the overlay network
  completion  Generate the autocompletion script for the specified shell
  help        Help about any command
  manager     Manage a signaling server
  signaler    Start a signaling server
  utility     Utilities for overlay networks
  vpn         Join virtual private networks built on overlay networks

Flags:
  -h, --help          help for weron
  -v, --verbose int   Verbosity level (0 is disabled, default is info, 7 is trace) (default 5)

Use "weron [command] --help" for more information about a command.
Expand subcommand reference #### Signaling Server ```shell $ weron signaler --help Start a signaling server Usage: weron signaler [flags] Aliases: signaler, sgl, s Flags: --api-password string Password for the management API (can also be set using the API_PASSWORD env variable). Ignored if any of the OIDC parameters are set. --api-username string Username for the management API (can also be set using the API_USERNAME env variable). Ignored if any of the OIDC parameters are set. (default "admin") --cleanup (Warning: Only enable this after stopping all other servers accessing the database!) Remove all ephemeral communities from database and reset client counts before starting --ephemeral-communities Enable the creation of ephemeral communities (default true) --heartbeat duration Time to wait for heartbeats (default 10s) -h, --help help for signaler --laddr string Listening address (can also be set using the PORT env variable) (default ":1337") --oidc-client-id string OIDC Client ID (i.e. myoidcclientid) (can also be set using the OIDC_CLIENT_ID env variable) --oidc-issuer string OIDC Issuer (i.e. https://pojntfx.eu.auth0.com/) (can also be set using the OIDC_ISSUER env variable) --postgres-url string URL of PostgreSQL database to use (i.e. postgres://myuser:mypassword@myhost:myport/mydatabase) (can also be set using the DATABASE_URL env variable). If empty, a in-memory database will be used. --redis-url string URL of Redis database to use (i.e. redis://myuser:mypassword@myhost:myport/1) (can also be set using the REDIS_URL env variable). If empty, a in-process broker will be used. Global Flags: -v, --verbose int Verbosity level (0 is disabled, default is info, 7 is trace) (default 5) ``` #### Manager ```shell $ weron manager --help Manage a signaling server Usage: weron manager [command] Aliases: manager, mgr, m Available Commands: create Create a persistent community delete Delete a persistent or ephemeral community list List persistent and ephemeral communities Flags: -h, --help help for manager Global Flags: -v, --verbose int Verbosity level (0 is disabled, default is info, 7 is trace) (default 5) Use "weron manager [command] --help" for more information about a command. ``` #### Chat ```shell $ weron chat --help Chat over the overlay network Usage: weron chat [flags] Aliases: chat, cht, c Flags: --channels strings Comma-separated list of channels in community to join (default [weron/chat/primary]) --community string ID of community to join --force-relay Force usage of TURN servers -h, --help help for chat --ice strings Comma-separated list of STUN servers (in format stun:host:port) and TURN servers to use (in format username:credential@turn:host:port) (i.e. username:credential@turn:global.turn.twilio.com:3478?transport=tcp) (default [stun:stun.l.google.com:19302]) --id-channel string Channel to use to negotiate names (default "weron/chat/id") --key string Encryption key for community --kicks duration Time to wait for kicks (default 5s) --names strings Comma-separated list of names to try and claim one from --password string Password for community --raddr string Remote address (default "wss://weron.up.railway.app/") --timeout duration Time to wait for connections (default 10s) Global Flags: -v, --verbose int Verbosity level (0 is disabled, default is info, 7 is trace) (default 5) ``` #### Latency Measurement Utility ```shell $ weron utility latency --help Measure the latency of the overlay network Usage: weron utility latency [flags] Aliases: latency, ltc, l Flags: --community string ID of community to join --force-relay Force usage of TURN servers -h, --help help for latency --ice strings Comma-separated list of STUN servers (in format stun:host:port) and TURN servers to use (in format username:credential@turn:host:port) (i.e. username:credential@turn:global.turn.twilio.com:3478?transport=tcp) (default [stun:stun.l.google.com:19302]) --key string Encryption key for community --packet-length int Size of packet to send and acknowledge (default 128) --password string Password for community --pause duration Time to wait before sending next packet (default 1s) --raddr string Remote address (default "wss://weron.up.railway.app/") --server Act as a server --timeout duration Time to wait for connections (default 10s) Global Flags: -v, --verbose int Verbosity level (0 is disabled, default is info, 7 is trace) (default 5) ``` #### Throughput Measurement Utility ```shell $ weron utility throughput --help Measure the throughput of the overlay network Usage: weron utility throughput [flags] Aliases: throughput, thr, t Flags: --community string ID of community to join --force-relay Force usage of TURN servers -h, --help help for throughput --ice strings Comma-separated list of STUN servers (in format stun:host:port) and TURN servers to use (in format username:credential@turn:host:port) (i.e. username:credential@turn:global.turn.twilio.com:3478?transport=tcp) (default [stun:stun.l.google.com:19302]) --key string Encryption key for community --packet-count int Amount of packets to send before waiting for acknowledgement (default 1000) --packet-length int Size of packet to send (default 50000) --password string Password for community --raddr string Remote address (default "wss://weron.up.railway.app/") --server Act as a server --timeout duration Time to wait for connections (default 10s) Global Flags: -v, --verbose int Verbosity level (0 is disabled, default is info, 7 is trace) (default 5) ``` #### Layer 3 (IP) Overlay Networks ```shell $ weron vpn ip --help Join a layer 3 overlay network Usage: weron vpn ip [flags] Aliases: ip, i Flags: --community string ID of community to join --dev string Name to give to the TUN device (i.e. weron0) (default is auto-generated; only supported on Linux) --force-relay Force usage of TURN servers -h, --help help for ip --ice strings Comma-separated list of STUN servers (in format stun:host:port) and TURN servers to use (in format username:credential@turn:host:port) (i.e. username:credential@turn:global.turn.twilio.com:3478?transport=tcp) (default [stun:stun.l.google.com:19302]) --id-channel string Channel to use to negotiate names (default "weron/ip/id") --ips strings Comma-separated list of IP networks to claim an IP address from and and give to the TUN device (i.e. 2001:db8::1/32,192.0.2.1/24) (on Windows, only one IP network (either IPv4 or IPv6) is supported; on macOS, IPv4 networks are ignored) --key string Encryption key for community --kicks duration Time to wait for kicks (default 5s) --max-retries int Maximum amount of times to try and claim an IP address (default 200) --parallel int Amount of threads to use to decode frames (default 20) --password string Password for community --raddr string Remote address (default "wss://weron.up.railway.app/") --static Try to claim the exact IPs specified in the --ips flag statically instead of selecting a random one from the specified network --timeout duration Time to wait for connections (default 10s) Global Flags: -v, --verbose int Verbosity level (0 is disabled, default is info, 7 is trace) (default 5) ``` #### Layer 2 (Ethernet) Overlay Networks ```shell $ weron vpn ethernet --help Join a layer 2 overlay network Usage: weron vpn ethernet [flags] Aliases: ethernet, eth, e Flags: --community string ID of community to join --dev string Name to give to the TAP device (i.e. weron0) (default is auto-generated; only supported on Linux and macOS) --force-relay Force usage of TURN servers -h, --help help for ethernet --ice strings Comma-separated list of STUN servers (in format stun:host:port) and TURN servers to use (in format username:credential@turn:host:port) (i.e. username:credential@turn:global.turn.twilio.com:3478?transport=tcp) (default [stun:stun.l.google.com:19302]) --key string Encryption key for community --mac string MAC address to give to the TAP device (i.e. 3a:f8:de:7b:ef:52) (default is auto-generated; only supported on Linux) --parallel int Amount of threads to use to decode frames (default 20) --password string Password for community --raddr string Remote address (default "wss://weron.up.railway.app/") --timeout duration Time to wait for connections (default 10s) Global Flags: -v, --verbose int Verbosity level (0 is disabled, default is info, 7 is trace) (default 5) ```

Environment Variables

All command line arguments described above can also be set using environment variables; for example, to set --max-retries to 300 with an environment variable, use WERON_MAX_RETRIES=300.

Acknowledgements

Contributing

To contribute, please use the GitHub flow and follow our Code of Conduct.

To build and start a development version of weron locally, run the following:

$ git clone https://github.com/pojntfx/weron.git
$ cd weron
$ make depend
$ make && sudo make install
$ weron signaler # Starts the signaling server
# In another terminal
$ weron chat --raddr ws://localhost:1337 --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey --names user1,user2,user3 --channels one,two,three
# In another terminal
$ weron chat --raddr ws://localhost:1337 --community mycommunity --password mypassword --key mykey --names user1,user2,user3 --channels one,two,three

Have any questions or need help? Chat with us on Matrix!

License

weron (c) 2024 Felicitas Pojtinger and contributors

SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0