Name resolution

In the First example we used IP addresses rather than hostnames because we cannot modify /etc/hosts without privileges.

For name resolution without privileges, NoRouter provides the following methods:

• Creating $HOSTALIASES file on each hosts
• Serving a DNS on each hosts (10053/tcp)
• Serving an HTTP proxy on each hosts
• Serving a SOCKS proxy on each hosts

However, when /etc/hosts is writable (mostly in Docker and Kubernetes), NoRouter can be also configured to write /etc/hosts, by setting .[]hosts.writeEtcHosts to true. See Docker and Kubernetes examples.

HOSTALIASES file

By default, NoRouter creates ~/.norouter/agent/hostaliases file like this on each hosts:

host0 127.0.42.100.nip.io
host1 127.0.42.101.nip.io
host2 127.0.42.102.nip.io

The file can be used as $HOSTALIASES file if supported by applications.

[localhost]$ HOSTALIASES=$HOME/.norouter/agent/hostaliases wget -O - http://host1:8080
[host1.cloud1.example.com]$ HOSTALIASES=$HOME/.norouter/agent/hostaliases wget -O - http://host1:8080
[host2.cloud2.example.com]$ HOSTALIASES=$HOME/.norouter/agent/hostaliases wget -O - http://host1:8080

Confirm that host1’s Web service is shown.

To change the directory for storing $HOSTALIASES file, set .hostTemplate.stateDir.pathOnAgent (or .[]hosts.stateDir.pathOnAgent) as follows:

hostTemplate:
  stateDir:
    pathOnAgent: "~/foo/norouter-agent"

Creating $HOSTALIASES file is supported since NoRouter v0.4.0.

DNS

DNS is enabled by default on 10053/tcp on loopback IPs:

$ dig +short -p 10053 +tcp host1 @127.0.42.100
127.0.42.101

DNS is supported since NoRouter v0.5.0.

HTTP proxy mode

To enable HTTP proxy mode, set .hostTemplate.http.listen (or .[]hosts.http.listen) as follows:

hostTemplate:
  http:
    listen: "127.0.0.1:18080"
hosts:
  host0:
    vip: "127.0.42.100"
  host1:
    cmd: "ssh some-user@host1.cloud1.example.com -- /home/some-user/bin/norouter"
    vip: "127.0.42.101"
    ports: ["8080:127.0.0.1:80"]
  host2:
    cmd: "ssh some-user@host2.cloud2.example.com -- /home/some-user/bin/norouter"
    vip: "127.0.42.102"
    ports: ["8080:127.0.0.1:80"]

Applications needs $http_proxy and/or $HTTP_PROXY to be set to http://127.0.0.1:18080.

[localhost]$ http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:18080 wget -O - http://host1:8080
[host1.cloud1.example.com]$ http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:18080 wget -O - http://host1:8080
[host2.cloud2.example.com]$ http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:18080 wget -O - http://host1:8080

Confirm that host1’s Web service is shown.

HTTP proxy mode is available since NoRouter v0.4.0.

HTTP proxy mode without listening on multi-loopback addresses

When HTTP proxy mode is enabled, listening on multi-loopback addresses can be disabled by setting .hostTemplate.loopback.disable (or .[]hosts.loopback.disable) to true.

e.g.

hostTemplate:
  http:
    listen: "127.0.0.1:18080"
  loopback:
    disable: true
hosts:
  host0:
    vip: "127.0.42.100"
  host1:
    cmd: "ssh some-user@host1.cloud1.example.com -- /home/some-user/bin/norouter"
    vip: "127.0.42.101"
    ports: ["80:127.0.0.1:80"]
  host2:
    cmd: "ssh some-user@host2.cloud2.example.com -- /home/some-user/bin/norouter"
    vip: "127.0.42.102"
    ports: ["80:127.0.0.1:80"]

The manifest still contains virtual 127.0.42.{100,102,102} addresses, but these virtual IP addresses are never listened by the real operating system.

Note that the port mapping is now changed from 8080:127.0.0.1:80 to 80:127.0.0.1:80, because we no longer need to avoid using privileged ports below 1024, and yet we no longer need to care about port number collision .

Confirm that host1’s Web service is shown with the following commands:

[localhost]$ http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:18080 wget -O - http://host1
[host1.cloud1.example.com]$ http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:18080 wget -O - http://host1
[host2.cloud2.example.com]$ http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:18080 wget -O - http://host1

SOCKS proxy mode

In addition to HTTP proxy mode, NoRouter supports SOCKS proxy mode.

To enable SOCKS proxy mode, set .hostTemplate.socks.listen (or .[]hosts.socks.listen).

e.g.

hostTemplate:
  http:
    listen: "127.0.0.1:18080"
  socks:
    listen: "127.0.0.1:18081"
...

NoRouter uses github.com/cybozu-go/usockd/socks for implementing SOCKS. NoRouter supports SOCKS4, SOCKS4a, and SOCKS5.

SOCKS proxy mode is available since NoRouter v0.4.0.