Webserver - HTTP Router Documentation

A high-performance HTTP/1.1 web server built in C++ with comprehensive routing capabilities, CGI support, file upload handling, and multi-server configuration management

Features

Webserver is a full-featured HTTP server implementation with advanced routing capabilities:

Multi-Server Support: Run multiple virtual servers on different ports with independent configurations
HTTP Method Routing: Complete support for GET, POST, DELETE methods with method-specific handlers
CGI Execution: RFC 3875 compliant CGI script execution with environment setup and timeout handling
File Upload System: Multipart/form-data file upload handling with size validation and directory management
Autoindex Directory Listing: Automatic HTML directory listing with navigation support
HTTP Redirection: Configurable URL redirection with proper status codes
Advanced Error Handling: Comprehensive HTTP error response system with custom error pages

Core HTTP Processing

Request Parsing: Complete HTTP/1.1 request parsing with header validation
Response Building: Dynamic HTTP response generation with proper headers and status codes
Route Matching: Sophisticated path matching with exact, extension, and prefix matching strategies
Method Validation: HTTP method validation with proper 405 Method Not Allowed responses
Content Type Detection: Automatic MIME type detection and Content-Type header setting

Advanced Features

Chunked Transfer Encoding: Support for chunked request and response bodies
Connection Management: Keep-alive and close connection handling
File Size Validation: Configurable client_max_body_size with 413 Payload Too Large responses
CGI Environment Setup: Complete CGI environment variable configuration
Nested Directory Support: Deep directory structure navigation with autoindex

Installation Instructions

1. Clone and Build

Clone the repository and build the webserver:

git clone <repository-url>
cd webserv2
make run

Usage Examples

Start the webserver with a configuration file:

./webserv configs/default.conf

Multi-Server Configuration

Run multiple servers simultaneously:

# Server 1 - Full functionality (port 8080)
./webserv configs/default.conf

# Server 2 - GET/DELETE only (port 8081)
# Server 3 - GET/POST only (port 8082)
# Server 4 - Simple site (port 8083)
# Server 5 - Simple site (port 8084)

Static File Serving

Access static files and directories:

# Root directory with index.html
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/

# Specific static files
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/index.html
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/favicon.ico

# Directory listing with autoindex
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/imgs/

File Upload Operations

Upload files using POST method:

# Create a test file
echo "Hello, Webserver!" > test.txt

# Upload the file
curl -X POST -F "file=@test.txt" http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/

# Verify upload
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/test.txt

File Deletion

Remove uploaded files:

# Delete an uploaded file
curl -X DELETE http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/test.txt

# Verify deletion (should return 404)
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/test.txt

CGI Script Execution

Execute CGI scripts with different methods:

# GET request to CGI script
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/cgi-bin/hello.py

# POST with form data
curl -X POST -d "name=test&value=123" http://127.0.0.1:8080/cgi-bin/hello.py

# POST with JSON data
curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"name":"test","value":123}' \
     http://127.0.0.1:8080/cgi-bin/hello.py

HTTP Redirection

Test URL redirections:

# Follow redirect (302 Found)
curl -L http://127.0.0.1:8080/old

# Check redirect without following
curl -v http://127.0.0.1:8080/old

Error Handling Examples

Test various error conditions:

# 404 Not Found
curl -v http://127.0.0.1:8080/nonexistent.html

# 405 Method Not Allowed
curl -v -X PUT http://127.0.0.1:8080/
curl -v -X PATCH http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/

# 413 Payload Too Large
dd if=/dev/zero of=large.txt bs=1K count=2000
curl -X POST -F "file=@large.txt" http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/

Complete Workflow Test

Test a complete upload → verify → delete workflow:

# 1. Upload a file
echo "workflow test $(date)" > workflow_test.txt
curl -X POST -F "file=@workflow_test.txt" http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/

# 2. Verify the file exists
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/workflow_test.txt

# 3. Check directory listing
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/

# 4. Delete the file
curl -X DELETE http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/workflow_test.txt

# 5. Verify deletion
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/workflow_test.txt  # Should return 404

Project Structure (Router Part)

[The project is organized into logical modules with clear separation of concerns:]

webserver/
├── src/                          # Source code directory
│   ├── router/                   # HTTP routing system
│   │   ├── handlers/            # Request handlers (GET, POST, DELETE, CGI, redirect)
│   │   │   ├── Handlers.cpp     # Handler implementations
│   │   │   ├── CgiExecutor.cpp  # CGI script execution
│   │   │   ├── MultipartParser.cpp # File upload parsing
│   │   │   └── HandlerUtils.cpp # Handler utility functions
│   │   ├── utils/               # Router utility classes
│   │   │   ├── HttpResponseBuilder.cpp # HTTP response construction
│   │   │   ├── FileUtils.cpp    # File system operations
│   │   │   ├── StringUtils.cpp  # String manipulation utilities
│   │   │   ├── ValidationUtils.cpp # Input validation
│   │   │   └── Utils.cpp        # General utilities
│   │   ├── Router.cpp           # Main router class
│   │   ├── RequestProcessor.cpp # Request processing logic
│   │   ├── HttpConstants.hpp    # HTTP protocol constants
│   │   └── ROUTER_DOCS.md       # This documentation
│   ├── request/                 # HTTP request parsing
│   ├── response/                # HTTP response handling
│   ├── server/                  # Server configuration and management
│   └── main.cpp                 # Application entry point
├── configs/                     # Server configuration files
│   ├── default.conf            # Default server configuration
│   ├── extended.conf           # Extended multi-server configuration
│   └── repeating_IP_port.conf  # Port conflict testing configuration
├── test/                       # Test suite
│   ├── router_tests/           # Router-specific tests
│   │   ├── TESTS.md           # Comprehensive test documentation
│   │   └── run_all_tests.sh   # Automated test runner
│   └── [other test directories]
├── www/                        # Web content directory
│   ├── uploads/               # File upload destination
│   ├── errors/                # Custom error pages
│   ├── imgs/                  # Static images
│   ├── cgi-bin/               # CGI scripts
│   └── index.html             # Default index page
├── CMakeLists.txt             # CMake build configuration
├── Makefile                   # Alternative build system
└── README.md                  # Project overview

Key Files and Directories

src/router/: Core routing system with request handlers and utilities
src/router/handlers/: HTTP method handlers (GET, POST, DELETE, CGI, redirect)
src/router/utils/: Utility classes for HTTP response building, file operations, and validation
configs/: Server configuration files with different setups for testing
test/router_tests/: Comprehensive test suite with automated testing scripts
www/: Web content directory structure with uploads, CGI scripts, and static files

Router Architecture

Core Components

Router: Main routing class that manages route mappings and handler selection
RequestProcessor: Handles request execution and fallback logic
Handlers: Specific implementations for different request types:
- get(): Static file serving and directory listing
- post(): File upload handling via multipart/form-data
- del(): File deletion from upload directories
- cgi(): CGI script execution with environment setup
- redirect(): HTTP redirection handling

Route Storage Structure

std::map<int, std::map<std::string, std::map<std::string, Handler>>> _routes;
// server_id → HTTP_method → path → Handler_function

Handler Selection Logic

The router automatically selects the appropriate handler based on location configuration and HTTP method:

// Selection Priority
if (!location.return_url.empty()) {
    // Use redirect handler
} else if (!location.cgi_path.empty() && !location.cgi_ext.empty()) {
    // Use CGI handler
} else if (method == http::POST && !location.upload_path.empty()) {
    // Use POST handler for uploads
} else if (method == http::DELETE && !location.upload_path.empty()) {
    // Use DELETE handler for file removal
} else {
    // Use GET handler as default
}

Route Resolution Priority

The findHandler() method implements sophisticated route matching:

Exact Match: Highest priority for precise path matches
Extension Match: Matches file extensions (e.g., .py, .php)
Prefix Match: Matches directory prefixes (e.g., /uploads, /admin)

Testing

Comprehensive testing approach with automated test suite:

Running Tests

Execute the complete test suite:

# Make sure webserver is running on ports 8080-8084
./webserv configs/extended.conf

./test/router_tests/run_all_tests.sh

Test Coverage

The test suite covers:

Basic HTTP Operations: GET, POST, DELETE methods
Static File Serving: File serving, directory listing, MIME types
File Upload/Download: Multipart uploads, file verification, deletion
CGI Execution: Script execution with different input methods
HTTP Redirection: Redirect handling and status codes
Error Handling: 404, 405, 413, 500, 504 error responses
Multi-Server Support: Multiple server configurations
Nested Directory Support: Deep directory structure navigation

Manual Testing

Individual test categories can be run manually:

# Basic GET tests
curl -v http://127.0.0.1:8080/

# POST upload tests
curl -X POST -F "file=@test.txt" http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/

# DELETE tests
curl -X DELETE http://127.0.0.1:8080/uploads/test.txt

# CGI tests
curl http://127.0.0.1:8080/cgi-bin/hello.py

Webserver - A high-performance HTTP/1.1 web server with advanced routing capabilities

Built with modern C++20, featuring comprehensive HTTP method support, CGI execution, file upload handling, and multi-server configuration management.

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Webserver - HTTP Router Documentation

Features

Core HTTP Processing

Advanced Features

Installation Instructions

1. Clone and Build

Usage Examples

Multi-Server Configuration

Static File Serving

File Upload Operations

File Deletion

CGI Script Execution

HTTP Redirection

Error Handling Examples

Complete Workflow Test

Project Structure (Router Part)

Key Files and Directories

Router Architecture

Core Components

Route Storage Structure

Handler Selection Logic

Route Resolution Priority

Testing

Running Tests

Test Coverage

Manual Testing

FilesExpand file tree

ROUTER_DOCS.md

Latest commit

History

ROUTER_DOCS.md

File metadata and controls

Webserver - HTTP Router Documentation

Features

Core HTTP Processing

Advanced Features

Installation Instructions

1. Clone and Build

Usage Examples

Multi-Server Configuration

Static File Serving

File Upload Operations

File Deletion

CGI Script Execution

HTTP Redirection

Error Handling Examples

Complete Workflow Test

Project Structure (Router Part)

Key Files and Directories

Router Architecture

Core Components

Route Storage Structure

Handler Selection Logic

Route Resolution Priority

Testing

Running Tests

Test Coverage

Manual Testing