netkat

A simple netcat clone written in Rust. On network layer supports IPv4/IPv6 and Unix Domain sockets, and on transport layer TCP/UDP. Concurrency implemented using async model.

Usage

# ./netkat --help
Usage: netkat [OPTIONS] [ADDRESS] [PORT]

Arguments:
  [ADDRESS]  Hostname (either destination address or the address to bind the listener)
  [PORT]     Port - either source or target port depending on mode of operation

Options:
  -l, --listen             Listen to incoming connection
  -u, --udp                Use UDP instead of TCP
  -t, --timeout <TIMEOUT>  Connection timeout in seconds (only TCP)
  -U                       Use UNIX domain socket instead of Internet domain socket
  -v, --verbose            Verbose output
  -h, --help               Print help
  -V, --version            Print version

Examples

Listen

IPv4:

./netkat -l 0.0.0.0 12345

IPv6:

./netkat -l :: 12345

You can also bind to a specific IP address if you wish to only listen e.g. localhost or some particular network interface.

Connect

./netkat localhost 12345

Sending and receiving files

Server hosting the local file foo.gzip

./netkat -l 0.0.0.0 12345 < foo.gzip

Client downloading the file and writing to local filesystem:

./netkat 1.2.3.4 12345 > foo.gzip

Design principles

• Performance
• Simplicity
• Compatibility with netcat
• Writes only "business data" to stdout, and all other messages (info, error) to stderr.
• Not intended to replace netcat, but rather to provide an example for further network / async programming projects for rust.