.TH "socat" "1" "September 2005" "socat" "" 
.PP 
.PP 
.SH "NAME" 
socat \- Multipurpose relay (SOcket CAT)
.PP 
.SH "SYNOPSIS" 
\f(CWsocat [options] <address> <address>\fP
.br 
\f(CWsocat -V\fP
.br 
\f(CWsocat -h[h[h]] | -?[?[?]]\fP
.br 
\f(CWfilan\fP
.br 
\f(CWprocan\fP
.PP 
.SH "DESCRIPTION" 
.PP 
\fBSocat\fP is a command line based utility that establishes two bidirectional byte
streams and transfers data between them\&. Because the streams can be constructed
from a large set of different types of data sinks and sources 
(see address types), and because lots of
address options may be applied to the streams, socat can
be used for many different purposes\&. 
It might be one of the tools that one `has already needed\'\&.
.PP 
\fBFilan\fP is a utility that prints information about its active file
descriptors to stdout\&. It has been written for debugging \fBsocat\fP, but might be
useful for other purposes too\&. Use the -h option to find more infos\&.
.PP 
\fBProcan\fP is a utility that prints information about process parameters to
stdout\&. It has been written to better understand 
some UNIX process properties and for debugging \fBsocat\fP, but might be 
useful for other purposes too\&.
.PP 
The life cycle of a \fBsocat\fP instance typically consists of four phases\&.
.PP 
In the \fIinit\fP phase, the command line options are parsed and logging is
initialized\&. 
.PP 
During the \fIopen\fP phase, \fBsocat\fP opens the first address and afterwards the
second address\&. These steps are usually blocking; thus, for complex address types like socks,
connection requests or authentication dialogs must be completed before the next
step is started\&.
.PP 
In the \fItransfer\fP phase, \fBsocat\fP watches both streams\' read and write file
descriptors via \f(CWselect()\fP, and, when data is available on one side \fIand\fP
can be written to the other side, socat reads it, performs newline
character conversions if required, and writes the data to the write file
descriptor of the other stream, then continues waiting for more data in both
directions\&.
.PP 
When one of the streams effectively reaches EOF, the \fIclosing\fP phase
begins\&. \fBSocat\fP transfers the EOF condition to the other stream,
i\&.e\&. tries to shutdown only its write stream, thus giving it a chance to
terminate gracefully\&. For a defined time, \fBsocat\fP continues to transfer data in
the other direction, but then closes all remaining channels and terminates\&.
.PP 
.SH "OPTIONS" 
.PP 
\fBSocat\fP provides some command line options that modify the behaviour of the
program\&. They have nothing to do with so called
address options that are used as parts of address specifications\&.
.PP 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-V\fP\fP" 
Print version and available feature information to stdout, and exit\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-h | -?\fP\fP" 
Print a help text to stdout describing command line options and available address
types, and exit\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-hh | -??\fP\fP" 
Like -h, plus a list of the short names of all available address options\&. Some options are
platform dependend, so this output is helpful for checking the particular
implementation\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-hhh | -???\fP\fP" 
Like -hh, plus a list of all available address option names\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-d\fP\fP" 
Without this option, only fatal and error messages are generated; applying
this option also prints warning messages\&. See DIAGNOSTICS
for more information\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-d -d\fP\fP" 
Prints fatal, error, warning, and notice messages\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-d -d -d\fP\fP" 
Prints fatal, error, warning, notice, and info messages\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-d -d -d -d\fP\fP" 
Prints fatal, error, warning, notice, info, and debug
messages\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-D\fP\fP" 
Logs information about file descriptors before starting the transfer phase\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-ly[<facility>]\fP\fP" 
Writes messages to syslog instead of stderr; severity as defined with -d
option\&. With optional <facility>, the syslog type can
be selected, default is "daemon"\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-lf\fP\fP\f(CW <logfile>\fP" 
Writes messages to <logfile> [filename] instead of
stderr\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-ls\fP\fP" 
Writes messages to stderr (this is the default)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-lp\fP\fP\f(CW<progname>\fP" 
Overrides the program name printed in error messages\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-lu\fP\fP" 
Extends the timestamp of error messages to microsecond resolution\&. Does not
work when logging to syslog\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-lm[<facility>]\fP\fP" 
Mixed log mode\&. During startup messages are printed to stderr; when \fBsocat\fP 
starts the transfer phase loop or daemon mode (i\&.e\&. after opening all
streams and before starting data transfer, or, with listening sockets with
fork option, before the first accept call), it switches logging to syslog\&. 
With optional <facility>, the syslog type can be
selected, default is "daemon"\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-v\fP\fP" 
Writes the transferred data not only to their target streams, but also to
stderr\&. The output format is text with some conversions for readability, and
prefixed with "> " or "< " indicating flow directions\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-x\fP\fP" 
Writes the transferred data not only to their target streams, but also to
stderr\&. The output format is hexadecimal, prefixed with "> " or "< "
indicating flow directions\&. Can be combined with \f(CW-v\fP\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-b\fP\fP\f(CW<size>\fP" 
Sets the data transfer block <size> [size_t]\&.
At most <size> bytes are transferred per step\&. Default is 8192 bytes\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-s\fP\fP" 
By default, \fBsocat\fP terminates when an error occurred to prevent the process
from running when some option could not be applied\&. With this
option, \fBsocat\fP is sloppy with errors and tries to continue\&. Even with this
option, socat will exit on fatals, and will abort connection attempts when
security checks failed\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-t\fP\fP\f(CW<timeout>\fP" 
When one channel has reached EOF, the write part of the other channel is shut
down\&. Then, \fBsocat\fP waits <timeout> [timeval] seconds
before terminating\&. Default is 0\&.5 seconds\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-u\fP\fP" 
Uses unidirectional mode\&. The first address is only used for reading, and the
second address is only used for writing\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-U\fP\fP" 
Uses unidirectional mode in reverse direction\&. The first address is only
used for writing, and the second address is only used for reading\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CW-g\fP\fP" 
During address option parsing, don\'t check if the option is considered
useful in the given address environment\&. Use it if you want to force, e\&.g\&.,
appliance of a socket option to a serial device\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-L\fP\fP\f(CW<lockfile>\fP" 
If lockfile exists, exits with error\&. If lockfile does not exist, creates it
and continues, unlinks lockfile on exit\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CW-W\fP\fP\f(CW<lockfile>\fP" 
If lockfile exists, waits until it disappears\&. When lockfile does not exist,
creates it and continues, unlinks lockfile on exit\&.
.PP 
.SH "ADDRESS SPECIFICATIONS" 
.PP 
With the address command line arguments, the user gives \fBsocat\fP instructions and
the necessary information for establishing the byte streams\&. 
.PP 
An address specification usually consists of an address type
keyword, zero or more required address parameters separated by \':\' from the keyword and
from each 
other, and zero or more address options separated by \',\'\&. 
.PP 
The keyword specifies the address type (e\&.g\&., TCP4, OPEN, EXEC)\&. For some
keywords there exist synonyms (\'-\' for STDIO, TCP for TCP4)\&. Keywords are case
insensitive\&.
For a few special address types, the keyword may be omitted:
Address specifications starting with a number are assumed to be FD (raw file
descriptor) addresses; 
if a \'/\' is found before the first \':\' or \',\', GOPEN (generic file open) is
assumed\&. 
.PP 
The required number and type of address parameters depend on the address
type\&. E\&.g\&., TCP4 requires a server specification (name or address), and a port
specification (number or service name)\&. 
.PP 
Zero or more address options may be given with each address\&. They influence the
address in some ways\&. 
Options consist of an option keyword or an option keyword and a value,
separated by \'=\'\&. Option keywords are case insensitive\&.
For filtering the options that are useful with an address
type, each option is member of one option group\&. For
each address type there is a set of option groups allowed\&. Only options
belonging to one of these address groups may be used (except with option -g)\&. 
.PP 
Address specifications following the above schema are also called \fIsingle\fP
address specifications\&.
Two single addresses can be combined with "!!" to form a \fIdual\fP type
address for one channel\&. Here, the first address is used by \fBsocat\fP for reading
data, and the 
second address for writing data\&. There is no way to specify an option only once
for being applied to both single addresses\&.
.PP 
Usually, addresses are opened in read/write
mode\&. When an address is part of a dual address specification, or when
option -u or -U is used, an address might be
used only for reading or for writing\&. Considering this is important with some
address types\&.
.PP 
.SH "ADDRESS TYPES" 
.PP 
This section describes the available address types with their keywords,
parameters, and semantics\&.
.PP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWCREATE:<filename>\fP\fP" 
Opens <filename> with \f(CWcreat()\fP and uses the file
descriptor for writing\&. 
This address type requires write-only context, because a file opened with
\f(CWcreat\fP cannot be read from\&.
<filename> must be a valid existing or not existing path\&.
If <filename> is a named pipe, \f(CWcreat()\fP might block;
if <filename> refers to a socket, this is an error\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,REG,NAMED 
.br 
Useful options:
mode,
user,
group,
unlink-early,
unlink-late,
append
.br 
See also: OPEN, GOPEN
.IP "\fB\f(CWEXEC:<command-line>\fP\fP" 
Forks a sub process that establishes communication with its parent process
and invokes the specified program with \f(CWexecvp()\fP\&.
<command-line> is a simple command
with arguments separated by single spaces\&. If the program name
contains a \'/\', the part after the last \'/\' is taken as ARGV[0]\&. If the
program name is a relative 
path, the \f(CWexecvp()\fP semantics for finding the program via
\f(CW$PATH\fP 
apply\&. After successful program start, \fBsocat\fP writes data to stdin of the
process and reads from its stdout using a UNIX domain socket generated by
\f(CWsocketpair()\fP per default\&. 
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,EXEC,FORK,TERMIOS 
.br 
Useful options:
path,
fdin,
fdout,
chroot,
su,
su-d,
nofork,
pty,
stderr,
ctty,
setsid,
pipes,
login,
sigint,
sigquit
.br 
See also: SYSTEM
.IP "\fB\f(CWFD:<fdnum>\fP\fP" 
Uses the file descriptor <fdnum>\&. It must already exist as
valid UN*X file descriptor\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD (TERMIOS,REG,SOCKET) 
.br 
See also:
STDIO,
STDIN,
STDOUT,
STDERR 
.IP "\fB\f(CWGOPEN:<filename>\fP\fP" 
(Generic open) This address type tries to handle any file system entry
except directories usefully\&. <filename> may be a
relative or absolute path\&. If it already exists, its type is checked\&. 
In case of a UNIX domain socket, \fBsocat\fP connects; if connecting fails,
\fBsocat\fP assumes a datagram socket and uses \f(CWsendto()\fP calls\&.
If the entry is not a socket, \fBsocat\fP opens it applying the \f(CWO_APPEND\fP
flag\&. 
If it does not exist, it is opened with flag
\f(CWO_CREAT\fP as a regular file\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,REG,SOCKET,NAMED,OPEN 
.br 
See also:
OPEN,
CREATE,
UNIX-CONNECT
.IP "\fB\f(CWIP4:<host>:<protocol>\fP\fP" 
Opens a raw IPv4 socket with <protocol>, sends packets
to <host> [IPv4 address] and receives packets from
host\&. 
Protocol 255 uses the raw socket with the IP header being part of the
data\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,IP4 
.br 
Useful options:
ttl,
broadcast
.br 
See also:
IP6,
UDP4,
UDP4-LISTEN 
.IP "\fB\f(CWIP6:<host>:<protocol>\fP\fP" 
Opens a raw IPv6 socket with <protocol>, sends packets
to <host> [IPv6 address] and receives packets from
host\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,IP6 
.br 
Useful options:
ttl,
broadcast
.br 
See also:
IP4,
UDP6,
UDP6-LISTEN
.IP "\fB\f(CWOPEN:<filename>\fP\fP" 
Opens <filename> using the \f(CWopen()\fP system call\&.
This operation fails on UNIX domain sockets\&. 
.br 
Note: This address type is rarly useful in bidirectional mode\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,REG,NAMED,OPEN 
.br 
Useful options:
creat,
excl,
nofollow,
append,
rdonly,
wronly,
lock,
readbytes,
ignoreeof
.br 
See also:
CREATE,
GOPEN,
UNIX-CONNECT
.IP "\fB\f(CWOPENSSL:<host>:<port>\fP\fP" 
Tries to establish a SSL connection to <port> [TCP
service] on  
<host> [IPv4 address] using TCP/IPv4\&.
.br 
NOTE: The server certificate is only checked for validity against
cafile or capath, but not for
match with the server\'s name or its IP address!
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,SOCK_IP4,TCP,OPENSSL,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
cipher,
method,
verify,
cafile,
capath,
certificate,
bind,
connect-timeout,
sourceport,
retry
.br 
See also:
OPENSSL-LISTEN,
TCP4
.IP "\fB\f(CWOPENSSL-LISTEN:<port>\fP\fP" 
Listens on tcp4 <port> [TCP service]\&. When a
connection is accepted, this address behaves as SSL server\&.
.br 
Note: You probably want to use the certificate option with this address\&.
.br 
NOTE: Without verify option, the client certificate is
not checked\&. Even with verify option, the client
certificate is only checked for validity against cafile
or capath, but not for match with the client\'s name or
its IP address!
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,SOCK_IP4,TCP,LISTEN,OPENSSL,CHILD,RANGE,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
cipher,
method,
verify,
cafile,
capath,
certificate,
fork,
bind,
range,
tcpwrap,
su,
reuseaddr,
retry
.br 
See also:
OPENSSL,
TCP4
.IP "\fB\f(CWPIPE:<filename>\fP\fP" 
If <filename> already exists, it is opened\&.
If is does not exist, a named pipe is created and opened\&. Beginning with
socat version 1\&.4\&.3, the named pipe is removed when the address is closed
(but see option unlink-close
.br 
Note: When a pipe is used for both reading and writing, it works
as echo service\&.
.br 
Note: When a pipe is used for both reading and writing, and socat tries
to write more bytes than the pipe can buffer (Linux 2\&.4: 2048 bytes), socat
might block\&. Consider using socat option, e\&.g\&., \f(CW-b 2048\fP 
.br 
Option groups: FD,NAMED,OPEN 
.br 
Useful options:
rdonly,
nonblock,
group,
user,
mode,
unlink-early
.br 
See also: unnamed pipe
.IP "\fB\f(CWPIPE\fP\fP" 
Creates an unnamed pipe and uses it for reading and writing\&. It works as an
echo, because everything written 
to it appeares immediately as read data\&.
.br 
Note: When socat tries to write more bytes than the pipe can queue (Linux
2\&.4: 2048 bytes), socat might block\&. Consider, e\&.g\&., using
option \f(CW-b 2048\fP 
.br 
Option groups: FD 
.br 
See also: named pipe
.IP "\fB\f(CWPROXY:<proxy>:<hostname>:<port>\fP\fP" 
Connects to an HTTP proxy server on port 8080 using TCP/IPv4, and sends a CONNECT
request for hostname:port\&. If the proxy grants access and succeeds to
connect to the target, data transfer between socat and the target can
start\&. Note that the traffic need not be HTTP but can be an arbitrary
protocol\&. 
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,IP4,TCP,HTTP,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
proxyport,
ignorecr,
proxyauth,
resolve,
crnl,
bind,
connect-timeout,
mss,
sourceport,
retry 
.br 
See also: SOCKS, TCP4
.IP "\fB\f(CWPTY\fP\fP" 
Generates a pseudo terminal (pty) and uses its master side\&. Another process
may open the pty\'s slave side using it like a serial line or terminal\&. If
both the ptmx and the openpty mechanisms are available, ptmx is used
(POSIX)\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,NAMED,PTY,TERMIOS 
.br 
Useful options:
link,
openpty,
wait-slave,
mode,
user,
group
.br 
See also:
UNIX-LISTEN,
PIPE,
EXEC, SYSTEM
.IP "\fB\f(CWREADLINE\fP\fP" 
Uses GNU readline and history on stdio to allow editing and reusing input
lines\&. This requires the GNU readline and 
history libraries\&. Note that stdio should be a (pseudo) terminal device,
otherwise readline does not seem to work\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,READLINE,TERMIOS 
.br 
Useful options:
history,
noecho
.br 
See also:
STDIO
.IP "\fB\f(CWSOCKS4:<socks-server>:<host>:<port>\fP\fP" 
Connects via <socks-server> [IPv4 address]
to <host> [IPv4 address]
on <port> [TCP service],
using socks version 4 protocol\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,IP4,TCP,SOCKS4,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
socksuser,
socksport,
sourceport,
retry
.br 
See also:
SOCKS4A,
TCP4
.IP "\fB\f(CWSOCKS4A:<socks-server>:<host>:<port>\fP\fP" 
Connects via <socks-server> [IPv4 address]
to <host> [IPv4 address]
on <port> [TCP service]\&.
This address uses version 4a of the socks protocol in case it cannot resolve
the hostname, thus it sends the destination host name unresolved in the
socks request\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,IP4,TCP,SOCKS4,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
socksuser,
socksport,
sourceport,
retry
.br 
See also:
SOCKS4,
TCP4
.IP "\fB\f(CWSTDERR\fP\fP" 
Uses file descriptor 2\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD (TERMIOS,REG,SOCKET) 
.br 
See also: FD
.IP "\fB\f(CWSTDIN\fP\fP" 
Uses file descriptor 0\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD (TERMIOS,REG,SOCKET) 
.br 
Useful options:
readbytes
.br 
See also: FD
.IP "\fB\f(CWSTDIO\fP\fP" 
Uses file descriptor 0 for reading, and 1 for writing\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD (TERMIOS,REG,SOCKET) 
.br 
Useful options:
readbytes
.br 
See also: FD
.IP "\fB\f(CWSTDOUT\fP\fP" 
Uses file descriptor 1\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD (TERMIOS,REG,SOCKET) 
.br 
See also: FD
.IP "\fB\f(CWSYSTEM:<shell-command>\fP\fP" 
Forks a sub process that establishes communication with its parent process
and invokes the specified program with \f(CWsystem()\fP\&. Please note that
<shell-command> [string] must 
not contain \',\' or "!!", and that shell meta characters may have to be
protected\&.
After successful program start, \fBsocat\fP writes data to stdin of the 
process and reads from its stdout\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,EXEC,FORK,TERMIOS 
.br 
Useful options:
path,
fdin,
fdout,
chroot,
su,
su-d,
nofork,
pty,
stderr,
ctty,
setsid,
pipes,
sigint,
sigquit
.br 
See also: EXEC
.IP "\fB\f(CWTCP4:<host>:<port>\fP\fP" 
Connects to <port> [TCP service] on
<host> [IPv4 address] using TCP/IPv4\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,IP4,TCP,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
crnl,
bind,
connect-timeout,
tos,
mtudiscover,
mss,
nodelay,
nonblock,
sourceport,
retry,
readbytes
.br 
See also:
TCP4-LISTEN,
UDP4,
TCP6,
UNIX-CONNECT
.IP "\fB\f(CWTCP4-LISTEN:<port>\fP\fP" 
Listens on <port> [TCP service] and accepts a
TCP/IPv4 connection\&. Note that opening
this address usually blocks until a client connects\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,LISTEN,CHILD,RANGE,IP4,TCP,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
crnl,
fork,
bind,
range,
tcpwrap,
backlog,
mss,
su,
reuseaddr,
retry
.br 
See also:
TCP4,
UDP4-LISTEN,
TCP6-LISTEN,
UNIX-LISTEN,
OPENSSL-LISTEN
.IP "\fB\f(CWTCP6:<host>:<port>\fP\fP" 
Connects to <port> [TCP service] on
<host> [IPv6 address] using TCP/IPv6\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,IP6,TCP,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
crnl,
bind,
connect-timeout,
tos,
nodelay,
nonblock,
retry 
.br 
See also:
TCP6-LISTEN,
UDP6,
TCP4 
.IP "\fB\f(CWTCP6-LISTEN:<port>\fP\fP" 
Listens on <port> TCP service] and accepts a
TCP/IPv6 connection\&. Note that opening
this address usually blocks until a client connects\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,LISTEN,CHILD,RANGE,IP6,TCP,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
crnl,
fork,
bind,
range,
backlog,
reuseaddr,
retry
.br 
See also:
TCP6,
UDP6-LISTEN,
TCP4-LISTEN
.IP "\fB\f(CWUDP4:<host>:<port>\fP\fP" 
Connects to <port> [UDP service] on
<host> [IPv4 address] using UDP/IPv4\&.
Please note that,
due to UDP protocol properties, no real connection is established; data has
to be sent for `connecting\' to the server, and no end-of-file condition can
be transported\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,IP4 
.br 
Useful options:
ttl,
tos,
bind,
sourceport
.br 
See also:
UDP4-LISTEN,
TCP4,
UDP6
.IP "\fB\f(CWUDP4-LISTEN:<port>\fP\fP" 
Waits for a UDP/IPv4 packet arriving on <port>
[UDP service] and `connects\' back to sender\&.
Please note that,
due to UDP protocol properties, no real connection is established; data has
to arrive from the peer first, and no end-of-file condition can be
transported\&. Note that opening  
this address usually blocks until a client connects\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,LISTEN,CHILD,RANGE,IP4 
.br 
Useful options:
fork,
bind,
range 
.br 
See also:
UDP4,
TCP4-LISTEN,
UDP6-LISTEN
.IP "\fB\f(CWUDP6:<host>:<port>\fP\fP" 
Connects to <port> [UDP service] on
<host> [IPv6 address] using UDP/IPv6\&. Please
note that, due to UDP protocol properties, no real connection is
established; data has to be sent for `connecting\' to the server, and no
end-of-file condition can be transported\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,IP6 
.br 
Useful options:
ttl,
tos 
.br 
bind,
sourceport,
See also:
UDP6-LISTEN,
TCP6,
UDP4
.IP "\fB\f(CWUDP6-LISTEN:<port>\fP\fP" 
Waits for a UDP/IPv6 packet arriving on <port>
[UDP service] and `connects\' back to sender\&.
Please note that, due to UDP protocol properties, no
real connection is established; data has to arrive from the peer first, and
no end-of-file condition can be transported\&. Note that opening 
this address usually blocks until a client connects\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,LISTEN,CHILD,RANGE,IP6 
.br 
Useful options:
fork,
bind,
range 
.br 
See also:
UDP6,
TCP6-LISTEN,
UDP4-LISTEN
.IP "\fB\f(CWUNIX-CONNECT:<filename>\fP\fP" 
Connects to <filename> assuming it is a UNIX domain
socket\&.
If <filename> does not exist, this is an error;
if <filename> is not a UNIX domain socket, this is an error;
if <filename> is a UNIX domain socket, but no process is listening, this is
an error\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,NAMED,RETRY 
.br 
See also:
UNIX-LISTEN,
TCP4
.IP "\fB\f(CWUNIX-LISTEN:<filename>\fP\fP" 
Listens on <filename> using a UNIX domain stream
socket and accepts a connection\&.
If <filename> exists and is not a socket, this is an error\&.
If <filename> exists and is a UNIX domain socket, binding to the address
fails (use option unlink-early!)\&.
Note that opening this address usually blocks until a client connects\&.
Beginning with socat version 1\&.4\&.3, the file system entry is removed when
this address is closed (but see option unlink-close)\&.
.br 
Option groups: FD,SOCKET,NAMED,LISTEN,CHILD,RETRY 
.br 
Useful options:
fork,
umask,
mode,
user,
group,
unlink-early 
.br 
See also:
UNIX-CONNECT,
TCP4-LISTEN
.PP 
.SH "ADDRESS OPTIONS" 
.PP 
Address options can be applied to address specifications to influence the
process of opening the addresses and the 
properties of the resulting data channels\&. 
.PP 
For technical reasons not every option can be
applied to every address type; e\&.g\&., applying a socket option to a regular file
will fail\&. To catch most useless combinations as early as in the open phase,
the concept of \fIoption groups\fP was introduced\&. Each option belongs to one
or more option groups\&. Options can be used only with address types that support
at least one of their option groups (but see option -g)\&.
.PP 
Address options have data types that their values must conform to\&. 
Every address option consists of just a keyword or a keyword followed by
"=value", where value must conform to the options type\&.
Some address options manipulate parameters of system calls;
e\&.g\&., option sync sets the \f(CWO_SYNC\fP flag with the \f(CWopen()\fP call\&. 
Other options cause a system or library call; e\&.g\&., with option `ttl=value\'
the \f(CWsetsockopt(fd, SOL_IP, IP_TTL, value, sizeof(int))\fP call is applied\&.
Other
options set internal \fBsocat\fP variables that are used during data transfer;
e\&.g\&., `crnl\' causes explicit character conversions\&. 
A few options have more complex implementations; e\&.g\&., su-d
(substuser-delayed) inquires some user and group infos, stores them, and
applies them later after a possible \f(CWchroot()\fP call\&.
.PP 
If multiple options are given to an address, their sequence in the address specification has (almost) no
effect on the sequence of their execution/application\&. Instead, \fBsocat\fP has
built in an \fIoption phase\fP model that tries to bring the options in a useful
order\&. Some options exist in different forms (e\&.g\&., 
unlink, unlink-early, unlink-late) to control the time of their execution\&.
.PP 
If the same option is specified more than once within one address
specification, with equal or different values, the effect depends on the kind of option\&. Options
resulting in function calls like \f(CWsetsockopt()\fP cause multiple
invocations\&. With options that set parameters for a required call like
\f(CWopen()\fP 
or set internal flags, the value of the last option occurrence is effective\&.
.PP 
The existence or semantics of many options are system dependent\&. \fBSocat\fP
usually does NOT try to emulate missing libc or kernel features, it just
provides an 
interface to the underlying system\&. So, if an operating system lacks a feature,
the related option is simply not available on this platform\&.
.PP 
The following paragraphs introduce just the more common address options\&. For
a comprehensive reference and to find information about canonical option names,
alias names, option phases, and platforms see file \fBxio\&.help\fP\&. 
.br 
.br 
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBFD option group\fP\fP
.PP 
This option group contains options that are applied to a UN*X
style file descriptor, no matter how it was generated\&.
Because all current \fBsocat\fP address types are file descriptor based, these
options may be applied to any address\&. 
.br 
Note: Some of these options are also member of another option group, that
provides an other, non-fd based mechanism\&.
For these options, it depends on the actual address type and its option groups 
which mechanism is used\&. The second, non-fd based mechanism is prioritized\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWcloexec=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Sets the \f(CWFD_CLOEXEC\fP flag with the \f(CWfcntl()\fP system call to value
<bool>\&. If set,
the file descriptor is closed on \f(CWexec()\fP family function calls\&. \fBSocat\fP
internally handles 
this flag for the fds it controls, so in most cases there will be no need to
apply this option\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsetlk\fP\fP" 
Tries to set a discretionary lock to the whole file using the \f(CWfcntl(fd,
F_SETLK, \&.\&.\&.)\fP system call\&. If the file is already locked, this call results
in an error\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsetlkw\fP\fP" 
Tries to set a discretionary waiting lock to the whole file using the
\f(CWfcntl(fd, F_SETLKW, \&.\&.\&.)\fP system call\&. If the file is already locked,
this call blocks\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWflock-ex\fP\fP" 
Tries to set a blocking exclusive advisory lock to the file using the
\f(CWflock(fd, LOCK_EX)\fP system call\&. \fBSocat\fP hangs in this call if the file
is locked by another process\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWflock-ex-nb\fP\fP" 
Tries to set a nonblocking exclusive advisory lock to the file using the
\f(CWflock(fd, LOCK_EX)\fP system call\&. If the file is already locked,
this option results in an error\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWflock-sh\fP\fP" 
Tries to set a blocking shared advisory lock to the file using the
\f(CWflock(fd, LOCK_SH)\fP system call\&. \fBSocat\fP hangs in this call if the file
is locked by another process\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWflock-sh-nb\fP\fP" 
Tries to set a nonblocking shared advisory lock to the file using the
\f(CWflock(fd, LOCK_SH|LOCK_NB)\fP system call\&. If the file is already locked,
this option results in an error\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWlock\fP\fP" 
Sets a blocking lock on the file\&. Uses the setlk or flock mechanism
depending on availability on the particular platform\&. If both are available,
the POSIX variant (setlkw) is selected\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWuser=<user>\fP\fP" 
Sets the <user> (owner) of the stream\&.
If the address is member of the NAMED option group,
\fBsocat\fP uses the \f(CWchown()\fP system call after opening the
file or binding to the UNIX domain socket (race condition!)\&.
Without filesystem entry, \fBsocat\fP sets the user of the stream 
using the \f(CWfchown()\fP system call\&.
These calls might require root privilege\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWuser-late=<user>\fP\fP" 
Sets the owner of the fd to <user> with the \f(CWfchown()\fP
system call after opening 
or connecting the channel\&.
This is useful only on file system entries\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWgroup=<group>\fP\fP" 
Sets the <group> of the stream\&.
If the address is member of the NAMED option group,
\fBsocat\fP uses the \f(CWchown()\fP system call after opening the
file or binding to the UNIX domain socket (race condition!)\&.
Without filesystem entry, \fBsocat\fP sets the group of the stream 
with the \f(CWfchown()\fP system call\&. 
These calls might require group membership or root privilege\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWgroup-late=<group>\fP\fP" 
Sets the group of the fd to <group> with the
\f(CWfchown()\fP system call after opening 
or connecting the channel\&.
This is useful only on file system entries\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWmode=<mode>\fP\fP" 
Sets the <mode> [mode_t] (permissions) of the stream\&.
If the address is member of the NAMED option group and
uses the \f(CWopen()\fP or \f(CWcreat()\fP call, the mode is applied with these\&.
If the address is member of the NAMED option group without using these
system calls, \fBsocat\fP uses the \f(CWchmod()\fP system call after opening the
filesystem entry or binding to the UNIX domain socket (race condition!)\&.
Otherwise, \fBsocat\fP sets the mode of the stream
using \f(CWfchmod()\fP\&. 
These calls might require ownership or root privilege\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWperm-late=<mode>\fP\fP" 
Sets the permissions of the fd to value <mode>
[mode_t] using the \f(CWfchmod()\fP system call after
opening or connecting the channel\&.
This is useful only on file system entries\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWappend=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Always writes data to the actual end of file\&.
If the address is member of the OPEN option group, 
\fBsocat\fP uses the \f(CWO_APPEND\fP flag with the \f(CWopen()\fP system call\&.
Otherwise, \fBsocat\fP applies the \f(CWfcntl(fd, F_SETFL, O_APPEND)\fP call\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnonblock=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Tries to open or use file in nonblocking mode\&. Its only effects are that the
\f(CWconnect()\fP call of TCP addresses does not block, and that opening a
named pipe for reading does not block\&.
If the address is member of the OPEN option group,
\fBsocat\fP uses the \f(CWO_NONBLOCK\fP flag with the \f(CWopen()\fP system call\&.
Otherwise, \fBsocat\fP applies the \f(CWfcntl(fd, F_SETFL, O_NONBLOCK)\fP call\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWbinary\fP\fP" 
Opens the file in binary mode to avoid implicit line terminator
conversions (Cygwin)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWtext\fP\fP" 
Opens the file in text mode to force implicit line terminator conversions
(Cygwin)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnoinherit\fP\fP" 
Does not keep this file open in a spawned process (Cygwin)\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBNAMED option group\fP\fP
.PP 
These options work on file system entries\&.
.br 
See also options user, group, and
mode\&.
.PP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWuser-early=<user>\fP\fP" 
Changes the <user> (owner) of the file system entry before
accessing it, using the 
\f(CWchown()\fP system call\&. This call might require root privilege\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWgroup-early=<group>\fP\fP" 
Changes the <group> of the file system entry before
accessing it, using the 
\f(CWchown()\fP system call\&. This call might require group membership or root
privilege\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWperm-early=<mode>\fP\fP" 
Changes the <mode> [mode_t] of the file system entry
before accessing it, using the 
\f(CWchmod()\fP system call\&. This call might require ownership or root
privilege\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWumask=<mode>\fP\fP" 
Sets the umask of the process to <mode> [mode_t] before
accessing the file system entry (useful 
with UNIX domain sockets!)\&. This call might affect all further operations
of the \fBsocat\fP process!  
.IP "\fB\f(CWunlink-early\fP\fP" 
Unlinks (removes) the file before opening it and even before applying
user-early etc\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWunlink\fP\fP" 
Unlinks (removes) the file before accessing it, but after user-early etc\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWunlink-late\fP\fP" 
Unlinks (removes) the file after opening it to make it inaccessible for
other processes after a short race condition\&. 
(
.IP "\fB\f(CWunlink-close\fP\fP" 
Removes the addresses file system entry when closing the address\&.
For named pipes,
listening unix domain sockets,
and the symbolic links of pty addresses,
the default is 1; for created files,
opened files,
generic opened files, and
client unix domain sockets the default is 0\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBOPEN option group\fP\fP
.PP 
The OPEN group options allow to set flags with the \f(CWopen()\fP system call\&. 
E\&.g\&., option `creat\' sets the \f(CWO_CREAT\fP flag\&.
.br 
See also options append and
nonblock\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWcreat=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Creates the file if it does not exist\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWdsync=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Blocks \f(CWwrite()\fP calls until metainfo is physically written to media\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWexcl=<bool>\fP\fP" 
With option creat, if file exists this is an error\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWlargefile=<bool>\fP\fP" 
On 32 bit systems, allows a file larger than 2^31 bytes\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnoctty=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Does not make this file the controlling terminal\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnofollow=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Does not follow symbolic links\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnshare=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Does not allow to share this file with other processes\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWrshare=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Does not allow other processes to open this file for writing\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWrsync=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Blocks \f(CWwrite()\fP until metainfo is physically written to media\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsync=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Blocks \f(CWwrite()\fP until data is physically written to media\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWrdonly=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Opens the file for reading only\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWwronly=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Opens the file for writing only\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWtrunc\fP\fP" 
Truncates the file to size 0 during opening it\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBREG and BLK option group\fP\fP
.PP 
These options are usually applied to a UN*X file descriptor, but their
semantics make sense only on a file supporting random access\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWseek=<offset>\fP\fP" 
Applies the \f(CWlseek(fd, <offset>, SEEK_SET)\fP (or \f(CWlseek64\fP) system
call, thus positioning the file pointer absolutely to <offset>
[off_t or off64_t]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWseek-cur=<offset>\fP\fP" 
Applies the \f(CWlseek(fd, <offset>, SEEK_CUR)\fP (or \f(CWlseek64\fP) system
call, thus positioning the file pointer <offset> [off_t or
off64_t] bytes relatively to its current position (which
is usually 0)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWseek-end=<offset>\fP\fP" 
Applies the \f(CWlseek(fd, <offset>, SEEK_END)\fP (or \f(CWlseek64\fP) system
call, thus positioning the file pointer <offset> [off_t or
off64_t] bytes relatively to the files current end\&.  
.IP "\fB\f(CWftruncate=<offset>\fP\fP" 
Applies the \f(CWftruncate(fd, <offset>)\fP
(or \f(CWftruncate64\fP if available) system call, thus
truncating the file at the position <offset> [off_t or 
off64_t]\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBPROCESS option group\fP\fP
.PP 
Options of this group change the process properties instead of just affecting
one data channel\&.
For EXEC and SYSTEM addresses and for LISTEN and CONNECT type addresses with
option FORK, 
these options apply to the child processes instead of the main socat process\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWchroot=<directory>\fP\fP" 
Performs a \f(CWchroot()\fP operation to <directory>
after processing the address\&. This call might require root privilege\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWchroot-early=<directory>\fP\fP" 
Performs a \f(CWchroot()\fP operation to <directory>
before opening the address\&. This call might require root privilege\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsetgid=<group>\fP\fP" 
Changes the primary <group> of the process after
processing the address\&. This call might require root privilege\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsetgid-early=<group>\fP\fP" 
Changes the primary <group> of the process before opening
the address\&. This call might require root privilege\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsetuid=<user>\fP\fP" 
Changes the <user> (owner) of the process after processing
the address\&. This call might require root privilege\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsetuid-early=<user>\fP\fP" 
Changes the <user> (owner) of the process before opening
the address\&. This call might require root privilege\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsu=<user>\fP\fP" 
Changes the <user> (owner) and groups of the process after
processing the address\&. This call might require root privilege\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsu-d=<user>\fP\fP" 
Short name for \fB\f(CWsubstuser-delayed\fP\fP\&. 
Changes the <user>
(owner) and groups of the process after processing the address\&.
The user and his groups are retrieved \fIbefore\fP a possible
\f(CWchroot()\fP\&. This call might require root privilege\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsetpgid=<pid_t>\fP\fP" 
Makes the process a member of the specified process group
<pid_t>\&. If no value 
is given, or if the value is 0 or 1, the process becomes leader of a new
process group\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsetsid\fP\fP" 
Makes the process the leader of a new session\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBREADLINE option group\fP\fP
.PP 
These options apply to the readline address type\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWhistory=<filename>\fP\fP" 
Reads and writes history from/to <filename>\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnoprompt\fP\fP" 
Since version 1\&.4\&.0, socat per default tries to determine a prompt - 
that is then passed to the readline call - by remembering the last
incomplete line of the output\&. With this option, socat does not pass a
prompt to readline, so it begins line editing in the first column
of the terminal\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWnoecho=<pattern>\fP\fP" 
Specifies a regular pattern for a prompt that prevents the following input
line from being displayed on the screen and from being added to the history\&.
The prompt is defined as the text that was output to the readline address 
after the lastest newline character and before an input character was
typed\&. The pattern is a regular expression, e\&.g\&.
"^[Pp]assword:\&.*$" or "([Uu]ser:|[Pp]assword:)"\&. See regex(7) for details\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWprompt=<string>\fP\fP" 
Passes the string as prompt to the readline function\&. readline prints this
prompt when stepping through the history\&. If this string matches a constant
prompt issued by an interactive program on the other socat address,
consistent look and feel can be archieved\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBAPPLICATION option group\fP\fP
.PP 
This group contains options that work at data level\&.
Note that these options only apply to the "raw" data transferred by socat,
but not to protocol data used by addresses like
PROXY\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWcr\fP\fP" 
Converts the default line termination character NL (\'\en\', 0x0a) to/from CR
(\'\er\', 0x0d) when writing/reading on this channel\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWcrnl\fP\fP" 
Converts the default line termination character NL (\'\en\', 0x0a) to/from CRNL
("\er\en", 0x0d0a) when writing/reading on this channel\&.
Note: socat simply strips all CR characters\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWignoreeof\fP\fP" 
When EOF occurs on this channel, \fBsocat\fP ignores it and tries to read more
data (like "tail -f")\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWreadbytes=<bytes>\fP\fP" 
\fBsocat\fP reads only so many bytes from this address (the address provides
only so many bytes for transfer and pretends to be at EOF afterwards)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWlockfile=<filename>\fP\fP" 
If lockfile exists, exits with error\&. If lockfile does not exist, creates it
and continues, unlinks lockfile on exit\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWwaitlock=<filename>\fP\fP" 
If lockfile exists, waits until it disappears\&. When lockfile does not exist,
creates it and continues, unlinks lockfile on exit\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBSOCKET option group\fP\fP
.PP 
These options are intended for all kinds of sockets, e\&.g\&. IP or UNIX domain\&. Most are applied with a \f(CWsetsockopt()\fP call\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWbind=<sockname>\fP\fP" 
Binds the socket to the given socket address using the \f(CWbind()\fP system
call\&. The form of <sockname> is socket domain dependent:
IP4 and IP6 allow the form [hostname|hostaddress][:(service|port)],
UNIX domain sockets require <filename>\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWconnect-timeout=<seconds>\fP\fP" 
Abort the connection attempt after <seconds> [timeval]
with error status\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWinterface=<interface>\fP\fP" 
Binds the socket to the given <interface>\&.
This option might require root privilege\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWbroadcast\fP\fP" 
For datagram sockets, allows sending to broadcast addresses and receiving
packets addressed to broadcast addresses\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWbsdcompat\fP\fP" 
Emulates some (old?) bugs of the BSD socket implementation\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWdebug\fP\fP" 
Enables socket debugging\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWdontroute\fP\fP" 
Only communicates with directly connected peers, does not use routers\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWkeepalive\fP\fP" 
Enables sending keepalives on the socket\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWlinger=<seconds>\fP\fP" 
Blocks \f(CWshutdown()\fP or \f(CWclose()\fP until data transfers have finished
or the given timeout [int] expired\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWoobinline\fP\fP" 
Places out-of-band data in the input data stream\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWpriority=<priority>\fP\fP" 
Sets the protocol defined <priority> [<int>] for outgoing
packets\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWrcvbuf=<bytes>\fP\fP" 
Sets the size of the receive buffer after the \f(CWsocket()\fP call to
<bytes> [int]\&.  With TCP
sockets, this value corresponds to the socket\'s maximal window size\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWrcvbuf-late=<bytes>\fP\fP" 
Sets the size of the receive buffer when the socket is already
connected to <bytes> [int]\&. 
With TCP sockets, this value corresponds to the socket\'s 
maximal window size\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWrcvlowat=<bytes>\fP\fP" 
Specifies the minimum number of received bytes [int] until
the socket layer will pass the buffered data to \fBsocat\fP\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWrcvtimeo=<seconds>\fP\fP" 
Sets the receive timeout [timeval]\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWreuseaddr\fP\fP" 
Allows other sockets to bind to an address even if parts of it (e\&.g\&. the
local port) are already in use by \fBsocat\fP\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsndbuf=<bytes>\fP\fP" 
Sets the size of the send buffer after the \f(CWsocket()\fP call to
<bytes> [int]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsndbuf-late=<bytes>\fP\fP" 
Sets the size of the send buffer when the socket is connected to
<bytes> [int]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsndlowat=<bytes>\fP\fP" 
Specifies the minimum number of bytes in the send buffer until the socket
layer will send the data to <bytes> [int]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsndtimeo=<seconds>\fP\fP" 
Sets the send timeout to seconds [timeval]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWtype=<type>\fP\fP" 
Sets the type of the socket, usually as argument to the \f(CWsocket()\fP or
\f(CWsocketpair()\fP call, to <type> [int]\&.
Under Linux, 1 means stream oriented socket, 2 means datagram socket, and 3
means raw socket\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBIP4 and IP6 option groups\fP\fP
.PP 
These options can be used with IPv4 and IPv6 based sockets\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWtos=<tos>\fP\fP" 
Sets the TOS (type of service) field of outgoing packets to <tos>
[byte] (see RFC 791)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWttl=<ttl>\fP\fP" 
Sets the TTL (time to live) field of outgoing packets to <ttl>
[byte]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWipoptions=<data>\fP\fP" 
Sets IP options like source routing\&. Must be given in binary form,
recommended format is a leading "x" followed by an even number of hex
digits\&. This option may be used multiple times, data are appended\&.
E\&.g\&., to connect to host 10\&.0\&.0\&.1 via some gateway using a loose source
route, use the gateway as address parameter and set a loose source route
using the option \f(CWipoptions=x8307040a000001\fP\&.
.br 
IP options are defined in RFC 791\&. 
.br 
.IP "\fB\f(CWmtudiscover=<0|1|2>\fP\fP" 
Takes 0, 1, 2 to never, want, or always use path MTU discover on this
socket\&. 
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBTCP option group\fP\fP
.PP 
These options may be applied to TCP sockets\&. They work by invoking \f(CWsetsockopt()\fP with the appropriate parameters\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWcork\fP\fP" 
Doesn\'t send packets smaller than MSS (maximal segment size)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWdefer-accept\fP\fP" 
While listening, accepts connections only when data from the peer arrived\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWkeepcnt=<count>\fP\fP" 
Sets the number of keepalives before shutting down the socket to
<count> [int]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWkeepidle=<seconds>\fP\fP" 
Sets the idle time before sending the first keepalive to <seconds>
[int]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWkeepintvl=<seconds>\fP\fP" 
Sets the intervall between two keepalives to <seconds>
[int]\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWlinger2=<seconds>\fP\fP" 
Sets the time to keep the socket in FIN-WAIT-2 state to <seconds>
[int]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWmss=<bytes>\fP\fP" 
Sets the MSS (maximum segment size) after the \f(CWsocket()\fP call to <bytes>
[int]\&. This
value is then proposed to the peer with the SYN or SYN/ACK packet\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWmss-late=<bytes>\fP\fP" 
Sets the MSS of the socket after connection has been established to <bytes>
[int]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnodelay\fP\fP" 
Turns off the Nagle algorithm for measuring the RTT (round trip time)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWrfc1323\fP\fP" 
Enables RFC1323 TCP options: TCP window scale, round-trip time measurement
(RTTM), and protect against wrapped sequence numbers (PAWS) (AIX)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWstdurg\fP\fP" 
Enables RFC1122 compliant urgent pointer handling (AIX)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsyncnt=<count>\fP\fP" 
Sets the maximal number of SYN retransmits during connect to <count>
[int]\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWmd5sig\fP\fP" 
Enables generation of MD5 digests on the packets (FreeBSD)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnoopt\fP\fP" 
Disables use of TCP options (FreeBSD, MacOSX)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnopush\fP\fP" 
sets the TCP_NOPUSH socket option (FreeBSD, MacOSX)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsack-disable\fP\fP" 
Disables use the selective acknowledge feature (OpenBSD)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsignature-enable\fP\fP" 
Enables generation of MD5 digests on the packets (OpenBSD)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWabort-threshold=<milliseconds>\fP\fP" 
Sets the time to wait for an answer of the peer on an established connection
(HP-UX)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWconn-abort-threshold=<milliseconds>\fP\fP" 
Sets the time to wait for an answer of the server during the initial connect
(HP-UX)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWkeepinit\fP\fP" 
Sets the time to wait for an answer of the server during connect() before
giving up\&. Value in half seconds, default is 150 (75s) (Tru64)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWpaws\fP\fP" 
Enables the "protect against wrapped sequence numbers" feature (Tru64)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsackena\fP\fP" 
Enables selective acknowledge (Tru64)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWtsoptena\fP\fP" 
Enables the time stamp option that allows RTT recalculation on existing
connections (Tru64)\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBUDP and TCP option groups\fP\fP
.PP 
Here we find options that are related to the network port mechanism and that
thus can be used with UDP and TCP, client and server addresses\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsourceport=<port>\fP\fP" 
For outgoing (client) TCP and UDP connections, it sets the source
<port> using an extra \f(CWbind()\fP call\&.
With TCP or UDP listen addresses, socat immediately shuts down the
connection if the client does not use this sourceport\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWlowport\fP\fP" 
Outgoing (client) TCP and UDP connections with this option use
an unused random source port between 640 and 1023 incl\&. On UNIX class operating
systems, this requires root privilege, and thus indicates that the
client process is authorized by local root\&.
TCP and UDP listen addresses with this option immediately shut down the
connection if the client does not use a sourceport <= 1023\&.
This mechanism can provide limited authorization under some circumstances\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBSOCKS option group\fP\fP
.PP 
When using SOCKS type addresses, some socks specific options can be set\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocksport=<tcp service>\fP\fP" 
Overrides the default "socks" service or port 1080 for the socks server
port with <TCP service>\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocksuser=<user>\fP\fP" 
Sends the <user> [string] in the username field to the
socks server\&. Default is the actual user name ($LOGNAME or $USER)\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBHTTP option group\fP\fP
.PP 
Options that can be provided with HTTP type addresses\&. The only HTTP address
currently implemented is proxy-connect\&.
.PP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWproxyport=<TCP service>\fP\fP" 
Overrides the default HTTP proxy port 8080 with
<TCP service>\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWignorecr\fP\fP" 
The HTTP protocol requires the use of CR+NL as line terminator\&. When a proxy
server violates this standard, socat might not understand its answer\&. 
This option directs socat to interprete NL as line terminator and
to ignore CR in the answer\&. Nevertheless, socat sends CR+NL to the proxy\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWproxyauth=<username>:<password>\fP\fP" 
Provide "basic" authentication to the proxy server\&. The argument to the
option is used with a "Proxy-Authorization: Base" header in base64 encoded
form\&.
.br 
Note: username and password are visible for every user on the local machine
in the process list; username and password are transferred to the proxy
server unencrypted (base64 encoded) and might be sniffed\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWresolve\fP\fP" 
Per default, socat sends to the proxy a CONNECT request containing the
target hostname\&. With this option, socat resolves the hostname locally and
sends the IP address\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBRANGE option group\fP\fP
.PP 
These options check if a connecting client is granted access\&. They can be
applied to listening network sockets\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWrange=<address-range>\fP\fP" 
After accepting a connection, tests if the peer is within \fIrange\fP\&. This
option is currently only implemented for IPv4 addresses\&. Address range has
the form ww\&.xx\&.yy\&.zz/bits, e\&.g\&. 10\&.0\&.0\&.0/8\&. If the client address does not
match, \fBsocat\fP issues an error aborting the program 
or keeps listening (see option -s)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWtcpwrap[=<name>]\fP\fP" 
Uses Wietse Venema\'s libwrap (tcpd) library to determine
if the client is allowed to connect\&. The configuration files are
/etc/hosts\&.allow and /etc/hosts\&.deny, see "man 5 hosts_access" for 
more information\&. <name> (type string) is passed to the wrapper functions as daemon
process name\&. If omitted, the basename of socats invocation (argv[0]) is
passed\&. 
If both tcpwrap and range options are applied to an address, both
conditions must be fulfilled to allow the connection\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBLISTEN option group\fP\fP
.PP 
Options specific to listening sockets\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWbacklog=<count>\fP\fP" 
Sets the backlog value passed with the \f(CWlisten()\fP system call to <count>
[int]\&. Default is 5\&. 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBCHILD option group\fP\fP
.PP 
Options for addresses with multiple connections via child processes\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWfork\fP\fP" 
After establishing a connection, handles its channel in a child process and
keeps the parent process attempting to produce more connections, either by
listening or by connecting in a loop\&.
.br 
SSL-CONNECT and SSL-LISTEN differ in when they actually fork off the child:
SSL-LISTEN forks \fIbefore\fP the SSL handshake, while SSL-CONNECT forks
\fIafterwards\fP\&.
RETRY and FOREVER options are not inherited by the child process\&.
.br 
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBEXEC option group\fP\fP
.PP 
Options for addresses that invoke a program\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWpath=<string>\fP\fP" 
Overrides the PATH environment variable for searching the program with
<string>\&. This
\f(CW$PATH\fP value is effective in the child process too\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWlogin\fP\fP" 
Prefixes \f(CWargv[0]\fP for the \f(CWexecvp()\fP call with \'-\', thus making a
shell behave as login shell\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBFORK option group\fP\fP
.PP 
EXEC or SYSTEM addresses invoke a program using a child process and transfer data between \fBsocat\fP and the program\&. The interprocess communication mechanism can be influenced with the following options\&. Per
default, a \f(CWsocketpair()\fP is created and assigned to stdin and stdout of
the child process, while stderr is inherited from the \fBsocat\fP process, and the
child process uses file descriptors 0 and 1 for communicating with the main
socat process\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnofork\fP\fP" 
Does not fork a subprocess for executing the program, instead calls execvp()
or system() directly from the actual socat instance\&. This avoids the
overhead of another process between the program and its peer,
but introduces a lot of restrictions:
.IP o 
this option can only be applied to the second \fBsocat\fP address\&.
.IP o 
it cannot be applied to a part of a LINK(dual)(ADDRESS_DUAL) address\&.
.IP o 
the first socat address cannot be OPENSSL or READLINE
.IP o 
socat options -b, -t, -D, -l, -v, -x become useless
.IP o 
for both addresses, options ignoreeof, cr, and crnl become useless
.IP o 
for the second address (the one with option nofork), options 
append,  cloexec, flock, user, group, mode, nonblock,
perm-late, setlk, and setpgid cannot be applied\&. Some of these could be
used on the first address though\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWpipes\fP\fP" 
Creates a pair of unnamed pipes for interprocess communication instead of a
socket pair\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWopenpty\fP\fP" 
Establishes communication with the sub process using a pseudo terminal
created with \f(CWopenpty()\fP instead of the default (socketpair or ptmx)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWptmx\fP\fP" 
Establishes communication with the sub process using a pseudo terminal
created by opening \fB/dev/ptmx\fP or \fB/dev/ptc\fP instead of the default
(socketpair)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWpty\fP\fP" 
Establishes communication with the sub process using a pseudo terminal
instead of a socket pair\&. Creates the pty with an available mechanism\&. If
openpty and ptmx are both available, it uses ptmx because this is POSIX
compliant\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWctty\fP\fP" 
Makes the pty the controlling tty of the sub process\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWstderr\fP\fP" 
Directs stderr of the sub process to its output channel by making stderr a
\f(CWdup()\fP of stdout\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWfdin=<fdnum>\fP\fP" 
Assigns the sub processes input channel to its file descriptor
<fdnum> 
instead of stdin (0)\&. The program started from the subprocess has to use
this fd for reading data from \fBsocat\fP\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWfdout=<fdnum>\fP\fP" 
Assigns the sub processes output channel to its file descriptor
<fdnum> 
instead of stdout (1)\&. The program started from the subprocess has to use 
this fd for writing data to \fBsocat\fP\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWsighup\fP\fP, \fB\f(CWsigint\fP\fP, \fB\f(CWsigquit\fP\fP" 
Has \fBsocat\fP pass an eventual signal of this type to the sub process\&.
If no address has this option, socat terminates on these signals\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBTERMIOS option group\fP\fP
.PP 
For addresses that work on a tty (e\&.g\&., stdio, file:/dev/tty, exec:\&.\&.\&.,pty), the terminal parameters defined in the UN*X termios mechanism are made available as address option parameters\&.
Please note that changes of the parameters of your interactive terminal 
remain effective after \fBsocat\fP\'s termination, so you might have to enter "reset"
or "stty sane" in your shell afterwards\&.
For EXEC and SYSTEM addresses with option PTY,
these options apply to the pty by the child processes\&.
.PP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWb0\fP\fP" 
Disconnects the terminal\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWb19200\fP\fP" 
Sets the serial line speed to 19200 baud\&. Some other rates are possible; use
something like \f(CWsocat -hh |grep \' b[1-9]\'\fP to find all speeds supported by
your implementation\&.
.br 
Note: On some operating systems, these options may not be
available\&. Use ispeed or ospeed
instead\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWecho=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Enables or disables local echo\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWicanon=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Sets or clears canonical mode, enabling line buffering and some special
characters\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWraw\fP\fP" 
Sets raw mode, thus passing input and output almost unprocessed\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWignbrk=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Ignores or interpretes the BREAK character (e\&.g\&., ^C)
.IP "\fB\f(CWbrkint=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWbs0\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWbs1\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWbsdly=<0|1>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWclocal=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fBcr0
cr1
cr2
cr3\fP
\.fi
\.IP
Sets the carriage return delay to 0, 1, 2, or 3, respectively\&.
0 means no delay, the other values are terminal dependent\&.
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWcrdly=<0|1|2|3>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWcread=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWcrtscts=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fBcs5 
cs6 
cs7 
cs8\fP
\.fi
\.IP
Sets the character size to 5, 6, 7, or 8 bits, respectively\&.
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWcsize=<0|1|2|3>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWcstopb=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Sets two stop bits, rather than one\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWdsusp=<byte>\fP\fP" 
Sets the value for the VDSUSP character that suspends the current foreground
process and reactivates the shell (all except Linux)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWechoctl=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Echos control characters in hat notation (e\&.g\&. ^A)
.IP "\fB\f(CWechoe=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWechok=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWechoke=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWechonl=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWechoprt=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWeof=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWeol=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWeol2=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWerase=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWdiscard=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWff0\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWff1\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWffdly=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWflusho=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWhupcl=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWicrnl=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWiexten=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWigncr=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWignpar=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWimaxbel=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWinlcr=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWinpck=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWintr=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWisig=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWispeed=<unsigned-int>\fP\fP" 
Set the baud rate for incoming data on this line\&.
.br 
See also: ospeed, b19200
dif(\fB\f(CWistrip=<bool>\fP\fP)
.IP "\fB\f(CWiuclc=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWixany=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWixoff=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWixon=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWkill=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWlnext=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWmin=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWnl0\fP\fP" 
Sets the newline delay to 0\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWnl1\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWnldly=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWnoflsh=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWocrnl=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWofdel=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWofill=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWolcuc=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWonlcr=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWonlret=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWonocr=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWopost=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Enables or disables output processing; e\&.g\&., converts NL to CR-NL\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWospeed=<unsigned-int>\fP\fP" 
Set the baud rate for outgoing data on this line\&.
.br 
See also: ispeed, b19200
.IP "\fB\f(CWparenb=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Enable parity generation on output and parity checking for input\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWparmrk=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWparodd=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWpendin=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWquit=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWreprint=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsane\fP\fP" 
Brings the terminal to something like a useful default state\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWstart=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWstop=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsusp=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWswtc=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWtab0\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWtab1\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWtab2\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWtab3\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWtabdly=<unsigned-int>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWtime=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWtostop=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWvt0\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWvt1\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWvtdly=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWwerase=<byte>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWxcase=<bool>\fP\fP" 
.IP "\fB\f(CWxtabs\fP\fP" 
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBPTY option group\fP\fP
.PP 
These options are intended for use with the pty address
type\&.
.PP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWlink=<filename>\fP\fP" 
Generates a symbolic link that points to the actual pseudo terminal
(pty)\&. This might help 
to solve the problem that ptys are generated with more or less
unpredictable names, making it difficult to directly access the socat
generated pty automatically\&. With this option, the user can specify a "fix"
point in the file hierarchy that helps him to access the actual pty\&.
Beginning with \fBsocat\fP version 1\&.4\&.3, the symbolic link is removed when
the address is closed (but see option unlink-close)\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWwait-slave\fP\fP" 
Blocks the open phase until a process opens the slave side of the pty\&.
Usually, socat continues after generating the pty with opening the next
address or with entering the transfer loop\&. With the wait-slave option,
socat waits until some process opens the slave side of the pty before
continuing\&. 
This option only works if the operating system provides the \f(CWpoll()\fP
system call\&. And it depends on an undocumented behaviour of pty\'s, so it
does not work on all operating systems\&. It has successfully been tested on
Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and on Tru64 with openpty\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWpty-intervall=<seconds>\fP\fP" 
When the wait-slave option is set, socat
periodically checks the HUP condition using \f(CWpoll()\fP to find if the pty\'s
slave side has been opened\&. The default polling intervall is 1s\&. Use the
pty-intervall option [timeval] to change this value\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBOPENSSL option group\fP\fP
.PP 
These options apply to the openssl and
openssl-listen address types\&.
.PP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWcipher=<cipherlist>\fP\fP" 
Selects the list of ciphers that may be used for the connection\&.
See the man page of \f(CWciphers\fP, section \fBCIPHER LIST FORMAT\fP, for
detailed information about syntax, values, and default of <cipherlist>\&.
.br 
Several cipher strings may be given, separated by \':\'\&.
Some simple cipher strings:
.IP "3DES" 
Uses a cipher suite with triple DES\&.
.IP "MD5" 
Uses a cipher suite with MD5\&.
.IP "aNULL" 
Uses a cipher suite without authentication\&.
.IP "NULL" 
Does not use encryption\&.
.IP "HIGH" 
Uses a cipher suite with "high" encryption\&.
Note that the peer must support the selected property, or the negotiation
will fail\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWmethod=<ssl-method>\fP\fP" 
Sets the protocol version to be used\&. Valid strings (not case sensitive)
are:  
.IP "\f(CWSSLv2\fP" 
Select SSL protocol version 2\&.
.IP "\f(CWSSLv3\fP" 
Select SSL protocol version 3\&.
.IP "\f(CWSSLv23\fP" 
Select SSL protocol version 2 or 3\&. This is the default when
this option is not provided\&.
.IP "\f(CWTLSv1\fP" 
Select TLS protocol version 1\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWverify=<bool>\fP\fP" 
Controls check of the server\'s certificate\&. Default is false for client and
true for server addresses\&. Disabling verify might open your socket for
everyone! 
.IP "\fB\f(CWcert=<filename>\fP\fP" 
Specifies the file with the certificate and private key for authentication\&. 
The certificate must be in OpenSSL format (*\&.pem)\&. 
With openssl-listen, use of this option is strongly
recommended\&. Except with cipher aNULL, "no shared ciphers" error will
occur when no certificate is given\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWkey=<filename>\fP\fP" 
Specifies the file with the private key\&. The private key may be in this
file or in the file given with the cert option\&. The party that has
to proof that it is the owner of a certificate needs the private key\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWdhparams=<filename>\fP\fP" 
Specifies the file with the Diffie Hellman parameters\&. These parameters may
also be in the file given with the cert
option in which case the dhparams option is not needed\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWcafile=<filename>\fP\fP" 
Specifies the file with the trusted (root) authority certificates\&. The file
must be in PEM format and should contain one or more certificates\&. The party
that checks the authentication of its peer trusts only certificates that are
in this file\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWcapath=<dirname>\fP\fP" 
Specifies the directory with the trusted (root) certificates\&. The directory
must contain certificates in PEM format and their hashes (see OpenSSL
documentation) 
.IP "\fB\f(CWegd=<filename>\fP\fP" 
On some systems, openssl requires an explicit source of random data\&. Specify
the socket name where an entropy gathering daemon like egd provides random
data, e\&.g\&. /dev/egd-pool\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWpseudo\fP\fP" 
On systems where openssl cannot find an entropy source and where no entropy
gathering daemon can be utilized, this option activates a mechanism for
providing pseudo entropy\&. This is archieved by taking the current time in
microseconds for feeding the libc pseudo random number generator with an
initial value\&. openssl is then feeded with output from random() calls\&.
.br 
NOTE:This mechanism is not sufficient for generation of secure keys!
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
\fI\fBRETRY option group\fP\fP
.PP 
Options that control retry of some system calls, especially connection
attempts\&.
.PP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWretry=<num>\fP\fP" 
Number of retries before the connection or listen attempt is aborted\&. 
Default is 0, which means just one attempt\&. 
.IP "\fB\f(CWintervall=<timespec>\fP\fP" 
Time between consecutive attempts (seconds, 
[timespec])\&. Default is 1 second\&.
.IP "\fB\f(CWforever\fP\fP" 
Performs an unlimited number of retry attempts\&.
.PP 
.br 
.PP 
.SH "DATA VALUES" 
.PP 
This section explains the different data types that address parameters and
address options can take\&.
.PP 
.IP "address-range" 
Is currently only implemented for IPv4\&. See address-option
`range\' 
.IP "bool" 
"0" or "1"; if value is omitted, "1" is taken\&.
.IP "byte" 
An unsigned int number, read with \f(CWstrtoul()\fP, lower or equal to
\f(CWUCHAR_MAX\fP\&.
.IP "command-line" 
A string specifying a program name and its arguments, separated by single
spaces\&. 
.IP "data" 
A raw data specification following \fIdalan\fP syntax\&. The only documented
form is a string starting with \'x\' followed by an even number of hex digits\&.
.IP "directory" 
A string with usual UN*X directory name semantics\&.
.IP "facility" 
The name of a syslog facility in lower case characters\&.
.IP "fdnum" 
An unsigned int type, read with \f(CWstrtoul()\fP, specifying a UN*X file
descriptor\&. 
.IP "filename" 
A string with usual UN*X filename semantics\&.
.IP "group" 
If the first character is a decimal digit, the value is read with
\f(CWstrtoul()\fP as unsigned integer specifying a group id\&. Otherwise, it
must be an existing group name\&.
.IP "int" 
A number following the rules of the \f(CWstrtol()\fP function with base
"0", i\&.e\&. decimal number, octal number with leading "0", or hexadecimal
number with leading "0x"\&. The value must fit into a C int\&.
.IP "interface" 
A string specifying the device name of a network interface, e\&.g\&. "eth0"\&.
.IP "IPv4 address" 
A hostname that is resolved by \f(CWgethostbyname()\fP, or an
address in numbers-and-dots notation\&.
.br 
Examples: www\&.dest-unreach\&.org, dns1, 127\&.0\&.0\&.1
.IP "IPv6 address" 
A hostname that is resolved by \f(CWgetaddrinfo()\fP, \f(CWgetipnodebyname()\fP,
or \f(CWgethostbyname()\fP, or an
address in hexnumbers-and-colons notation\&.
.br 
Examples: ip6name\&.domain\&.org, ::1, 1234:5678:9abc:def0:1234:5678:9abc:def0
.IP "long" 
A number read with \f(CWstrtol()\fP\&. The value must fit into a C long\&.
.IP "long long" 
A number read with \f(CWstrtoll()\fP\&. The value must fit into a C long long\&.
.IP "off_t" 
An implementation dependend signed number, usually 32 bits, read with strtol
or strtoll\&.
.IP "off64_t" 
An implementation dependend signed number, usually 64 bits, read with strtol
or strtoll\&.
.IP "mode_t" 
An unsigned integer, read with \f(CWstrtoul()\fP, specifying mode (permission)
bits\&. 
.IP "pid_t" 
A number, read with \f(CWstrtol()\fP, specifying a process id\&.
.IP "port" 
A byte2_t (16 bit) unsigned number specifying a TCP or UDP port, read
with \f(CWstrtoul()\fP\&.
.IP "protocol" 
An unsigned 8 bit number, read with \f(CWstrtoul()\fP\&.
.IP "size_t" 
An unsigned int with size_t limitations, read with \f(CWstrtoul\fP\&.
.IP "sockname" 
A socket address\&. See address-option `bind\'
.IP "string" 
A sequence of characters, not containing \'\e0\' and, depending on
the position within the command line, \':\', \',\', or "!!"\&. Note
that you might have to escape shell meta characters in the command line\&.
.IP "TCP service" 
A service name, not starting with a digit, that is resolved by
\f(CWgetservbyname()\fP, or an unsigned int 16 bit number read with
\f(CWstrtoul()\fP\&.
.IP "timeval" 
A double float specifying seconds; the number is mapped into a
struct timeval, consisting of seconds and microseconds\&.
.IP "timespec" 
A double float specifying seconds; the number is mapped into a
struct timespec, consisting of seconds and nanoseconds\&.
.IP "UDP service" 
A service name, not starting with a digit, that is resolved by
\f(CWgetservbyname()\fP, or an unsigned int 16 bit number read with
\f(CWstrtoul()\fP\&.
.IP "unsigned int" 
A number read with \f(CWstrtoul()\fP\&. The value must fit into a C unsigned
int\&. 
.IP "user" 
If the first character is a decimal digit, the value is read with
\f(CWstrtoul()\fP as unsigned integer specifying a user id\&. Otherwise, it must
be an existing user name\&.
.PP 
.SH "EXAMPLES" 
.PP 
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocat - TCP4:www\&.domain\&.org:80\fP\fP" 
.IP 
Transfers data between STDIO (-) and a
TCP4 connection to port 80 of host 
www\&.domain\&.org\&. This example results in an interactive connection similar to
telnet or netcat\&. The stdin terminal parameters are not changed, so you may
close the relay with ^D or abort it with ^C\&.
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fBsocat -d -d READLINE,history=$HOME/.http_history \\ 
TCP4:www.domain.org:www,crnl\fP
\.fi
.IP 
.IP 
This is similar to the previous example, but you can edit the current line in a
bash like manner (READLINE) and use the
history file \&.http_history; \fBsocat\fP 
prints messages about progress (-d -d)\&. The  port is specified by service name
(www), and correct network line termination characters (crnl) instead of NL
are used\&.
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocat TCP4-LISTEN:www TCP4:www\&.domain\&.org:www\fP\fP" 
.IP 
Installs a simple TCP port forwarder\&. With
TCP4-LISTEN it listens on local port "www" until a
connection comes in, accepts it, then connects to the remote host
(TCP4) and starts data transfer\&. It will not accept a
second connection\&. 
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fBsocat -d -d -lmlocal2 \\ 
TCP4-LISTEN:80,bind=myaddr1,su=nobody,fork,range=10.0.0.0/8,reuseaddr \\ 
TCP4:www.domain.org:80,bind=myaddr2\fP
\.fi
.IP 
.IP 
TCP port forwarder, each side bound to another local IP address
(bind)\&. This example handles an almost
arbitrary number of parallel or consecutive connections by
fork\'ing a new 
process after each \f(CWaccept()\fP\&. It provides a little security by
su\'ing to user 
nobody after forking; it only permits connections from the private 10 network (range);
due to reuseaddr, it allows immediate restart after master process\'s
termination, even if some child sockets are not completely shut down\&.
With -lmlocal2, socat logs to stderr until successfully
reaching the accept loop\&. Further logging is directed to syslog with facility
local2\&.
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fBsocat TCP4-LISTEN:5555,fork,tcpwrap=script \\ 
EXEC:/bin/myscript,chroot=/home/sandbox,su-d=sandbox,pty,stderr\fP
\.fi
.IP 
.IP 
A simple server that accepts connections
(TCP4-LISTEN) and fork\'s a new
child process for each connection; every child acts as single relay\&. 
The client must match the rules for daemon process name "script" in
/etc/hosts\&.allow and /etc/hosts\&.deny, otherwise it is refused access (see "man
5 hosts_access")\&.
For EXEC\'uting the program, the child process
chroot\'s 
to \fB/home/sandbox\fP, su\'s to user sandbox, and then starts 
the program \fB/home/sandbox/bin/myscript\fP\&. \fBSocat\fP and
myscript communicate via a pseudo tty (pty); myscript\'s
stderr is redirected to stdout,
so its error messages are transferred via \fBsocat\fP to the connected client\&. 
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fBsocat EXEC:"mail.sh target@domain.com",fdin=3,fdout=4 \\ 
TCP4:mail.relay.org:25,crnl,bind=alias1.server.org,mss=512\fP
\.fi
.IP 
.IP 
\fBmail\&.sh\fP is a shell script, distributed with \fBsocat\fP, that implements a
simple 
SMTP client\&. It is programmed to "speak" SMTP on its FDs 3 (in) and 4 (out)\&.
The fdin and fdout options tell \fBsocat\fP
to use these FDs for communication with 
the program\&. Because mail\&.sh inherits stdin and stdout while \fBsocat\fP does not
use them, the script can read a
mail body from stdin\&. \fBSocat\fP makes alias1 your local source address
(bind), cares for correct network line termination
(crnl) and sends  
at most 512 data bytes per packet (mss)\&. 
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocat - /dev/ttyS0,raw,echo=0,crnl\fP\fP" 
.IP 
Opens an interactive connection via the serial line, e\&.g\&. for talking with a
modem\&. raw and echo set ttyS0\'s terminal
parameters to practicable values, crnl 
converts to correct newline characters\&. Consider using
READLINE instead of `-\'\&.
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fBsocat UNIX-LISTEN:/tmp/.X11-unix/X1,fork \\ 
SOCKS4:host.victim.org:127.0.0.1:6000,socksuser=nobody,sourceport=20\fP
\.fi
.IP 
.IP 
With UNIX-LISTEN, \fBsocat\fP opens a listening
UNIX domain socket \fB/tmp/\&.X11-unix/X1\fP\&. This path corresponds 
to local XWindow display :1 on your machine, so XWindow client connections to
DISPLAY=:1 are accepted\&. \fBSocat\fP then speaks with
the SOCKS4 server host\&.victim\&.org that might permit 
sourceport 20 based connections due to an FTP related
weakness in its static IP filters\&. \fBSocat\fP
pretends to be invoked by socksuser nobody, and
requests to be connected to 
loopback port 6000 (only weak sockd configurations will allow this)\&. So we get
a connection to the victims XWindow server and, if it does not require MIT
cookies or Kerberos authentication, we can start work\&. Please note that there
can only be one connection at a time, because TCP can establish only one
session with a given set of addresses and ports\&.
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocat -u /tmp/readdata,seek-end=0,ignoreeof -\fP\fP" 
.IP 
This is an example for unidirectional data transfer
(-u)\&. \fBSocat\fP transfers data 
from file /tmp/readdata (implicit address GOPEN), starting
at its current end (seek-end=0 lets \fBsocat\fP start 
reading at current end of file; use seek=0 or no
seek option to first read the existing data) in a "tail -f" like mode
(ignoreeof)\&. The "file" 
might also be a listening UNIX domain socket (do not use a seek option then)\&. 
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fB(sleep 5; echo PASSWORD; sleep 5; echo ls; sleep 1) | 
socat - EXEC:'ssh -l user server',pty,setsid,ctty\fP
\.fi
.IP 
.IP 
EXEC\'utes an ssh session to server\&. Uses a pty for communication between \fBsocat\fP and
ssh, makes it ssh\'s controlling tty (ctty), 
and makes this pty the owner of
a new process group (setsid), so ssh accepts the password from \fBsocat\fP\&.
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fBsocat -u TCP4-LISTEN:3334,reuseaddr,fork \\ 
OPEN:/tmp/in.log,creat,append\fP
\.fi
.IP 
.IP 
Implements a simple network based message collector\&. 
For each client connecting to port 3334, a new child process is generated (option fork)\&.
All data sent by the clients are append\'ed to the file /tmp/in\&.log\&.
If the file does not exist, socat creat\'s it\&. 
Option reuseaddr allows immediate restart of the server
process\&. 
.IP 
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocat READLINE,noecho=\'[Pp]assword:\' EXEC:\'ftp ftp\&.server\&.com\',pty,setsid,ctty\fP\fP" 
.IP 
Puts a command line history (READLINE) in front of the EXEC\'uted ftp client utility\&.
This allows editing and reuse of FTP commands for relatively comfortable
browsing through the ftp directory hierarchy\&. The password is echoed!
pty is required to have ftp issue a prompt\&.
Nevertheless, there may occur some confusion with the password and FTP
prompts\&.
.IP 
.IP "" 
.IP 
On server with modem: 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocat TCP4-LISTEN:54321,reuseaddr /dev/ttyS0,nonblock,raw,echo=0\fP\fP" 
.IP 
On client: \f(CWmkdir $HOME/dev\fP
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocat PTY,link=$HOME/dev/vmodem0,raw,echo=0,waitslave TCP4:modemserver\&.us\&.org:54321\fP\fP" 
.IP 
Installs a TCP4 service on a modemserver and
generates a pseudo terminal 
device (PTY) on the client that can be reached under the
symbolic link \fB$HOME/dev/vmodem0\fP\&. Now 
an application on the client that expects a serial line or modem
can be configured to use \fB$HOME/dev/vmodem0\fP; its traffic will be directed
to \fB/dev/ttyS0\fP on the modem server\&.
.IP 
\.LP
\.nf
\fBsocat TCP4-LISTEN:2022,reuseaddr,fork \\ 
PROXY:proxy:www.domain.org:22,proxyport=3128,proxyauth=user:pass\fP
\.fi
.IP 
.IP 
starts a forwarder that accepts connections on port 2022, and directs them 
through the proxy daemon listening on port 3128
(proxyport) on host proxy, using the
CONNECT method, where they are authenticated as "user" with "pass" (proxyauth)\&. The proxy 
should establish connections to host www\&.domain\&.org on port 22 then\&.
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWecho |socat -u - file:/tmp/bigfile,create,largefile,seek=100000000000\fP\fP" 
.IP 
creates a 100GB sparse file; this requires a file system type that
supports this (ext2, ext3, reiserfs, jfs; not minix, vfat)\&. The operation of
writing 1 byte might take long (reiserfs: some minutes; ext2: "no" time), and
the resulting file can consume some disk space with just its inodes (reiserfs:
2MB; ext2: 16KB)\&. 
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocat tcp-l:7777,reuseaddr,fork system:\'filan -i 0 -s >&2\',nofork\fP\fP" 
.IP 
listens for incoming TCP connections on port 7777\&. For each accepted
connection, invokes a shell\&. This shell has its stdin and stdout directly
connected to the TCP socket (nofork)\&.  The shell starts filan and lets it print the socket addresses to
stderr (your terminal window)\&.
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWecho -en '\\e0\\e14\\e0\\e0' |socat -u - file:/usr/bin/squid\&.exe,seek=0x00074420\fP\fP" 
.IP 
functions as primitive binary editor: it writes the 4 bytes 000 014 000 000 to
the executable /usr/bin/squid at offset 0x00074420 (this is a real world patch
to make the squid executable from Cygwin run under Windows, actual per May 2004)\&.
.IP 
.IP "\fB\f(CWsocat - tcp:www\&.blackhat\&.org:31337,readbytes=1000\fP\fP" 
.IP 
connect to an unknown service and prevent being flooded\&.
.IP 
.PP 
.SH "DIAGNOSTICS" 
.PP 
\fBSocat\fP uses a logging mechanism that allows to filter messages by severity\&. The
severities provided are more or less compatible to the appropriate syslog
priority\&. With one or up to four occurrences of the -d command line option, the
lowest priority of messages that are issued can be selected\&. Each message
contains a single uppercase character specifying the messages severity (one of
F, E, W, N, I, or D)
.PP 
.IP "FATAL:" 
Conditions that require unconditional and immediate program termination\&.
.IP "ERROR:" 
Conditions that prevent proper program processing\&. Usually the
program is terminated (see option -s)\&.
.IP "WARNING:" 
Something did not function correctly or is in a state where
correct further processing cannot be guaranteed, but might be possible\&.
.IP "NOTICE:" 
Interesting actions of the program, e\&.g\&. for supervising \fBsocat\fP in some kind of server mode\&.
.IP "INFO:" 
Description of what the program does, and maybe why it happens\&.
.IP "DEBUG:" 
Description of how the program works, all system or library calls and their results\&.
.PP 
Log messages can be written to stderr, to a file, or to syslog\&.
.PP 
On exit, \fBsocat\fP gives status 0 if it terminated due to EOF or inactivity
timeout, with a positive value on error, and with a negative value on fatal
error\&. 
.PP 
.SH "FILES" 
.PP 
/usr/bin/socat 
.br 
/usr/bin/filan 
.br 
/usr/bin/procan
.PP 
.SH "CREDITS" 
.PP 
The work of the following groups and organizations was invaluable for this
project:
.PP 
The \fIFSF\fP (GNU, http://www\&.fsf\&.org/ project 
with their free and portable development software and
lots of other useful tools and libraries\&.
.PP 
The \fILinux developers community\fP (http://www\&.linux\&.org/) for providing a free, open source operating
system\&.
.PP 
\fISourceforge\fP (http://www\&.sourceforge\&.net/) for providing a compile
farm with Solaris, FreeBSD, and MacOS X machines, making these ports possible\&.
.PP 
The \fIOpen Group\fP (http://www\&.unix-systems\&.org/) for making their
standard specifications available on the Internet for free\&.
.PP 
.SH "VERSION" 
.PP 
This man page describes version 1\&.4\&.3 of \fBsocat\fP\&.
.PP 
.SH "BUGS" 
.PP 
\fBsocat\fP is not POSIX\&.1 compliant\&.
.PP 
Addresses cannot be nested, so a single socat process cannot, e\&.g\&., drive ssl
over socks\&.
.PP 
In address specifications, characters with special meaning (\':\', \',\', \'!!\')
cannot be escaped, so 
it is hardly possible to directly invoke a second \fBsocat\fP instance from an exec
type address\&.
.PP 
IPv6 address specification does not allow \'[\' and \']\'\&.
.PP 
Proxy, socks, and openssl addresses cannot use IP6 transport\&.
.PP 
Address option ftruncate without value uses default 1 instead of 0\&.
.PP 
Verbose modes (-x and/or -v) display line termination characters inconsistently
when address options cr or crnl are used: They show the data \fIafter\fP
conversion in either direction\&.
.PP 
The data transfer blocksize setting (-b) is ignored with address readline\&.
.PP 
Send bug reports to <socat@dest-unreach\&.org>
.PP 
.SH "SEE ALSO" 
.PP 
nc(1), netcat6(1), sock(1), rinetd(8), cage(1), socks\&.conf(5), openssl(1),
stunnel(8), pty(1), rlwrap(1), setsid(1)
.PP 
\fBSocat\fP home page http://www\&.dest-unreach\&.org/socat/
.PP 
.SH "AUTHOR" 
.PP 
Gerhard Rieger <rieger@dest-unreach\&.org>