WebServer - Nginx-Style HTTP Server

A high-performance HTTP/1.1 web server implementation inspired by NGINX, built from scratch in C++98. This project implements a fully functional web server with support for multiple virtual hosts, CGI execution, file uploads, and modern HTTP features.

🚀 Features

Core HTTP Features

• HTTP/1.1 Protocol - Full implementation with persistent connections
• Multiple HTTP Methods - GET, POST, DELETE, HEAD support
• Non-blocking I/O - Event-driven architecture using poll()
• Chunked Transfer Encoding - Support for streaming large requests/responses
• Virtual Hosts - Multiple server blocks with different configurations
• Custom Error Pages - Configurable error pages per status code

Advanced Capabilities

• CGI Support - Execute Python, Bash, and other CGI scripts
• File Uploads - Handle multipart/form-data with size limits
• Directory Listing - Auto-index functionality for directories
• HTTP Redirects - 301/302 redirects with customizable rules
• Static File Serving - Efficient serving of HTML, CSS, JS, images
• Request/Response Chunking - Handle large payloads efficiently

Configuration System

• NGINX-style Config - Familiar configuration file syntax
• Syntax Validation - Parse-time validation of config structure
• Semantic Validation - Runtime validation of config values
• Flexible Routing - Location blocks with pattern matching
• Multiple Servers - Run multiple servers on different ports

📋 Requirements

• Compiler: g++ or clang++ with C++98 support
• OS: Linux or macOS
• Build Tool: GNU Make
• Optional: Python 3.x (for CGI tests)

🔧 Installation

Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/MartaFontsere/Webserver.git
cd WebServer_oficial

# Build the project
make

# Run with default configuration
./webServer.out

# Run with custom configuration
./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf

Build Targets

make          # Compile the server
make clean    # Remove object files
make fclean   # Remove object files and executable
make re       # Recompile everything

🎯 Usage

Basic Usage

# Start server with default config
./webServer.out

# Start server with custom config file
./webServer.out path/to/config.conf

# Graceful shutdown
Ctrl+C  # Sends SIGINT for clean shutdown

Configuration File Example

server {
    listen 8080;
    host 127.0.0.1;
    server_name localhost;
    root ./www;
    index index.html index.php;
    client_max_body_size 1048576;
    error_page 404 /404.html;
    error_page 500 /500.html;

    location / {
        allow_methods GET POST DELETE HEAD;
        root ./www;
        index index.html;
        autoindex on;
    }

    location /cgi-bin {
        allow_methods GET POST;
        cgi_path /usr/bin/python3;
        cgi_ext .py;
    }

    location /uploads {
        allow_methods GET POST DELETE;
        upload_path ./www/uploads;
        client_max_body_size 5242880;
    }
}

🧪 Testing

Quick Tests

# Run automated test suite
./tests/scripts/test-autoindex.sh
./tests/scripts/test-post-delete.sh
./tests/scripts/test_cgi.sh

# Test with web browser
# Start server: ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
# Open browser: http://localhost:8080/

Manual Testing

Static File Serving

# Serve welcome page
http://localhost:8080/

# Serve specific file
http://localhost:8080/tests/files/document1.txt

Directory Listing (Autoindex)

# Auto-generated directory listing
http://localhost:8080/tests/files/

# Subdirectory listing
http://localhost:8080/tests/files/subdir/

# Index file takes priority (no autoindex)
http://localhost:8080/tests/public/

Error Handling

# 403 Forbidden (directory without index and autoindex off)
http://localhost:8080/tests/private/

# 404 Not Found
http://localhost:8080/nonexistent.html

File Upload (POST)

# Upload interface
http://localhost:8080/post-delete/test.html

# Or use curl
curl -X POST -F "file=@test.txt" http://localhost:8080/uploads/

File Deletion (DELETE)

# Delete file via curl
curl -X DELETE http://localhost:8080/uploads/test.txt

# Or use web interface
http://localhost:8080/post-delete/test.html

CGI Execution

# Python CGI script
http://localhost:8080/cgi-bin/test.py

# Bash CGI script
http://localhost:8080/cgi-bin/test.sh

📁 Project Structure

WebServer_oficial/
├── main.cpp                    # Entry point and signal handling
├── Makefile                    # Build configuration (auto-detects sources)
├── includes/                   # Header files
│   ├── config/                 # Configuration classes
│   ├── config_parser/          # Config file parser
│   ├── core/                   # Server core
│   ├── http/                   # HTTP protocol handling
│   ├── network/                # Network I/O
│   └── cgi/                    # CGI execution
├── src/                        # Source files
│   ├── config/                 # Configuration implementation
│   ├── config_parser/          # Parser implementation
│   ├── core/                   # Server implementation
│   ├── http/                   # HTTP implementation
│   ├── network/                # Network implementation
│   └── cgi/                    # CGI implementation
├── tests/                      # Test suite
│   ├── configs/                # Test configuration files
│   └── scripts/                # Automated test scripts
├── www/                        # Document root (static files)
└── README.md                   # This file

🛠️ Troubleshooting

Port Already in Use

If you see this error:

Error en bind(): Address already in use
❌ Error: no se pudo crear el socket.

Solution:

# Find process using the port
lsof -i :8080

# Kill the process
kill -9 <PID>

# Or kill all instances
pkill webServer.out

Permission Issues (403 Forbidden)

Testing 403 errors with restricted files:

# Remove all permissions (for testing)
chmod 000 www/tests/files/secret.pdf

# Restore permissions (before commit)
chmod 644 www/tests/files/secret.pdf

⚠️ Note: Git cannot track files with 000 permissions. Always restore permissions before committing.

CGI Scripts Not Executing

Ensure CGI scripts have execution permissions:

chmod +x www/cgi-bin/script.py
chmod +x www/cgi-bin/script.sh

🏗️ Architecture

Modular Design

The server is organized into independent modules:

• config_parser: Parses and validates configuration files
• config: Converts parsed config to typed structures
• network: Socket management and I/O multiplexing
• http: HTTP protocol parsing and response generation
• core: Server engine and request routing
• cgi: CGI script execution and environment setup

Request Flow

Client → Network → HTTP Parser → Router → Handler → HTTP Response → Network → Client
                                    ↓
                              CGI / Static / Upload

Key Technologies

• I/O Multiplexing: poll() for non-blocking event-driven I/O
• Memory Safety: RAII principles, STL containers (no raw pointers)
• C++98 Standard: Full compatibility with older compilers
• Signal Handling: Graceful shutdown on SIGINT/SIGTERM

📚 Documentation

Detailed documentation available in module-specific README files:

• Configuration Parser - Config file parsing
• Configuration Builder - Config object construction
• More documentation coming soon...

🤝 Contributing

This is a student project for 42 School. While external contributions are not accepted, feel free to fork and learn from the code.

👥 Team

• Pablo Manzan - @pamanzan
• Marta Fontsere - @MartaFontsere
• Lucas Moyano - @LucasMoyano

📄 License

This project is part of the 42 School curriculum and follows their academic guidelines.

🎓 Project Information

School: 42 Barcelona
Project: Webserv
Language: C++98
Started: October 27, 2025

(opción 2)

• Terminal:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
• Navegador:
  - Python (GET): http://localhost:8080/cgi-bin/test.py?user=Marta Para ver que el servidor es capaz de ejecutar scripts de Python, pasarles variables y devolver el resultado en tiempo real. En este caso procesa la variable user y devuelve el HTML dinámico
  - Bash (GET): http://localhost:8080/cgi-bin/hello.sh
  - Headers (GET): http://localhost:8080/cgi-bin/header.py
  - Error 500 (GET): http://localhost:8080/cgi-bin/error.py
  - PHP (GET): http://localhost:8080/cgi-bin/hello.php Dará 500 si no tienes PHP instalado

Redirecciones:

• Terminal:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
• Navegador:
  - http://localhost:8080/google El navegador debería saltar automáticamente a google.com (estamos probando el comando return 301 de la configuración)

PRUEBAS DE ERRORES Y LÍMITES

Página de Error Personalizada:

• Terminal:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
• Navegador:
  - http://localhost:8080/lo-que-sea-que-no-exista Manejo de errores 404 con archivo HTML propio (muestra la página personalizada)

Límites de Body (413 Payload Too Large)

• Terminal:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
• Terminal:
  - /tests/scripts/test_limits.sh
  Verifica que peticiones mayores de 100 bytes (en esta config) son rechazadas

PRUEBAS AVANZADAS:

Test multiclient:

• Terminal 1:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
• Terminal 2:
  - python3 tests/scripts/number_clients_stress_test.py
  Lanza 20 clientes concurrentes para verificar que el servidor no se bloquea.

Test timeout (nc):

• Terminal 1:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
• Terminal 2: - nc - v localhost 8080 (y esperar sin escribir nada) El servidor debería cerrar la conexión tras el tiempo de inactividad configurado

Test Virtual Host:

• Terminal 1:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
• Terminal 2: - ./tests/scripts/test_vhosts.sh
  Verifica que el servidor responde distinto según el header Host: marta.com.

Test Alias:

• Terminal 1:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
• Terminal 2: - ./tests/scripts/test_alias.s Verifica que /test-alias/ sirve archivos de una carpeta distinta a la raíz (tests/test_assets)

Test Múltiples puertos:

• Terminal 1:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
• Terminal 2: - ./tests/scripts/test_ports.sh
  Verifica que el servidor escucha en el 8080 y en el 9999 simultáneamente

PRUEBAS DE GESTIÓN DEL SERVIDOR

Test Cierre limpio del servidor:

• Terminal 1:
  - make
  - ./webServer.out tests/configs/default.conf
  - Pulsar Ctrl+C en la terminal del servidor
  Verás el mensaje 🛑 Signal received, shutting down gracefully.... El puerto 8080 se liberará inmediatamente.