Feature gate: #![feature(unix_socket_abstract)]

This is a tracking issue for adding abstract namespace support for Unix domain sockets on Linux.

Traditionally, Unix domain sockets (UDS) use a file to coordinate socket binding and connecting. On Linux, though, a specific extension exists to allow domain sockets to be created from a namespace which does not use the filesystem. With these changes, we extend Rust's UDS support to create sockets directly from a SocketAddr which can be itself used to create an abstract namespace.

More information

Previous discussion: #42048
Linux man page: unix(7)

Public API

Non-platform specific additions

UnixListener::bind_addr(&SocketAddr) -> Result<UnixListener>

UnixStream::connect_addr(&SocketAddr) -> Result<()>

UnixDatagram::bind_addr(&SocketAddr) -> Result<UnixDatagram>

UnixDatagram::connect_addr(&SocketAddr) -> Result<()>

UnixDatagram::send_to_addr(&self, &[u8], &SocketAddr) -> Result<usize>

Platform-specific (Linux) additions

SocketAddrExt::from_abstract_name(&[u8]) -> Result<SocketAddr>

SockerAddrExt::as_abstract_name(&self) -> Option<&[u8]>

Example

#![feature(unix_socket_abstract)]
use std::os::unix::net::{UnixListener, SocketAddr};
use std::os::linux::net::SocketAddrExt;

fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
    let addr = SocketAddr::from_abstract_namespace(b"namespace")?; // Linux only
    let listener = match UnixListener::bind_addr(&addr) {
        Ok(sock) => sock,
        Err(err) => {
            println!("Couldn't bind: {:?}", err);
            return Err(err);
        }
    };
    Ok(())
}

Steps / History

• Implementation: Add abstract namespace support for Unix domain sockets #85379
• Rework to use an extension trait: Move unix_socket_abstract feature API to SocketAddrExt. #101967
• Final commenting period (FCP)
• Stabilization PR

Unresolved Questions

• None yet.