How do I use setsockopt(SO_REUSEADDR)?
I am running my own http server on a raspberry pi. The problem is when I stop the program and restart it, the port is no longer available. Sometimes I get the same issue when receiving lots of requests.
I want to use SO_REUSEADDR so that I can keep using the port even when the error occurs but have had no luck getting it set up. Below is my code.
The error I get is "ERROR on binding:Address already in use".
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/types.h>
#include <sys/socket.h>
#include <netinet/in.h>
void error(const char *msg)
{
perror(msg);
exit(1);
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
printf("Starting Listener\n");
int sockfd, newsockfd, portno;
socklen_t clilen;
char buffer[256];
struct sockaddr_in serv_addr, cli_addr;
int n;
if (argc < 2) {
fprintf(stderr,"ERROR, no port provided\n");
exit(1);
}
sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
if (sockfd < 0)
error("ERROR opening socket");
bzero((char *) &serv_addr, sizeof(serv_addr));
portno = atoi(argv[1]);
serv_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
serv_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY;
serv_addr.sin_port = htons(portno);
if (bind(sockfd, (struct sockaddr *) &serv_addr,
sizeof(serv_addr)) < 0)
error("ERROR on binding");
printf("about to listen\n");
listen(sockfd,5);
printf("finished listening\n");
clilen = sizeof(cli_addr);
printf("About to accept\n");
int i;
for(i=0; i<100; i++){
newsockfd = accept(sockfd,
(struct sockaddr *) &cli_addr,
&clilen);
if (newsockfd < 0)
error("ERROR on accept");
bzero(buffer,256);
n = read(newsockfd,buffer,255);
if (n < 0) error("ERROR reading from socket");
printf("Here is the message: %s\n",buffer);
n = write(newsockfd,"I got your message",18);
if (n < 0) error("ERROR writing to socket");
close(newsockfd);
}
close(sockfd);
return 0;
}
After :
sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
if (sockfd < 0)
error("ERROR opening socket");
You can add (with standard C99 compound literal support) :
if (setsockopt(sockfd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &(int){1}, sizeof(int)) < 0)
error("setsockopt(SO_REUSEADDR) failed");
Or :
int enable = 1;
if (setsockopt(sockfd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &enable, sizeof(int)) < 0)
error("setsockopt(SO_REUSEADDR) failed");
Depending on the libc release it could be needed to set both SO_REUSEADDR and SO_REUSEPORT socket options as explained in socket(7) documentation :
SO_REUSEPORT (since Linux 3.9) Permits multiple AF_INET or AF_INET6 sockets to be bound to an identical socket address. This option must be set on each socket (including the first socket) prior to calling bind(2) on the socket. To prevent port hijacking, all of the processes binding to the same address must have the same effective UID. This option can be employed with both TCP and UDP sockets.
As this socket option appears with kernel 3.9 and raspberry use 3.12.x, it will be needed to set SO_REUSEPORT.
You can set theses two options before calling bind like this :
int reuse = 1;
if (setsockopt(sockfd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, (const char*)&reuse, sizeof(reuse)) < 0)
perror("setsockopt(SO_REUSEADDR) failed");
#ifdef SO_REUSEPORT
if (setsockopt(sockfd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEPORT, (const char*)&reuse, sizeof(reuse)) < 0)
perror("setsockopt(SO_REUSEPORT) failed");
#endif
I think you should use SO_LINGER options (with timeout 0). In this case, you connection will close immediately after closing your program; and next restart will be able to bind again.
example:
linger lin;
lin.l_onoff = 0;
lin.l_linger = 0;
setsockopt(fd, SOL_SOCKET, SO_LINGER, (const char *)&lin, sizeof(int));
see definition: http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/socket.7.html
SO_LINGER
Sets or gets the SO_LINGER option. The argument is a linger
structure.
struct linger {
int l_onoff; /* linger active */
int l_linger; /* how many seconds to linger for */
};
When enabled, a close(2) or shutdown(2) will not return until
all queued messages for the socket have been successfully sent
or the linger timeout has been reached. Otherwise, the call
returns immediately and the closing is done in the background.
When the socket is closed as part of exit(2), it always
lingers in the background.
More about SO_LINGER: TCP option SO_LINGER (zero) - when it's required