Webserv

This repository contains the Webserv project, designed to build a fully functional HTTP server from scratch in C++. This project enhances the understanding of network programming, HTTP protocol handling, and concurrent programming, providing essential experience in web technologies and server management.

Project Overview

Objective

Implement a robust, scalable HTTP server capable of handling standard HTTP methods and managing client-server communications effectively.

Key Concepts

• Network programming using sockets.
• HTTP/1.1 protocol compliance.
• Request parsing and response generation.
• MIME types and content management.
• Error handling and status codes.
• Concurrent programming and event-driven architecture (using select, poll, or epoll).

Project Features

• Support for HTTP methods:
  • GET
  • POST
  • DELETE
• Configuration file parsing for server setup (ports, server names, error pages, etc.).
• Handling multiple client connections concurrently.
• Support for CGI (Common Gateway Interface) to execute external scripts in Python.
• Implementation of HTTP response status codes (200, 400, 404, 500, etc.).
• Static file serving and directory listing.

Bonus Features

• Cookies and Session Management:

  • Implement HTTP cookies to maintain stateful sessions between clients and the server.
  • Provide examples demonstrating simple session creation, validation, and termination.
  • An account management system is included, allowing users to:
    • Log in securely.
    • Create new user accounts.
    • Delete existing accounts.

• Multiple CGI Scripts Handling:

  • Support concurrent execution of multiple CGI scripts to enhance dynamic content generation.
  • Efficiently manage CGI script lifecycles and resources, allowing simultaneous script execution without blocking the main server functionality.

Technical Requirements

• Fully implemented in standard-compliant C++ (C++98).
• No external libraries (other than standard system libraries).
• Efficient memory and resource management.
• Clean, readable, maintainable, and modular code structure.

How to Run

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/mjorgecruz/webserv.git
   cd webserv

2. Compile the project using provided Makefile:

   make

3. Run the server executable:

   ./webserv [configuration_file.conf]

If no configuration file is provided, the server will use default settings defined in the code.

4. Access the server via your web browser or tools like curl:

   curl http://localhost:8080

Replace 8080 with the port number configured in your server configuration file.