QWebSocketServer Class

Implements a WebSocket-based server. More...

Header: #include <QWebSocketServer>
qmake: QT += websockets
Since: Qt 5.3
Inherits: QObject

This class was introduced in Qt 5.3.

Public Types

enum SslMode { SecureMode, NonSecureMode }

Public Functions

QWebSocketServer(const QString &serverName, QWebSocketServer::SslMode secureMode, QObject *parent = nullptr)
virtual ~QWebSocketServer() override
void close()
QWebSocketProtocol::CloseCode error() const
QString errorString() const
void handleConnection(QTcpSocket *socket) const
std::chrono::milliseconds handshakeTimeout() const
int handshakeTimeoutMS() const
bool hasPendingConnections() const
bool isListening() const
bool listen(const QHostAddress &address = QHostAddress::Any, quint16 port = 0)
int maxPendingConnections() const
qintptr nativeDescriptor() const
virtual QWebSocket *nextPendingConnection()
void pauseAccepting()
QNetworkProxy proxy() const
void resumeAccepting()
QWebSocketServer::SslMode secureMode() const
QHostAddress serverAddress() const
QString serverName() const
quint16 serverPort() const
QUrl serverUrl() const
void setHandshakeTimeout(std::chrono::milliseconds msec)
void setHandshakeTimeout(int msec)
void setMaxPendingConnections(int numConnections)
bool setNativeDescriptor(qintptr socketDescriptor)
void setProxy(const QNetworkProxy &networkProxy)
void setServerName(const QString &serverName)
void setSslConfiguration(const QSslConfiguration &sslConfiguration)
QSslConfiguration sslConfiguration() const
QList<QWebSocketProtocol::Version> supportedVersions() const

Signals

void acceptError(QAbstractSocket::SocketError socketError)
void closed()
void newConnection()
void originAuthenticationRequired(QWebSocketCorsAuthenticator *authenticator)
void peerVerifyError(const QSslError &error)
void preSharedKeyAuthenticationRequired(QSslPreSharedKeyAuthenticator *authenticator)
void serverError(QWebSocketProtocol::CloseCode closeCode)
void sslErrors(const QList<QSslError> &errors)

Detailed Description

It is modeled after QTcpServer, and behaves the same. So, if you know how to use QTcpServer, you know how to use QWebSocketServer. This class makes it possible to accept incoming WebSocket connections. You can specify the port or have QWebSocketServer pick one automatically. You can listen on a specific address or on all the machine's addresses. Call listen() to have the server listen for incoming connections.

The newConnection() signal is then emitted each time a client connects to the server. Call nextPendingConnection() to accept the pending connection as a connected QWebSocket. The function returns a pointer to a QWebSocket in QAbstractSocket::ConnectedState that you can use for communicating with the client.

If an error occurs, serverError() returns the type of error, and errorString() can be called to get a human readable description of what happened.

When listening for connections, the address and port on which the server is listening are available as serverAddress() and serverPort().

Calling close() makes QWebSocketServer stop listening for incoming connections.

QWebSocketServer currently does not support WebSocket Extensions and WebSocket Subprotocols.

Note: When working with self-signed certificates, Firefox bug 594502 prevents Firefox to connect to a secure WebSocket server. To work around this problem, first browse to the secure WebSocket server using HTTPS. FireFox will indicate that the certificate is invalid. From here on, the certificate can be added to the exceptions. After this, the secure WebSockets connection should work.

QWebSocketServer only supports version 13 of the WebSocket protocol, as outlined in RFC 6455.

There is a default connection handshake timeout of 10 seconds to avoid denial of service, which can be customized using setHandshakeTimeout().

See also WebSocket Server Example and QWebSocket.

Member Type Documentation

enum QWebSocketServer::SslMode

Indicates whether the server operates over wss (SecureMode) or ws (NonSecureMode)

ConstantValueDescription
QWebSocketServer::SecureMode0The server operates in secure mode (over wss)
QWebSocketServer::NonSecureMode1The server operates in non-secure mode (over ws)

Member Function Documentation

QWebSocketServer::QWebSocketServer(const QString &serverName, QWebSocketServer::SslMode secureMode, QObject *parent = nullptr)

Constructs a new QWebSocketServer with the given serverName. The serverName will be used in the HTTP handshake phase to identify the server. It can be empty, in which case no server name will be sent to the client. The secureMode parameter indicates whether the server operates over wss (SecureMode) or over ws (NonSecureMode).

parent is passed to the QObject constructor.

[signal] void QWebSocketServer::acceptError(QAbstractSocket::SocketError socketError)

This signal is emitted when the acceptance of a new connection results in an error. The socketError parameter describes the type of error that occurred.

See also pauseAccepting() and resumeAccepting().

[signal] void QWebSocketServer::closed()

This signal is emitted when the server closed its connection.

See also close().

[signal] void QWebSocketServer::newConnection()

This signal is emitted every time a new connection is available.

See also hasPendingConnections() and nextPendingConnection().

[signal] void QWebSocketServer::originAuthenticationRequired(QWebSocketCorsAuthenticator *authenticator)

This signal is emitted when a new connection is requested. The slot connected to this signal should indicate whether the origin (which can be determined by the origin() call) is allowed in the authenticator object (by issuing setAllowed()).

If no slot is connected to this signal, all origins will be accepted by default.

Note: It is not possible to use a QueuedConnection to connect to this signal, as the connection will always succeed.

[signal] void QWebSocketServer::peerVerifyError(const QSslError &error)

QWebSocketServer can emit this signal several times during the SSL handshake, before encryption has been established, to indicate that an error has occurred while establishing the identity of the peer. The error is usually an indication that QWebSocketServer is unable to securely identify the peer.

This signal provides you with an early indication when something is wrong. By connecting to this signal, you can manually choose to tear down the connection from inside the connected slot before the handshake has completed. If no action is taken, QWebSocketServer will proceed to emitting QWebSocketServer::sslErrors().

See also sslErrors().

[signal] void QWebSocketServer::preSharedKeyAuthenticationRequired(QSslPreSharedKeyAuthenticator *authenticator)

QWebSocketServer emits this signal when it negotiates a PSK ciphersuite, and therefore a PSK authentication is then required.

When using PSK, the client must send to the server a valid identity and a valid pre shared key, in order for the SSL handshake to continue. Applications can provide this information in a slot connected to this signal, by filling in the passed authenticator object according to their needs.

Note: Ignoring this signal, or failing to provide the required credentials, will cause the handshake to fail, and therefore the connection to be aborted.

Note: The authenticator object is owned by the socket and must not be deleted by the application.

This function was introduced in Qt 5.8.

See also QSslPreSharedKeyAuthenticator and QSslSocket::preSharedKeyAuthenticationRequired().

[signal] void QWebSocketServer::serverError(QWebSocketProtocol::CloseCode closeCode)

This signal is emitted when an error occurs during the setup of a WebSocket connection. The closeCode parameter describes the type of error that occurred

See also errorString().

[signal] void QWebSocketServer::sslErrors(const QList<QSslError> &errors)

QWebSocketServer emits this signal after the SSL handshake to indicate that one or more errors have occurred while establishing the identity of the peer. The errors are usually an indication that QWebSocketServer is unable to securely identify the peer. Unless any action is taken, the connection will be dropped after this signal has been emitted.

errors contains one or more errors that prevent QSslSocket from verifying the identity of the peer.

See also peerVerifyError().

[override virtual] QWebSocketServer::~QWebSocketServer()

Destroys the QWebSocketServer object. If the server is listening for connections, the socket is automatically closed. Any client QWebSockets that are still queued are closed and deleted.

See also close().

void QWebSocketServer::close()

Closes the server. The server will no longer listen for incoming connections.

QWebSocketProtocol::CloseCode QWebSocketServer::error() const

Returns an error code for the last error that occurred. If no error occurred, QWebSocketProtocol::CloseCodeNormal is returned.

See also errorString().

QString QWebSocketServer::errorString() const

Returns a human readable description of the last error that occurred. If no error occurred, an empty string is returned.

See also serverError().

void QWebSocketServer::handleConnection(QTcpSocket *socket) const

Upgrades a tcp socket to websocket.

The QWebSocketServer object will take ownership of the socket object and delete it when appropriate.

This function was introduced in Qt 5.9.

std::chrono::milliseconds QWebSocketServer::handshakeTimeout() const

Returns the handshake timeout for new connections in milliseconds.

The default is 10 seconds. If a peer uses more time to complete the handshake their connection is closed.

This function was introduced in Qt 5.14.

See also setHandshakeTimeout() and handshakeTimeoutMS().

int QWebSocketServer::handshakeTimeoutMS() const

Returns the handshake timeout for new connections in milliseconds.

The default is 10 seconds. If a peer uses more time to complete the handshake their connection is closed.

This function was introduced in Qt 5.14.

See also setHandshakeTimeout() and handshakeTimeout().

bool QWebSocketServer::hasPendingConnections() const

Returns true if the server has pending connections; otherwise returns false.

See also nextPendingConnection() and setMaxPendingConnections().

bool QWebSocketServer::isListening() const

Returns true if the server is currently listening for incoming connections; otherwise returns false. If listening fails, error() will return the reason.

See also listen() and error().

bool QWebSocketServer::listen(const QHostAddress &address = QHostAddress::Any, quint16 port = 0)

Tells the server to listen for incoming connections on address address and port port. If port is 0, a port is chosen automatically. If address is QHostAddress::Any, the server will listen on all network interfaces.

Returns true on success; otherwise returns false.

See also isListening().

int QWebSocketServer::maxPendingConnections() const

Returns the maximum number of pending accepted connections. The default is 30.

See also setMaxPendingConnections() and hasPendingConnections().

qintptr QWebSocketServer::nativeDescriptor() const

Returns the native socket descriptor the server uses to listen for incoming instructions, or -1 if the server is not listening. If the server is using QNetworkProxy, the returned descriptor may not be usable with native socket functions.

This function was introduced in Qt 5.12.

See also setNativeDescriptor() and isListening().

[virtual] QWebSocket *QWebSocketServer::nextPendingConnection()

Returns the next pending connection as a connected QWebSocket object. QWebSocketServer does not take ownership of the returned QWebSocket object. It is up to the caller to delete the object explicitly when it will no longer be used, otherwise a memory leak will occur. nullptr is returned if this function is called when there are no pending connections.

Note: The returned QWebSocket object cannot be used from another thread.

See also hasPendingConnections().

void QWebSocketServer::pauseAccepting()

Pauses incoming new connections. Queued connections will remain in queue.

See also resumeAccepting().

QNetworkProxy QWebSocketServer::proxy() const

Returns the network proxy for this server. By default QNetworkProxy::DefaultProxy is used.

See also setProxy().

void QWebSocketServer::resumeAccepting()

Resumes accepting new connections.

See also pauseAccepting().

QWebSocketServer::SslMode QWebSocketServer::secureMode() const

Returns the secure mode the server is running in.

See also QWebSocketServer() and SslMode.

QHostAddress QWebSocketServer::serverAddress() const

Returns the server's address if the server is listening for connections; otherwise returns QHostAddress::Null.

See also serverPort() and listen().

QString QWebSocketServer::serverName() const

Returns the server name that is used during the http handshake phase.

See also setServerName().

quint16 QWebSocketServer::serverPort() const

Returns the server's port if the server is listening for connections; otherwise returns 0.

See also serverAddress() and listen().

QUrl QWebSocketServer::serverUrl() const

Returns a URL clients can use to connect to this server if the server is listening for connections. Otherwise an invalid URL is returned.

See also serverPort(), serverAddress(), and listen().

void QWebSocketServer::setHandshakeTimeout(std::chrono::milliseconds msec)

Sets the handshake timeout for new connections to msec milliseconds.

By default this is set to 10 seconds. If a peer uses more time to complete the handshake, their connection is closed. You can pass a negative value (e.g. -1) to disable the timeout.

This function was introduced in Qt 5.14.

See also handshakeTimeout() and handshakeTimeoutMS().

void QWebSocketServer::setHandshakeTimeout(int msec)

This is an overloaded function.

void QWebSocketServer::setMaxPendingConnections(int numConnections)

Sets the maximum number of pending accepted connections to numConnections. WebSocketServer will accept no more than numConnections incoming connections before nextPendingConnection() is called. By default, the limit is 30 pending connections.

QWebSocketServer will emit the error() signal with the QWebSocketProtocol::CloseCodeAbnormalDisconnection close code when the maximum of connections has been reached. The WebSocket handshake will fail and the socket will be closed.

See also maxPendingConnections() and hasPendingConnections().

bool QWebSocketServer::setNativeDescriptor(qintptr socketDescriptor)

Sets the socket descriptor this server should use when listening for incoming connections to socketDescriptor.

Returns true if the socket is set successfully; otherwise returns false. The socket is assumed to be in listening state.

This function was introduced in Qt 5.12.

See also nativeDescriptor() and isListening().

void QWebSocketServer::setProxy(const QNetworkProxy &networkProxy)

Sets the explicit network proxy for this server to networkProxy.

To disable the use of a proxy, use the QNetworkProxy::NoProxy proxy type:

server->setProxy(QNetworkProxy::NoProxy);

See also proxy().

void QWebSocketServer::setServerName(const QString &serverName)

Sets the server name that will be used during the HTTP handshake phase to the given serverName. The serverName can be empty, in which case an empty server name will be sent to the client. Existing connected clients will not be notified of this change, only newly connecting clients will see this new name.

See also serverName().

void QWebSocketServer::setSslConfiguration(const QSslConfiguration &sslConfiguration)

Sets the SSL configuration for the QWebSocketServer to sslConfiguration. This method has no effect if QWebSocketServer runs in non-secure mode (QWebSocketServer::NonSecureMode).

See also sslConfiguration() and SslMode.

QSslConfiguration QWebSocketServer::sslConfiguration() const

Returns the SSL configuration used by the QWebSocketServer. If the server is not running in secure mode (QWebSocketServer::SecureMode), this method returns QSslConfiguration::defaultConfiguration().

See also setSslConfiguration(), SslMode, and QSslConfiguration::defaultConfiguration().

QList<QWebSocketProtocol::Version> QWebSocketServer::supportedVersions() const

Returns a list of WebSocket versions that this server is supporting.

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