You can not select more than 25 topics
Topics must start with a letter or number, can include dashes ('-') and can be up to 35 characters long.
76 lines
4.5 KiB
76 lines
4.5 KiB
[](https://travis-ci.org/falk-werner/webfuse)
|
|
[](https://www.codacy.com/app/falk.werner/webfuse?utm_source=github.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=falk-werner/webfuse&utm_campaign=Badge_Grade)
|
|
[](https://codecov.io/gh/falk-werner/webfuse)
|
|
|
|
# webfuse
|
|
|
|
webfuse combines libwebsockets and libfuse. It allows ot attach a remote filesystem via websockets.
|
|
|
|
## Contents
|
|
|
|
- [Motivation](#Motivation)
|
|
- [Fellow Repositories](#Fellow-Repositories)
|
|
- [Concept](#Concept)
|
|
- [Similar Projects](#Similar-Projects)
|
|
- [Further Documentation](#Further-Documentation)
|
|
|
|
## Motivation
|
|
|
|
Many embedded devices, such as smart home or [IoT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_things) devices are very limited regarding to their (non-volatile) memory resources. Such devices are typically comprised of an embedded linux and a small web server, providing an interface for maintenance purposes.
|
|
|
|
Some use cases, such as firmware update, require to transfer (larger) files to the device. The firmware file is often stored multiple times on the device:
|
|
|
|
1. cached by the web server, e.g. [lighttpd](https://redmine.lighttpd.net/boards/2/topics/3451)
|
|
2. copied to locally, e.g. /tmp
|
|
3. uncompressed, also to /tmp
|
|
|
|
Techniques like [SquashFS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SquashFS) help to avoid the third step, since the upgrade file can be mounted directly. [RAUC](https://rauc.io/) shows the use of SquashFS within an update facility.
|
|
However at least one (unecessary) copy of the upload file is needed on the device.
|
|
|
|
To avoid Steps 1 and 2, it would be great to keep the update file entirely in web server, just like [NFS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_File_System) or [WebDAV](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/WebDAV). Unfortunately, NFS is not based on any protocol, natively usable by a web application. WebDAV is based on HTTP, but it needs a server providing the update file.
|
|
|
|
webfuse solves this problem by using the [WebSocket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebSocket) protocol. The emdedded device runs a service, known as webfuse adapter, awaiting incoming connections, e.g. from a web browser. The browser acts as a file system provider, providing the update file to the device.
|
|
|
|
## Fellow Repositories
|
|
|
|
- **[webfuse-example](https://github.com/falk-werner/webfuse-example)**: Example of webfuse
|
|
- **[webfused](https://github.com/falk-werner/webfused)**: Reference implementation of webfuse daemon
|
|
- **[webfuse-provider](https://github.com/falk-werner/webfuse-provider)**: Reference implementation of webfuse provider
|
|
|
|
## Concept
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
With webfuse it is possible to implement remote filesystems based on websockets.
|
|
A reference implementation of such a daemon is provided within the examples. The picture above describes the workflow:
|
|
|
|
- The websocket filesystem daemon (*webfuse daemon*) waits for incoming connections.
|
|
|
|
- A remote filesystem provider connects to webfuse daemon via websocket protocol and adds one or more filesystems.
|
|
*Note: the examples include such a provider implemented in HTML and JavaScript.*
|
|
|
|
- Whenever the user makes filesystem requests, such as *ls*, the request is redirected via webfuse daemon to the connected filesystem provider
|
|
|
|
### Adapters and Providers
|
|
|
|
In webfuse, an adapter is a component that adapts the libfuse API to a websocket interface.
|
|
Currently, libwebfuse implements only a server based adapter - a websocket server, that allows clients to connect a remote file system which
|
|
is represented via libfuse on the server side.
|
|
|
|
In webfuse, a provider is a component that provides a filesystem via websocket interface.
|
|
Currently, libwebfuse implements only a client based provider - a websocket client that provides a local filesystem to a remote server.
|
|
|
|
## Similar Projects
|
|
|
|
### Davfs2
|
|
|
|
[davfs2](http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/davfs2) is a Linux file system driver that allows to mount a [WebDAV](https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/WebDAV) resource. WebDAV is an extension to HTTP/1.1 that allows remote collaborative authoring of Web resources.
|
|
|
|
Unlike webfuse, davfs2 mounts a remote filesystem locally, that is provided by a WebDAV server. In contrast, webfuse starts a server awaiting client connections to attach the remote file system.
|
|
|
|
## Further Documentation
|
|
|
|
- [Build instructions](doc/build.md)
|
|
- [Webfuse Protocol](doc/protocol.md)
|
|
- [API](doc/api.md)
|