mirror of
https://github.com/falk-werner/webfuse
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76 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
76 lines
4.5 KiB
Markdown
[](https://travis-ci.org/falk-werner/webfuse)
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[](https://www.codacy.com/app/falk.werner/webfuse?utm_source=github.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=falk-werner/webfuse&utm_campaign=Badge_Grade)
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[](https://codecov.io/gh/falk-werner/webfuse)
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# webfuse
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webfuse combines libwebsockets and libfuse. It allows ot attach a remote filesystem via websockets.
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## Contents
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- [Motivation](#Motivation)
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- [Fellow Repositories](#Fellow-Repositories)
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- [Concept](#Concept)
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- [Similar Projects](#Similar-Projects)
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- [Further Documentation](#Further-Documentation)
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## Motivation
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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.
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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:
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1. cached by the web server, e.g. [lighttpd](https://redmine.lighttpd.net/boards/2/topics/3451)
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2. copied to locally, e.g. /tmp
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3. uncompressed, also to /tmp
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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.
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However at least one (unecessary) copy of the upload file is needed on the device.
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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.
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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.
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## Fellow Repositories
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- **[webfuse-example](https://github.com/falk-werner/webfuse-example)**: Example of webfuse
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- **[webfused](https://github.com/falk-werner/webfused)**: Reference implementation of webfuse daemon
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- **[webfuse-provider](https://github.com/falk-werner/webfuse-provider)**: Reference implementation of webfuse provider
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## Concept
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With webfuse it is possible to implement remote filesystems based on websockets.
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A reference implementation of such a daemon is provided within the examples. The picture above describes the workflow:
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- The websocket filesystem daemon (*webfuse daemon*) waits for incoming connections.
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- A remote filesystem provider connects to webfuse daemon via websocket protocol and adds one or more filesystems.
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*Note: the examples include such a provider implemented in HTML and JavaScript.*
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- Whenever the user makes filesystem requests, such as *ls*, the request is redirected via webfuse daemon to the connected filesystem provider
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### Adapters and Providers
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In webfuse, an adapter is a component that adapts the libfuse API to a websocket interface.
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Currently, libwebfuse implements only a server based adapter - a websocket server, that allows clients to connect a remote file system which
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is represented via libfuse on the server side.
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In webfuse, a provider is a component that provides a filesystem via websocket interface.
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Currently, libwebfuse implements only a client based provider - a websocket client that provides a local filesystem to a remote server.
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## Similar Projects
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### Davfs2
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[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.
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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.
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## Further Documentation
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- [Build instructions](doc/build.md)
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- [Webfuse Protocol](doc/protocol.md)
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- [API](doc/api.md)
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