Using nodejs I can transmit udp packets with a payload of 50000 chars.
But I fail to do so with socat (Linux ubuntu 20.04 on both the client and server).
For this test I've been using a vpn connecting my home host to my work host.
I was kind of expecting some data loss with socat but not to that extent !
On the remote (work) host, a socat server waits for request to send back a bloated udp response > 50000 bytes.
cat <<EOF > sotest.sh
#!/bin/bash
head -c 50000 < /dev/zero | tr '\0' 'q'
EOF
chmod +x sotest.sh
socat udp4-listen:13000,reuseaddr,fork EXEC:"./sotest.sh" # server
#client
printf "trigger" |socat -T 5 -,ignoreeof udp4:10.50.1.184:13000,sndbuf=64000,rcvbuf=64000 > t.t
And checking the message size with wc -c t.t gives me about 8k chars instead of 50k.
If I use my nodejs udp client/server, the 50k chars message sent by the server are received in entirety by the nodejs client.
client : https://jsfiddle.net/xtcpL63a/
server: https://jsfiddle.net/851fc7bp/
The only clue I have is the error message with socat that can be seen only in debug mode
022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] N forked off child process 1051734
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] N forked off child process 1051734
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I close(7)
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I resolved and opened all sock addresses
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] N starting data transfer loop with FDs [5,5] and [6,6]
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I transferred 73 bytes from 5 to 6
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051734] I just born: child process 1051734
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051734] I close(4)
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051734] I close(3)
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051734] I close(6)
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051734] I dup2(7, 0) -> 0
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051734] I dup2(7, 1) -> 1
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051734] I close(7)
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051734] N execvp'ing "./sotest.sh"
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I transferred 8192 bytes from 6 to 5
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I transferred 8192 bytes from 6 to 5
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I transferred 8192 bytes from 6 to 5
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I transferred 8192 bytes from 6 to 5
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I transferred 8192 bytes from 6 to 5
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I transferred 8192 bytes from 6 to 5
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I transferred 848 bytes from 6 to 5
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] E read(5, 0x5566b4417150, 8192): Connection refused
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] N exit(1)
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I shutdown(5, 2)
2022/12/03 22:37:40 socat[1051733] I shutdown(6, 2)
This problem can't be buffer related on Linux's side, it can't be mtu related neither.
So what is happening with socat ?
Solution:
Tero Kilkanen pointed out the problem.
Forcing socat to use bigger buffers on the client's side allowed me to receive the message in its entirety; it solves but does not really explain this behavior...
#client
printf "${MSG}" |socat -b100000 -T 5 -,ignoreeof udp4:10.50.1.184:13000,sndbuf=64000,rcvbuf=64000 > t.t
On the server's side, it ensured that one packet was sent; you can see the difference in behavior in the debug logs :
socat -b100000 -d -d -d udp4-listen:13000,reuseaddr,fork EXEC:"./sotest.sh"
