[English] Debian Almquist Shell (dash) socat Usage: Network data transfer and manipulation

Overview

The socat command is a versatile networking tool that establishes two bidirectional byte streams and transfers data between them. It can connect various types of data sources, such as files, sockets, and devices, making it useful for debugging, testing, and network communication.

Usage

The basic syntax of the socat command is as follows:

socat [options] [arguments]

Common Options

• -d: Enable debugging output.
• -v: Enable verbose output, providing more detailed information about the data transfer.
• TCP:<host>:<port>: Connect to a TCP socket at the specified host and port.
• UDP:<host>:<port>: Connect to a UDP socket at the specified host and port.
• FILE:<filename>: Use a file as a data source or sink.
• STDIN and STDOUT: Use standard input and output for data transfer.

Common Examples

1. Basic TCP Connection Connect to a remote server on a specific port:

   socat - TCP:example.com:80
   

2. UDP Connection Send a message to a UDP server:

   echo "Hello, UDP!" | socat - UDP:example.com:1234
   

3. File Transfer Transfer a file over TCP:

   socat -u FILE:myfile.txt TCP:example.com:1234
   

4. Listening for Connections Set up a listener on a specific port:

   socat TCP-LISTEN:1234,fork - 
   

5. Redirecting Serial Port to TCP Forward data from a serial port to a TCP socket:

   socat /dev/ttyS0 TCP:example.com:1234
   

Tips

• Use the -d -v options together for detailed debugging information when troubleshooting connections.
• Always ensure that the ports you are using are open and not blocked by firewalls.
• For secure connections, consider using socat with SSL options to encrypt data transfers.