{"id":828,"date":"2024-10-15T16:10:35","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T22:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/jacobson-cpsc\/?p=828"},"modified":"2024-10-15T16:10:40","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T22:10:40","slug":"udp-wg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpsites.ucalgary.ca\/jacobson-cpsc\/2024\/10\/15\/udp-wg\/","title":{"rendered":"UDP-WG"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello everybody! I’m proud to announce the completion of my Project: UDP-WG. It’s a heavily documented C++ codebase that implements both the UDP Network Protocol, and the WireGuard VPN protocol. These implementations are used to create the main<\/code> program, which allows instances to communicate with each other using either of these two protocols!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The repository is located at: https:\/\/github.com\/kkernick\/UDP-WG<\/a>, and you can view the rendered documentation at https:\/\/kkernick.github.io\/UDP-WG<\/a>. The below Walkthrough is a verbatim copy of the README, and you can optionally view it as either as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. A GitHub Rendered Markdown File: https:\/\/github.com\/kkernick\/UDP-WG\/blob\/main\/README.md<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. A PDF: https:\/\/github.com\/kkernick\/UDP-WG\/blob\/main\/README.pdf<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The Discussion Questions have been appended to this document, but you can view them in both the above formats within the repository! Thank you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This repository contains an emulated implementation of both the UDP network protocol, alongside the WireGuard VPN protocol, as a means to better understand not only these protocols in isolation, but how they might be used in practice. The intention of this repository\u2019s creation is primarily as a learning aid to explore Virtual Private Networks through a heavily documented codebase outlining how WireGuard works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Warning:
    This implementation of UDP and WireGuard is built atop a traditional TCP Linux Socket, and as such these implementations do not work with other WireGuard implementations or servers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

    Outline of the Repository<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    There\u2019s three primary ways to approach this repository:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Want to dive into the codebase and see how UDP and WireGuard can be implemented in C++? This repository contains heavily documented source files, helping to understand how these protocols work.\n
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      1. Want to better understand UDP? udp.h<\/code> contains our UDP packet implementation, which is used directly by our WireGuard implementation to send packets across the network!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Want to understand how WireGuard works? wireguard.h<\/code> contains our WireGuard implementation, and all the cryptographic algorithms used by it are contained in crypto.h<\/code>. We use both OpenSSL and Sodium for cryptography, allowing you to get a taste of how you might work with both libraries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Want to understand how to make a network-enabled C++ application? main.cpp<\/code> contains the code for the main application, with shared.h<\/code> containing the functions needed for thread-safe input and output, and network.h<\/code> containing the code for a threaded, Dynamic Network Thread.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      4. Want to see these implementations working in action? main<\/code> uses our implementations to allow peers to communicate across the network using UDP packets, alongside connecting to peers acting as WireGuard servers to securely communicate with peers while staying anonymous and avoiding eavesdroppers!<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      5. Want to view the codebase without descending into the raw C++? A Doxygen site is available in the docs<\/code> folder which provides rendered HTML for all the various namespaces, functions, and classes. A live version is available at https:\/\/kkernick.github.io\/UDP-WG<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
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        Tip:
        Feeling overwhelmed? Start out with the application! There, you can get a feel on how the code actually comes together and understand the general flow of logic. When you then look into the code itself, or the Doxygen site, you\u2019ll have a better appreciation of what the various parts are used for.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

        Application Walkthrough<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        This codebase compiles into a network application where peers across the network can communicate with each other using UDP packets. We use WireGuard in a similar fashion to how you might be familiar with VPNs: A private tunnel that masks your IP address and protects your traffic within the tunnel via strong encryption. All peers are capable of becoming a WireGuard server for another peer, which involves the two peers completing a handshake to derive shared transport keys, and then the establishment of a end point for the client on the server\u2019s device.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Runtime and Build-Time Dependencies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        UDP-WG relies on OpenSSL and Sodium for its cryptographic operations. You\u2019ll need to install both if you want to run the application, or build it from source. Due to the nature of shared libraries, the pre-compiled application may be linked against versions of these two libraries that aren\u2019t currently on your system. If you see the following error, or something similar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        .\/main: error while loading shared libraries: libsodium.so.23: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
        Then you\u2019ll need to compile the application using your own versions. You can build the application by typing make<\/code> within the UDP-WG directory. We use the g++<\/code> compiler from the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC), and use the aforementioned OpenSSL and Sodium libraries. You should be able to find all of these in whatever package manager your distribution uses; below is a few of the most popular distributions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n