README
¶
Snowflake
Pluggable Transport using WebRTC, inspired by Flashproxy.
Table of Contents
Usage
cd client/
go get
go build
tor -f torrc
This should start the client plugin, bootstrapping to 100% using WebRTC.
Dependencies
Client:
- pion/webrtc
- Go 1.13+
More Info
Tor can plug in the Snowflake client via a correctly configured torrc.
For example:
ClientTransportPlugin snowflake exec ./client \
-url https://snowflake-broker.azureedge.net/ \
-front ajax.aspnetcdn.com \
-ice stun:stun.l.google.com:19302
-max 3
The flags -url and -front allow the Snowflake client to speak to the Broker,
in order to get connected with some volunteer's browser proxy. -ice is a
comma-separated list of ICE servers, which are required for NAT traversal.
For logging, run tail -F snowflake.log in a second terminal.
You can modify the torrc to use your own broker:
ClientTransportPlugin snowflake exec ./client --meek
Test Environment
There is a Docker-based test environment at https://github.com/cohosh/snowbox.
FAQ
Q: How does it work?
In the Tor use-case:
- Volunteers visit websites which host the "snowflake" proxy. (just like flashproxy)
- Tor clients automatically find available browser proxies via the Broker (the domain fronted signaling channel).
- Tor client and browser proxy establish a WebRTC peer connection.
- Proxy connects to some relay.
- Tor occurs.
More detailed information about how clients, snowflake proxies, and the Broker fit together on the way...
Q: What are the benefits of this PT compared with other PTs?
Snowflake combines the advantages of flashproxy and meek. Primarily:
-
It has the convenience of Meek, but can support magnitudes more users with negligible CDN costs. (Domain fronting is only used for brief signalling / NAT-piercing to setup the P2P WebRTC DataChannels which handle the actual traffic.)
-
Arbitrarily high numbers of volunteer proxies are possible like in flashproxy, but NATs are no longer a usability barrier - no need for manual port forwarding!
Q: Why is this called Snowflake?
It utilizes the "ICE" negotiation via WebRTC, and also involves a great abundance of ephemeral and short-lived (and special!) volunteer proxies...
Appendix
cd proxy
go build
./proxy
More documentation on the way.
Directories
¶
| Path | Synopsis |
|---|---|
|
Broker acts as the HTTP signaling channel.
|
Broker acts as the HTTP signaling channel. |
|
Client transport plugin for the Snowflake pluggable transport.
|
Client transport plugin for the Snowflake pluggable transport. |
|
common
|
|
|
encapsulation
Package encapsulation implements a way of encoding variable-size chunks of data and padding into a byte stream.
|
Package encapsulation implements a way of encoding variable-size chunks of data and padding into a byte stream. |
|
messages
import "github.com/RACECAR-GU/snowflake/common/messages"
|
import "github.com/RACECAR-GU/snowflake/common/messages" |
|
safelog
import "github.com/RACECAR-GU/snowflake/common/safelog"
|
import "github.com/RACECAR-GU/snowflake/common/safelog" |
|
turbotunnel
Package turbotunnel provides support for overlaying a virtual net.PacketConn on some other network carrier.
|
Package turbotunnel provides support for overlaying a virtual net.PacketConn on some other network carrier. |
|
Probe test server to check the reachability of Snowflake proxies from clients with symmetric NATs.
|
Probe test server to check the reachability of Snowflake proxies from clients with symmetric NATs. |
|
Snowflake-specific websocket server plugin.
|
Snowflake-specific websocket server plugin. |