Can reach my server with telnet but not with my client - c

Question

I am currently coding a small chat application in C for learning network.
I develop using the Transmission Control Protocol with socket in C. I was able to connect to my server with a client not coded by myself (on local network). Now telnet succeed to connect to my chat server(so with server and telnet client on the same computer) and I can send and receive message BUT my very simple client cannot connect to it.
Since the begining I use port 9002 and right now I am trying to connect with IPv6 address ::1.
Here the "accept client" code of my server:
int main(void)
{
//Create the socket
int sock = socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
printf("Socket créer\n");
//Set up the socket interface
struct sockaddr_in6 sin6 = { 0 };
sin6.sin6_family = AF_INET6;
sin6.sin6_port = htons(PORT);
sin6.sin6_addr = in6addr_any;
//Bind the socket on the port
if(bind(sock, (struct sockaddr *) &sin6, sizeof(struct sockaddr_in6)) == SO_ERROR)
{
perror("bind()");
errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "Fail to bind");
}
//Make the sockey listen the port
if(listen(sock, MAX_CLIENT) == SO_ERROR)
{
perror("listen()");
errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "Fail to listen");
}
printf("Socket listening\n");
int csock;
size_t clientID = 0;
--snip--
while(1)
{
struct sockaddr_in6 csin6;
memset(&csin6, 0, sizeof(struct sockaddr_in6));
int sin6size = sizeof(struct sockaddr_in6);
//Accept a communication
printf("Wait for communication\n");
csock = accept(sock, (struct sockaddr *) &csin6, &sin6size);
printf("Connection accepted\n");
char msg[16];
sprintf(msg, "CONNECTED - %zu\n", clientID);
send(csock, msg, sizeof(msg), 0);
printf("Client %zu connected\n", clientID);
//Handle client
--snip--
}
So this is a basic connection with socket using connected communication. The server handle several client in the while loop thanks to threading.
Here the code of the client:
void *sender(void *arg)
{
int socket = (int)(long)arg;
char buffer[BUFF_SIZE];
while(1)
{
scanf("%s", buffer);
send(socket, buffer, strlen(buffer), 0);
bzero(buffer, BUFF_SIZE);
}
}
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
if(argc < 2)
errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "Usage: ./client <server ip>\n");
//Create the socket
int sock = socket(AF_INET6, SOCK_STREAM, 0);
struct hostent *hostinfo = NULL;
hostinfo = gethostbyname2(argv[1], AF_INET6);
if(hostinfo == NULL)
errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "Can't connect to the server\n");
//Set up the socket interface
struct sockaddr_in6 sin6 = { 0 };
sin6.sin6_family = AF_INET6;
sin6.sin6_port = htons(PORT);
sin6.sin6_addr = *(struct in6_addr *)hostinfo->h_addr;
if(connect(sock, (struct sockaddr *) &sin6, sizeof(struct sockaddr)) == SO_ERROR)
{
perror("connect()");
errx(EXIT_FAILURE, "Fail to connect");
}
printf("Connection established\n");
pthread_t sending;
if(pthread_create(&sending, NULL, sender, (void *)(long)sock) != 0)
printf("Fail to create a thread\n");
//Handle reception
char buffer[BUFF_SIZE];
int n;
while((n = recv(sock, buffer, BUFF_SIZE - 1, 0)) >= 0)
{
buffer[n] = '\0';
printf("%s", buffer);
}
printf("Erreur: %d\nConnection broken\n", n);
pthread_cancel(sending);
close(sock);
return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}
So I start the client with:
~ ./client ::1
The output is the following:
Connection established
Error: -1
Connection broken
While the server is still "Waiting for communication". This means that the server do not accept the connection but the client succeed to connect.
Thank you for you help.

Answer 1

It is probably already the connect(), which fails here:
if(connect(sock, (struct sockaddr *) &sin6, sizeof(struct sockaddr)) == SO_ERROR)
SO_ERROR is not meant to be used here, but as a socket option when retrieving the error when an asynchronous connect fails. A (synchronous) connect() returns -1 on error and sets errno, so do
if(connect(sock, (struct sockaddr *) &sin6, sizeof(struct sockaddr)) == -1) {
...
Later, the recv here:
while((n = recv(sock, buffer, BUFF_SIZE - 1, 0)) >= 0)
fails with errno ENOTCONN, since the connection failed beforehand.
The same SO_ERROR mistake is present at various locations in your server code; it is possible, that already the bind() there fails! The call to listen() will then autobind it to a free ephemereal port, so the call as well as the call to accept() will succeed.
Why can the call to bind() fail? You might have to set the socket option SO_REUSEADDR when (re-)starting the server, otherwise it might refuse to use a recently bound port if connections are still in TIME_WAIT state. Place this directly before the bind() call:
int one = 1;
setsockopt(sock, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, &one, sizeof(one));
This might help.