cpp-web-server

NOTE: Currently I plan to add more features to this server. It currently lack proper file handling and much more

A simple C++ web server implementation for educational purposes. This project demonstrates basic socket programming, HTTP request handling, and file serving using C++ and POSIX APIs.

The server is currently hosted using Railway at https://cppwebserver-production.up.railway.app/

Features

• Handles HTTP requests (GET)
• Serves static HTML and CSS files from the assets/ directory
• Modular socket classes for easy extension
• Simple logging and connection management

Project Structure

• hoothoot.cpp, hoothoot.hpp: Main place to use the Webserver class
• Networking/Servers/: Server classes (e.g., WebServer, SimpleServer)
• Networking/Sockets/: Socket abstraction classes
• assets/: Static HTML and CSS files to be served
• CMakeLists.txt: Build configuration

Building

• Make sure Cmake and C++ compiler is installed (I recommend using gcc with C++20)
• <sys/socket.h> only works on Linux (and maybe MacOS, not 100% sure). Please run the project in Linux

Then run:

mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
cmake --build .

Or you can refer to Docker guideline to use docker

Running

After building, run the server binary (e.g., cpp_web_server).

cd ../
./build/cpp_web_server

Sending Requests

You can use curl to send requests from the terminal:

curl http://127.0.0.1:4005/

Replace PORT with the port your server is listening on. (By default it's 4005)

Or just open it in a web browser.

Using Docker

• Using Makefile:

  First create the image using

  sudo make build

  Then run using

  sudo make run

• If you don't have Make installed, then:

  Create image using:

   sudo docker build -t cpp_web_server .

  Create the container using the binding mount to ./assets

  sudo docker run -p 4005:4005 -v $(pwd)/assets:/app/assets cpp_web_server

How project works

We have 2 directories inside Networking, one is Socket for cpp sockets and other one is Servers for your servers. The project aim to provide a library like ability to create servers, not only for web but for your needs

Sockets folder

• SimpleSocket - Provides basic socket features, to create socket()
• BindingSocket - Allows you to bind() to the network
• ListeningSocket - Allows you to listen() to the socket.
• ConnectingSocket - [NOT RECOMMENDED TO USE] Purpose is to connect() to socket, but currently not well maintained file

Servers folder

• SimpleServer - This is what will mainly deal with the sockets in Sockets folder
• WebServer - Our webserver, which defines how to handle http request and stuff

Troubleshooting

• If you cannot reuse a port after restarting, ensure the socket option SO_REUSEADDR is set before binding. Or maybe try changing the port in hoothoot.cpp
• If requests appear empty, check your socket read logic and buffer handling.
• For file serving issues, verify file paths and permissions.

References

Please check these resources:

• https://beej.us/guide/bgnet/ - Great guide recommended to read first
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwHErWJIh6Y
  • Great tutorial but uses a bit old C++ version (like C-style casting and other stuff). This project gains the foundation from this video, but I've changed many things from project. Like:
  • Using modern type casting
  • Understanding the HTML and CSS request path, to give appropriate files
  • Giving 404 error
  • etc... (I plan to add more ^-^)

License

This project is for educational use.