What is frp?
frp is a fast reverse proxy to help you expose a local server behind a NAT or firewall to the internet. As of now, it supports tcp & udp, as well as http and https protocols, where requests can be forwarded to internal services by domain name.
Now it also try to support p2p connect.
Table of Contents
- Status
- Architecture
- Example Usage
- Features
- Configuration File
- Configuration file template
- Dashboard
- Admin UI
- Authentication
- Encryption and Compression
- Hot-Reload frpc configuration
- Get proxy status from client
- Port White List
- Port Reuse
- TCP Stream Multiplexing
- Support KCP Protocol
- Connection Pool
- Load balancing
- Health Check
- Rewriting the Host Header
- Set Headers In HTTP Request
- Get Real IP
- Password protecting your web service
- Custom subdomain names
- URL routing
- Connect frps by HTTP PROXY
- Range ports mapping
- Plugin
- Development Plan
- Contributing
- Donation
Status
frp is under development and you can try it with latest release version. Master branch for releasing stable version when dev branch for developing.
We may change any protocol and can't promise backward compatible. Please check the release log when upgrading.
Architecture
Example Usage
Firstly, download the latest programs from Release page according to your os and arch.
Put frps and frps.ini to your server with public IP.
Put frpc and frpc.ini to your server in LAN.
Access your computer in LAN by SSH
- Modify frps.ini:
# frps.ini [common] bind_port = 7000
- Start frps:
./frps -c ./frps.ini
- Modify frpc.ini,
server_addr
is your frps's server IP:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [ssh] type = tcp local_ip = 127.0.0.1 local_port = 22 remote_port = 6000
- Start frpc:
./frpc -c ./frpc.ini
- Connect to server in LAN by ssh assuming that username is test:
ssh -oPort=6000 [email protected]
Visit your web service in LAN by custom domains
Sometimes we want to expose a local web service behind a NAT network to others for testing with your own domain name and unfortunately we can't resolve a domain name to a local ip.
However, we can expose a http or https service using frp.
- Modify frps.ini, configure http port 8080:
# frps.ini [common] bind_port = 7000 vhost_http_port = 8080
- Start frps:
./frps -c ./frps.ini
- Modify frpc.ini and set remote frps server's IP as x.x.x.x. The
local_port
is the port of your web service:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [web] type = http local_port = 80 custom_domains = www.yourdomain.com
- Start frpc:
./frpc -c ./frpc.ini
-
Resolve A record of
www.yourdomain.com
to IPx.x.x.x
or CNAME record to your origin domain. -
Now visit your local web service using url
http://www.yourdomain.com:8080
.
Forward DNS query request
- Modify frps.ini:
# frps.ini [common] bind_port = 7000
- Start frps:
./frps -c ./frps.ini
- Modify frpc.ini, set remote frps's server IP as x.x.x.x, forward dns query request to google dns server
8.8.8.8:53
:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [dns] type = udp local_ip = 8.8.8.8 local_port = 53 remote_port = 6000
- Start frpc:
./frpc -c ./frpc.ini
- Send dns query request by dig:
dig @x.x.x.x -p 6000 www.google.com
Forward unix domain socket
Using tcp port to connect unix domain socket like docker daemon.
Configure frps same as above.
- Start frpc with configurations:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [unix_domain_socket] type = tcp remote_port = 6000 plugin = unix_domain_socket plugin_unix_path = /var/run/docker.sock
- Get docker version by curl command:
curl http://x.x.x.x:6000/version
Expose a simple http file server
A simple way to visit files in the LAN.
Configure frps same as above.
- Start frpc with configurations:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [test_static_file] type = tcp remote_port = 6000 plugin = static_file plugin_local_path = /tmp/file plugin_strip_prefix = static plugin_http_user = abc plugin_http_passwd = abc
- Visit
http://x.x.x.x:6000/static/
by your browser, set correct user and password, so you can see files in/tmp/file
.
Enable HTTPS for local HTTP service
- Start frpc with configurations:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [test_htts2http] type = https custom_domains = test.yourdomain.com plugin = https2http plugin_local_addr = 127.0.0.1:80 plugin_crt_path = ./server.crt plugin_key_path = ./server.key plugin_host_header_rewrite = 127.0.0.1
- Visit
https://test.yourdomain.com
.
Expose your service in security
For some services, if expose them to the public network directly will be a security risk.
stcp(secret tcp) helps you create a proxy avoiding any one can access it.
Configure frps same as above.
- Start frpc, forward ssh port and
remote_port
is useless:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [secret_ssh] type = stcp sk = abcdefg local_ip = 127.0.0.1 local_port = 22
- Start another frpc in which you want to connect this ssh server:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [secret_ssh_visitor] type = stcp role = visitor server_name = secret_ssh sk = abcdefg bind_addr = 127.0.0.1 bind_port = 6000
- Connect to server in LAN by ssh assuming that username is test:
ssh -oPort=6000 [email protected]
P2P Mode
xtcp is designed for transmitting a large amount of data directly between two client.
Now it can't penetrate all types of NAT devices. You can try stcp if xtcp doesn't work.
- Configure a udp port for xtcp:
- Start frpc, forward ssh port and
remote_port
is useless:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [p2p_ssh] type = xtcp sk = abcdefg local_ip = 127.0.0.1 local_port = 22
- Start another frpc in which you want to connect this ssh server:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 [p2p_ssh_visitor] type = xtcp role = visitor server_name = p2p_ssh sk = abcdefg bind_addr = 127.0.0.1 bind_port = 6000
- Connect to server in LAN by ssh assuming that username is test:
ssh -oPort=6000 [email protected]
Features
Configuration File
You can find features which this document not metioned from full example configuration files.
Configuration file template
Configuration file tempalte can be rendered using os environments. Template uses Go's standard format.
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = {{ .Envs.FRP_SERVER_ADDR }} server_port = 7000 [ssh] type = tcp local_ip = 127.0.0.1 local_port = 22 remote_port = {{ .Envs.FRP_SSH_REMOTE_PORT }}
Start frpc program:
export FRP_SERVER_ADDR="x.x.x.x"
export FRP_SSH_REMOTE_PORT="6000"
./frpc -c ./frpc.ini
frpc will auto render configuration file template using os environments.
All environments has prefix .Envs
.
Dashboard
Check frp's status and proxies's statistics information by Dashboard.
Configure a port for dashboard to enable this feature:
[common] dashboard_port = 7500 # dashboard's username and password are both optional,if not set, default is admin. dashboard_user = admin dashboard_pwd = admin
Then visit http://[server_addr]:7500
to see dashboard, default username and password are both admin
.
Admin UI
Admin UI help you check and manage frpc's configure.
Configure a address for admin UI to enable this feature:
[common] admin_addr = 127.0.0.1 admin_port = 7400 admin_user = admin admin_pwd = admin
Then visit http://127.0.0.1:7400
to see admin UI, default username and password are both admin
.
Authentication
token
in frps.ini and frpc.ini should be same.
Encryption and Compression
Defalut value is false, you could decide if the proxy will use encryption or compression:
# frpc.ini [ssh] type = tcp local_port = 22 remote_port = 6000 use_encryption = true use_compression = true
TLS
frp support TLS protocol between frpc and frps since v0.25.0.
Config tls_enable = true
in common
section to frpc.ini to enable this feature.
For port multiplexing, frp send a first byte 0x17 to dial a TLS connection.
Hot-Reload frpc configuration
First you need to set admin port in frpc's configure file to let it provide HTTP API for more features.
# frpc.ini [common] admin_addr = 127.0.0.1 admin_port = 7400
Then run command frpc reload -c ./frpc.ini
and wait for about 10 seconds to let frpc create or update or delete proxies.
Note that parameters in [common] section won't be modified except 'start' now.
Get proxy status from client
Use frpc status -c ./frpc.ini
to get status of all proxies. You need to set admin port in frpc's configure file.
Port White List
allow_ports
in frps.ini is used for preventing abuse of ports:
# frps.ini [common] allow_ports = 2000-3000,3001,3003,4000-50000
allow_ports
consists of a specific port or a range of ports divided by ,
.
Port Reuse
Now vhost_http_port
and vhost_https_port
in frps can use same port with bind_port
. frps will detect connection's protocol and handle it correspondingly.
We would like to try to allow multiple proxies bind a same remote port with different protocols in the future.
TCP Stream Multiplexing
frp support tcp stream multiplexing since v0.10.0 like HTTP2 Multiplexing. All user requests to same frpc can use only one tcp connection.
You can disable this feature by modify frps.ini and frpc.ini:
# frps.ini and frpc.ini, must be same [common] tcp_mux = false
Support KCP Protocol
KCP is a fast and reliable protocol that can achieve the transmission effect of a reduction of the average latency by 30% to 40% and reduction of the maximum delay by a factor of three, at the cost of 10% to 20% more bandwidth wasted than TCP.
Using kcp in frp:
- Enable kcp protocol in frps:
# frps.ini [common] bind_port = 7000 # kcp needs to bind a udp port, it can be same with 'bind_port' kcp_bind_port = 7000
- Configure the protocol used in frpc to connect frps:
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x # specify the 'kcp_bind_port' in frps server_port = 7000 protocol = kcp
Connection Pool
By default, frps send message to frpc for create a new connection to backward service when getting an user request.If a proxy's connection pool is enabled, there will be a specified number of connections pre-established.
This feature is fit for a large number of short connections.
- Configure the limit of pool count each proxy can use in frps.ini:
# frps.ini [common] max_pool_count = 5
- Enable and specify the number of connection pool:
# frpc.ini [common] pool_count = 1
Load balancing
Load balancing is supported by group
.
This feature is available only for type tcp
and http
now.
# frpc.ini [test1] type = tcp local_port = 8080 remote_port = 80 group = web group_key = 123 [test2] type = tcp local_port = 8081 remote_port = 80 group = web group_key = 123
group_key
is used for authentication.
Proxies in same group will accept connections from port 80 randomly.
For tcp
type, remote_port
in one group shoud be same.
For http
type, custom_domains, subdomain, locations
shoud be same.
Health Check
Health check feature can help you achieve high availability with load balancing.
Add health_check_type = {type}
to enable health check.
type can be tcp or http.
Type tcp will dial the service port and type http will send a http rquest to service and require a 200 response.
Type tcp configuration:
# frpc.ini [test1] type = tcp local_port = 22 remote_port = 6000 # enable tcp health check health_check_type = tcp # dial timeout seconds health_check_timeout_s = 3 # if continuous failed in 3 times, the proxy will be removed from frps health_check_max_failed = 3 # every 10 seconds will do a health check health_check_interval_s = 10
Type http configuration:
# frpc.ini [web] type = http local_ip = 127.0.0.1 local_port = 80 custom_domains = test.yourdomain.com # enable http health check health_check_type = http # frpc will send a GET http request '/status' to local http service # http service is alive when it return 2xx http response code health_check_url = /status health_check_interval_s = 10 health_check_max_failed = 3 health_check_timeout_s = 3
Rewriting the Host Header
When forwarding to a local port, frp does not modify the tunneled HTTP requests at all, they are copied to your server byte-for-byte as they are received. Some application servers use the Host header for determining which development site to display. For this reason, frp can rewrite your requests with a modified host header. Use the host_header_rewrite
switch to rewrite incoming HTTP requests.
# frpc.ini [web] type = http local_port = 80 custom_domains = test.yourdomain.com host_header_rewrite = dev.yourdomain.com
The Host
request header will be rewritten to Host: dev.yourdomain.com
before it reach your local http server.
Set Headers In HTTP Request
You can set headers for proxy which type is http
.
# frpc.ini [web] type = http local_port = 80 custom_domains = test.yourdomain.com host_header_rewrite = dev.yourdomain.com header_X-From-Where = frp
Note that params which have prefix header_
will be added to http request headers.
In this example, it will set header X-From-Where: frp
to http request.
Get Real IP
HTTP X-Forwarded-For
Features for http proxy only.
You can get user's real IP from HTTP request header X-Forwarded-For
and X-Real-IP
.
Proxy Protocol
frp support Proxy Protocol to send user's real IP to local service. It support all types without UDP.
Here is an example for https service:
# frpc.ini [web] type = https local_port = 443 custom_domains = test.yourdomain.com # now v1 and v2 is supported proxy_protocol_version = v2
You can enable Proxy Protocol support in nginx to parse user's real IP to http header X-Real-IP
.
Then you can get it from HTTP request header in your local service.
Password protecting your web service
Anyone who can guess your tunnel URL can access your local web server unless you protect it with a password.
This enforces HTTP Basic Auth on all requests with the username and password you specify in frpc's configure file.
It can only be enabled when proxy type is http.
# frpc.ini [web] type = http local_port = 80 custom_domains = test.yourdomain.com http_user = abc http_pwd = abc
Visit http://test.yourdomain.com
and now you need to input username and password.
Custom subdomain names
It is convenient to use subdomain
configure for http、https type when many people use one frps server together.
# frps.ini subdomain_host = frps.com
Resolve *.frps.com
to the frps server's IP.
# frpc.ini [web] type = http local_port = 80 subdomain = test
Now you can visit your web service by host test.frps.com
.
Note that if subdomain_host
is not empty, custom_domains
should not be the subdomain of subdomain_host
.
URL routing
frp support forward http requests to different backward web services by url routing.
locations
specify the prefix of URL used for routing. frps first searches for the most specific prefix location given by literal strings regardless of the listed order.
# frpc.ini [web01] type = http local_port = 80 custom_domains = web.yourdomain.com locations = / [web02] type = http local_port = 81 custom_domains = web.yourdomain.com locations = /news,/about
Http requests with url prefix /news
and /about
will be forwarded to web02 and others to web01.
Connect frps by HTTP PROXY
frpc can connect frps using HTTP PROXY if you set os environment HTTP_PROXY
or configure http_proxy
param in frpc.ini file.
It only works when protocol is tcp.
# frpc.ini [common] server_addr = x.x.x.x server_port = 7000 http_proxy = http://user:[email protected]:8080
Range ports mapping
Proxy name has prefix range:
will support mapping range ports.
# frpc.ini [range:test_tcp] type = tcp local_ip = 127.0.0.1 local_port = 6000-6006,6007 remote_port = 6000-6006,6007
frpc will generate 8 proxies like test_tcp_0, test_tcp_1 ... test_tcp_7
.
Plugin
frpc only forward request to local tcp or udp port by default.
Plugin is used for providing rich features. There are built-in plugins such as unix_domain_socket
, http_proxy
, socks5
, static_file
and you can see example usage.
Specify which plugin to use by plugin
parameter. Configuration parameters of plugin should be started with plugin_
. local_ip
and local_port
is useless for plugin.
Using plugin http_proxy:
# frpc.ini [http_proxy] type = tcp remote_port = 6000 plugin = http_proxy plugin_http_user = abc plugin_http_passwd = abc
plugin_http_user
and plugin_http_passwd
are configuration parameters used in http_proxy
plugin.
Development Plan
- Log http request information in frps.
Contributing
Interested in getting involved? We would like to help you!
- Take a look at our issues list and consider sending a Pull Request to dev branch.
- If you want to add a new feature, please create an issue first to describe the new feature, as well as the implementation approach. Once a proposal is accepted, create an implementation of the new features and submit it as a pull request.
- Sorry for my poor english and improvement for this document is welcome even some typo fix.
- If you have some wonderful ideas, send email to [email protected].
Note: We prefer you to give your advise in issues, so others with a same question can search it quickly and we don't need to answer them repeatly.
Donation
If frp help you a lot, you can support us by:
frp QQ group: 606194980
AliPay
Wechat Pay
Paypal
Donate money by paypal to my account [email protected].