HTTP Protocol

Development Status

This plugin is currently in development phase.

Plugin Type: Protocol (client_server)

Verified Source Location: plugins/protocols/client_server/http/

Purpose and Overview

The HTTP Protocol plugin provides support for the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) in PANTHER, allowing testing of HTTP-based client-server communications. This plugin defines the configuration parameters and behavior expectations for HTTP implementations, supporting multiple versions of the protocol.

HTTP is one of the fundamental protocols of the web, used for transmitting hypermedia documents and enabling communication between web servers and clients. This plugin supports:

• HTTP protocol versions (0.9, 2, 3)
• Client and server role configurations
• Integration with HTTP Implementation Under Test (IUT) plugins

Requirements and Dependencies

The plugin requires:

• Python Dependencies:
• dataclasses
• enum

The plugin also integrates with:

• PANTHER service plugins implementing HTTP clients and servers
• Network environment plugins that support TCP/IP communication

Configuration Options

The HTTP protocol plugin accepts the following configuration parameters:

protocol:
  name: "HTTP"               # Protocol name
  version: "2"               # HTTP version (0.9, 2, 3)
  role: "server"             # Role (server, client)
  target: "http_client"      # Target service (for clients)

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
name	string	No	"HTTP"	Protocol identifier
version	string	No	"random"	HTTP version (0.9, 2, 3)
role	string	No	"server"	Role in communication (server, client)
target	string	No	None	Target service name (required for clients)

Usage Examples

Basic HTTP Server Configuration

tests:
  - name: "Basic HTTP Server Test"
    services:
      server:
        name: "http_server"
        implementation:
          name: "nginx"
          type: "iut"
        protocol:
          name: "HTTP"
          version: "2"
          role: "server"
        ports:
          - "80:80"

HTTP Client Configuration

tests:
  - name: "HTTP Client Test"
    services:
      client:
        name: "http_client"
        implementation:
          name: "curl"
          type: "iut"
        protocol:
          name: "HTTP"
          version: "2"
          role: "client"
          target: "http_server"

Extension Points

The HTTP protocol plugin can be extended in several ways:

Custom HTTP Version Support

You can extend the plugin to support additional HTTP versions:

# Extend the version enum
from panther.plugins.protocols.client_server.http.config_schema import HttpConfig, VersionEnum

# Add new version
VersionEnum = Enum(
    "VersionEnum", ["0.9", "1.0", "1.1", "2", "3"]
)

class ExtendedHttpConfig(HttpConfig):
    """Enhanced HTTP configuration with additional versions."""
    version: VersionEnum = VersionEnum["1.1"]

Protocol Extensions

Add support for HTTP extensions and features:

@dataclass
class EnhancedHttpConfig(HttpConfig):
    """HTTP configuration with extension support."""
    websocket_enabled: bool = False
    compression: str = "none"  # none, gzip, deflate
    cache_control: str = "no-cache"

Testing and Verification

To test the HTTP protocol plugin:

1. Integration Tests: Configure tests with HTTP servers and clients
2. Validation: Verify proper HTTP message construction and parsing
3. Interoperability: Test with different HTTP implementations

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Version Compatibility

Problem: Incompatible HTTP versions between client and server Solution: Ensure client and server are configured with compatible HTTP versions

# Ensure version consistency
server:
  protocol:
    version: "2"
client:
  protocol:
    version: "2"

Missing Target

Problem: HTTP client fails to connect because target is not specified Solution: Always specify the target service in client configuration

client:
  protocol:
    role: "client"
    target: "http_server"  # Required for clients

Port Configuration

Problem: HTTP server not accessible Solution: Check port mapping configuration

server:
  ports:
    - "80:80"  # Format is "host:container"

Debugging Tips

• Use packet capture tools to inspect HTTP traffic
• Enable verbose logging in the HTTP implementations
• Check for proper protocol negotiation in HTTP/2