SOCKSify Ruby

What is it?

SOCKSify Ruby redirects any TCP connection initiated by a Ruby script through a SOCKS5 proxy. It serves as a small drop-in alternative to tsocks, except that it handles Ruby programs only and doesn't leak DNS queries.

How does it work?

Modifications to class TCPSocket:

Alias initialize as initialize_tcp
The new initialize calls the old method to establish a TCP connection to the SOCKS proxy, sends the proxying destination and checks for errors

Additionally, Socksify::resolve can be used to resolve hostnames to IPv4 addresses via SOCKS. There is also socksify/http enabling Net::HTTP to work via SOCKS.

Installation

$ gem install socksify

Usage

Redirect all TCP connections of a Ruby program

Run a Ruby script with redirected TCP through a local Tor anonymizer:

$ socksify_ruby localhost 9050 script.rb

Explicit SOCKS usage in a Ruby program

Set up SOCKS connections for a local Tor anonymizer, TCPSockets can be used as usual:

require 'socksify'
TCPSocket::socks_server = "127.0.0.1"
TCPSocket::socks_port = 9050
rubyforge_www = TCPSocket.new("rubyforge.org", 80)
# => #<TCPSocket:0x...>

Using block only:

require 'socksify'
require 'open-uri'
Socksify::proxy("127.0.0.1", 9050) {
  open('http://rubyforge.org').read
  # => #<String: rubyforge's html>
}

Please note: socksify is not thread-safe when used this way! socks_server and socks_port are stored in class @@-variables, and applied to all threads and fibers of application.

Use Net::HTTP explicitly via SOCKS

Require the additional library socksify/http and use the Net::HTTP.SOCKSProxy method. It is similar to Net:HTTP.Proxy from the Ruby standard library:

require 'socksify/http'
uri = URI.parse('http://rubyforge.org/')
Net::HTTP.SOCKSProxy('127.0.0.1', 9050).start(uri.host, uri.port) do |http|
  http.get(uri.path)
end
# => #<Net::HTTPOK 200 OK readbody=true>

Note that Net::HTTP.SOCKSProxy never relies on TCPSocket::socks_server/socks_port. You should either set SOCKSProxy arguments explicitly or use Net::HTTP directly.

Net::HTTP.SOCKSProxy also supports SOCKS authentication:

Net::HTTP.SOCKSProxy('127.0.0.1', 9050, 'username', 'p4ssw0rd')

Resolve addresses via SOCKS

Socksify::resolve("spaceboyz.net")
# => "87.106.131.203"

Debugging

Colorful diagnostic messages can be enabled via:

Socksify::debug = true

Development

The repository can be checked out with:

$ git-clone git://github.com/astro/socksify-ruby.git

Send patches via E-Mail.

Further ideas

Resolv replacement code, so that programs which resolve by themselves don't leak DNS queries
IPv6 address support
UDP as soon as Tor supports it
Perhaps using standard exceptions for better compatibility when acting as a drop-in?

Author

Stephan Maka

License

SOCKSify Ruby is distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3 (see file COPYING) or the Ruby License (see file LICENSE) at your option.