Webserv

An HTTP/1.1 web server written in C++98, built from scratch as part of the 42 School curriculum.

Webserv is an HTTP/1.1 web server that handles client requests over TCP. It uses an event-driven architecture for I/O multiplexing and covers network programming, socket management, HTTP parsing, and concurrent connection handling.

• Core HTTP/1.1 request and response handling
• GET, POST, and DELETE methods
• Event-driven I/O multiplexing using epoll (Linux) and kqueue (macOS)
• NGINX-like configuration file format
• Virtual hosting with multiple server blocks
• CGI script execution (.php, .py, .pl)
• Chunked transfer encoding for request bodies
• Keep-alive connections
• Configurable error pages (404, 500, etc.)
• Optional directory listing (autoindex)
• HTTP redirects (301, 302, etc.)
• File uploads with configurable body size limits
• Logging for debugging and monitoring

The server is organized around three core components: an event poller for I/O multiplexing, a configuration parser for NGINX-style config files, and a logger for runtime output. The event poller uses epoll on Linux and kqueue on macOS. Incoming connections are managed by a connection handler that parses HTTP requests and builds responses through dedicated request and response modules.

• C++ compiler with C++98 support (g++, clang++)
• Make
• Supported platforms: Linux (epoll), macOS (kqueue)

git clone https://github.com/Mouad-kimdil/webserver.git
cd webserver
make

Additional make targets:

make clean   # Remove object files
make fclean  # Remove object files and binary
make re      # Rebuild from scratch

./webserv
./webserv configs/your_config.conf

Manual checks with curl:

curl http://localhost:8081/
curl -X POST -d "data=test" http://localhost:8081/upload/

You can also open http://localhost:8081 in a web browser.

The official 42 School test binaries (tester and cgi_tester) are not included in this repository because of their size. Obtain them from the webserv subject resources or your campus, then place them in the testers/ directory:

mkdir -p testers
cp /path/to/tester testers/tester
cp /path/to/cgi_tester testers/cgi_tester
chmod +x testers/tester testers/cgi_tester

Run the server first, then execute the testers from another terminal:

./testers/tester http://localhost:8081
./testers/cgi_tester

For setup requirements and expected directory layout, see the 42 webserv tester documentation.

The server uses an NGINX-like configuration format. Configuration files are located in the configs/ directory.

error_log error.log;

http {
    server {
        listen 8081;
        server_name localhost www.localhost;
        root /var/www/html;
        index index.html;
        client_max_body_size 10M;
        
        error_page 404 /404.html;
        error_page 500 /500.html;

        location / {
            allowed_methods GET POST DELETE;
            autoindex off;
        }

        location /upload/ {
            allowed_methods GET POST DELETE;
            client_max_body_size 100M;
        }

        location /cgi-bin/ {
            root /var/www/cgi-bin;
            cgi_extension .php /usr/bin/php;
            cgi_extension .py /usr/bin/python3;
            allowed_methods GET POST;
        }

        location /old-page {
            return 301 /new-page;
        }
    }
}

webserver/
├── configs/                 # Configuration files
│   ├── default.conf
│   └── test_server.conf
├── includes/                # Header files
│   ├── Parse/
│   ├── Request/
│   ├── Response/
│   ├── Server/
│   └── Utils/
├── Parse/                   # Configuration parsing
├── Request/                 # HTTP request handling
├── Response/                # HTTP response building
├── Server/                  # Core server implementation
├── Utils/                   # Utility functions
├── var/www/                 # Default web content directory
├── resources/               # Documentation and references
├── Subject/                 # Project subject and requirements
├── testers/                 # 42 test binaries (local only, not tracked)
├── webserv.cpp              # Main entry point
├── Makefile
└── README.md

• Mouad Kimdil
• Es-salhi Mohammed Amine
• Hamza El Asli