SOCKSify Ruby

http://socksify.rubyforge.org/

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 alsosocksify/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...>

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.Proxyfrom 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 setSOCKSProxy arguments explicitly or use Net::HTTP directly.

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.