nanonext - Configuration and Security

In nanonext: Lightweight Toolkit for Messaging, Concurrency and the Web

library(nanonext)

1. TLS Secure Connections

Secure connections use NNG and Mbed TLS libraries. Enable them by:

1. Specifying a secure tls+tcp:// or wss:// URL
2. Passing a TLS configuration object to the 'tls' argument of listen() or dial()

Create TLS configurations with tls_config(): - Client configuration: requires PEM-encoded CA certificate to verify server identity - Server configuration: requires certificate and private key

Certificates may be supplied as files or character vectors. Valid X.509 certificates from Certificate Authorities are supported.

The convenience function write_cert() generates a 4096-bit RSA key pair and self-signed X.509 certificate. The 'cn' argument must match exactly the hostname/IP address of the URL (e.g., use '127.0.0.1' throughout, or 'localhost' throughout, not mixed).

cert <- write_cert(cn = "127.0.0.1")
str(cert)
#> List of 2
#>  $ server: chr [1:2] "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIFOTCCAyGgAwIBAgIBATANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADA0MRIwEAYDVQQDDAkxMjcu\nMC4wLjExETAPBgNV"| __truncated__ "-----BEGIN RSA PRIVATE KEY-----\nMIIJKAIBAAKCAgEA7bh7hshxv3wfY81Gkct1ffRlFB4XJj3vAH+wiM1l8Q9WAllX\nIfyEVwGdC665"| __truncated__
#>  $ client: chr [1:2] "-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----\nMIIFOTCCAyGgAwIBAgIBATANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADA0MRIwEAYDVQQDDAkxMjcu\nMC4wLjExETAPBgNV"| __truncated__ ""

ser <- tls_config(server = cert$server)
ser
#> < TLS server config | auth mode: optional >

cli <- tls_config(client = cert$client)
cli
#> < TLS client config | auth mode: required >

s <- socket(listen = "tls+tcp://127.0.0.1:5558", tls = ser)
s1 <- socket(dial = "tls+tcp://127.0.0.1:5558", tls = cli)

# secure TLS connection established

close(s1)
close(s)

2. Options

Use opt() and 'opt<-'() to get and set options on Sockets, Contexts, Streams, Listeners, or Dialers. See function documentation for available options.

To configure dialers or listeners after creation, specify autostart = FALSE (configuration cannot be changed after starting).

s <- socket(listen = "inproc://options", autostart = FALSE)

# no maximum message size
opt(s$listener[[1]], "recv-size-max")
#> [1] 0

# enforce maximum message size to protect against denial-of-service attacks
opt(s$listener[[1]], "recv-size-max") <- 8192L

opt(s$listener[[1]], "recv-size-max")
#> [1] 8192

start(s$listener[[1]])

3. Custom Serialization

The special write-only option 'serial' sets a serialization configuration via serial_config(). This registers custom functions for serializing/unserializing reference objects using R's 'refhook' system, enabling transparent send/receive with mode 'serial'. Configurations apply to the Socket and all Contexts created from it.

serial <- serial_config("obj_class", function(x) serialize(x, NULL), unserialize)
opt(s, "serial") <- serial

close(s)

4. Statistics

Use stat() to access NNG's statistics framework. Query Sockets, Listeners, or Dialers for statistics such as connection attempts and current connections. See function documentation for available statistics.

s <- socket(listen = "inproc://stat")

# no active connections (pipes)
stat(s, "pipes")
#> [1] 0

s1 <- socket(dial = "inproc://stat")

# one now that the dialer has connected
stat(s, "pipes")
#> [1] 1

close(s)

nanonext documentation built on March 8, 2026, 9:06 a.m.