1. About the Documentation

This section provides a brief overview of Reactor Netty reference documentation. You do not need to read this guide in a linear fashion. Each piece stands on its own, though they often refer to other pieces.

The Reactor Netty reference guide is available as HTML documents. The latest copy is available at https://projectreactor.io/docs/netty/release/reference/index.html

Copies of this document may be made for your own use and for distribution to others, provided that you do not charge any fee for such copies and further provided that each copy contains this Copyright Notice, whether distributed in print or electronically.

1.2. Contributing to the Documentation

The reference guide is written in Asciidoc, and you can find its sources at https://github.com/reactor/reactor-netty/tree/main/docs/asciidoc.

If you have an improvement, we will be happy to get a pull request from you!

We recommend that you check out a local copy of the repository so that you can generate the documentation by using the asciidoctor Gradle task and checking the rendering. Some of the sections rely on included files, so GitHub rendering is not always complete.

To facilitate documentation edits, most sections have a link at the end that opens an edit UI directly on GitHub for the main source file for that section. These links are only present in the HTML5 version of this reference guide. They look like the following link: Suggest Edit to About the Documentation.

1.3. Getting Help

There are several ways to reach out for help with Reactor Netty. You can:

  • Get in touch with the community on Gitter.

  • Ask a question on stackoverflow.com at reactor-netty.

  • Report bugs in Github issues. The repository is the following: reactor-netty.

All of Reactor Netty is open source, including this documentation.

2. Getting Started

This section contains information that should help you get going with Reactor Netty. It includes the following information:

2.1. Introducing Reactor Netty

Suited for Microservices Architecture, Reactor Netty offers backpressure-ready network engines for HTTP (including Websockets), TCP, and UDP.

2.2. Prerequisites

Reactor Netty runs on Java 8 and above.

It has transitive dependencies on:

  • Reactive Streams v1.0.4

  • Reactor Core v3.x

  • Netty v4.1.x

2.3. Understanding the BOM and versioning scheme

Reactor Netty is part of the Project Reactor BOM (since the Aluminium release train). This curated list groups artifacts that are meant to work well together, providing the relevant versions despite potentially divergent versioning schemes in these artifacts.

The versioning scheme has changed between 0.9.x and 1.0.x (Dysprosium and Europium).

Artifacts follow a versioning scheme of MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH-QUALIFIER while the BOM is versioned using a CalVer inspired scheme of YYYY.MINOR.PATCH-QUALIFIER, where:

  • MAJOR is the current generation of Reactor, where each new generation can bring fundamental changes to the structure of the project (which might imply a more significant migration effort)

  • YYYY is the year of the first GA release in a given release cycle (like 1.0.0 for 1.0.x)

  • .MINOR is a 0-based number incrementing with each new release cycle

    • in the case of projects, it generally reflects wider changes and can indicate a moderate migration effort

    • in the case of the BOM it allows discerning between release cycles in case two get first released the same year

  • .PATCH is a 0-based number incrementing with each service release

  • -QUALIFIER is a textual qualifier, which is omitted in the case of GA releases (see below)

The first release cycle to follow that convention is thus 2020.0.x, codename Europium. The scheme uses the following qualifiers (note the use of dash separator), in order:

  • -M1..-M9: milestones (we don’t expect more than 9 per service release)

  • -RC1..-RC9: release candidates (we don’t expect more than 9 per service release)

  • -SNAPSHOT: snapshots

  • no qualifier for GA releases

Snapshots appear higher in the order above because, conceptually, they’re always "the freshest pre-release" of any given PATCH. Even though the first deployed artifact of a PATCH cycle will always be a -SNAPSHOT, a similarly named but more up-to-date snapshot would also get released after eg. a milestone or between release candidates.

Each release cycle is also given a codename, in continuity with the previous codename-based scheme, which can be used to reference it more informally (like in discussions, blog posts, etc…​). The codenames represent what would traditionally be the MAJOR.MINOR number. They (mostly) come from the Periodic Table of Elements, in increasing alphabetical order.

Up until Dysprosium, the BOM was versioned using a release train scheme with a codename followed by a qualifier, and the qualifiers were slightly different. For example: Aluminium-RELEASE (first GA release, would now be something like YYYY.0.0), Bismuth-M1, Californium-SR1 (service release would now be something like YYYY.0.1), Dysprosium-RC1, Dysprosium-BUILD-SNAPSHOT (after each patch, we’d go back to the same snapshot version. would now be something like YYYY.0.X-SNAPSHOT so we get 1 snapshot per PATCH)

2.4. Getting Reactor Netty

As mentioned earlier, the easiest way to use Reactor Netty in your core is to use the BOM and add the relevant dependencies to your project. Note that, when adding such a dependency, you must omit the version so that the version gets picked up from the BOM.

However, if you want to force the use of a specific artifact’s version, you can specify it when adding your dependency as you usually would. You can also forego the BOM entirely and specify dependencies by their artifact versions.

2.4.1. Maven Installation

The BOM concept is natively supported by Maven. First, you need to import the BOM by adding the following snippet to your pom.xml. If the top section (dependencyManagement) already exists in your pom, add only the contents.

<dependencyManagement> (1)
    <dependencies>
        <dependency>
            <groupId>io.projectreactor</groupId>
            <artifactId>reactor-bom</artifactId>
            <version>2020.0.27</version> (2)
            <type>pom</type>
            <scope>import</scope>
        </dependency>
    </dependencies>
</dependencyManagement>
1 Notice the dependencyManagement tag. This is in addition to the regular dependencies section.
2 As of this writing, 2020.0.27 is the latest version of the BOM. Check for updates at https://github.com/reactor/reactor/releases.

Next, add your dependencies to the relevant reactor projects, as usual (except without a <version>). The following listing shows how to do so:

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>io.projectreactor.netty</groupId>
        <artifactId>reactor-netty-core</artifactId> (1)
        (2)
    </dependency>
</dependencies>
<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>io.projectreactor.netty</groupId>
        <artifactId>reactor-netty-http</artifactId>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>
1 Dependency on Reactor Netty
2 No version tag here

2.4.2. Gradle Installation

The BOM concept is supported in Gradle since version 5. The following listing shows how to import the BOM and add a dependency to Reactor Netty:

dependencies {
    // import a BOM
    implementation platform('io.projectreactor:reactor-bom:2020.0.27') (1)

    // define dependencies without versions
    implementation 'io.projectreactor.netty:reactor-netty-core' (2)
    implementation 'io.projectreactor.netty:reactor-netty-http'
}
1 As of this writing, 2020.0.27 is the latest version of the BOM. Check for updates at https://github.com/reactor/reactor/releases.
2 There is no third : separated section for the version. It is taken from the BOM.

2.4.3. Milestones and Snapshots

Milestones and developer previews are distributed through the Spring Milestones repository rather than Maven Central. To add it to your build configuration file, use the following snippet:

Milestones in Maven
<repositories>
	<repository>
		<id>spring-milestones</id>
		<name>Spring Milestones Repository</name>
		<url>https://repo.spring.io/milestone</url>
	</repository>
</repositories>

For Gradle, use the following snippet:

Milestones in Gradle
repositories {
  maven { url 'https://repo.spring.io/milestone' }
  mavenCentral()
}

Similarly, snapshots are also available in a separate dedicated repository (for both Maven and Gradle):

-SNAPSHOTs in Maven
<repositories>
	<repository>
		<id>spring-snapshots</id>
		<name>Spring Snapshot Repository</name>
		<url>https://repo.spring.io/snapshot</url>
	</repository>
</repositories>
-SNAPSHOTs in Gradle
repositories {
  maven { url 'https://repo.spring.io/snapshot' }
  mavenCentral()
}

2.5. Support and policies

2.5.1. Do you have a question?

Search Stack Overflow first; discuss if necessary

If you’re unsure why something isn’t working or wondering if there is a better way of doing it please check on Stack Overflow first and if necessary start a discussion. Use relevant tags among the ones we monitor for that purpose:

If you prefer real-time discussion, we also have a few Gitter channels:

  • reactor is the historic most active one, where most of the community can help

  • reactor-core is intended for more advanced pinpointed discussions around the inner workings of the library

  • reactor-netty is intended for netty-specific questions

Refer to each project’s README for potential other sources of information.

We generally discourage opening GitHub issues for questions, in favor of the two channels above.

2.5.2. Our policy on deprecations

When dealing with deprecations, given a version A.B.C, we’ll ensure that:

  • deprecations introduced in version A.B.0 will be removed no sooner than version A.B+1.0

  • deprecations introduced in version A.B.1+ will be removed no sooner than version A.B+2.0

  • we’ll strive to mention the following in the deprecation javadoc:

3. TCP Server

Reactor Netty provides an easy to use and configure TcpServer. It hides most of the Netty functionality that is needed to create a TCP server and adds Reactive Streams backpressure.

3.1. Starting and Stopping

To start a TCP server, you must create and configure a TcpServer instance. By default, the host is configured for any local address, and the system picks up an ephemeral port when the bind operation is invoked. The following example shows how to create and configure a TcpServer instance:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/create/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()   (1)
				         .bindNow(); (2)

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Creates a TcpServer instance that is ready for configuring.
2 Starts the server in a blocking fashion and waits for it to finish initializing.

The returned DisposableServer offers a simple server API, including disposeNow(), which shuts the server down in a blocking fashion.

3.1.1. Host and Port

To serve on a specific host and port, you can apply the following configuration to the TCP server:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/address/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .host("localhost") (1)
				         .port(8080)        (2)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the TCP server host
2 Configures the TCP server port

To serve on multiple addresses, after having configured the TcpServer you can bind it multiple times to obtain separate DisposableServer`s. All created servers will share resources such as `LoopResources because they use the same configuration instance under the hood.

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/address/MultiAddressApplication.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class MultiAddressApplication {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		TcpServer tcpServer = TcpServer.create();
		DisposableServer server1 = tcpServer
				.host("localhost") (1)
				.port(8080)        (2)
				.bindNow();

		DisposableServer server2 = tcpServer
				.host("0.0.0.0") (3)
				.port(8081)      (4)
				.bindNow();

		Mono.when(server1.onDispose(), server2.onDispose())
				.block();
	}
}
1 Configures the first TCP server host
2 Configures the first TCP server port
3 Configures the second TCP server host
4 Configures the second TCP server port

3.2. Eager Initialization

By default, the initialization of the TcpServer resources happens on demand. This means that the bind operation absorbs the extra time needed to initialize and load:

  • the event loop groups

  • the native transport libraries (when native transport is used)

  • the native libraries for the security (in case of OpenSsl)

When you need to preload these resources, you can configure the TcpServer as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/warmup/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		TcpServer tcpServer =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .handle((inbound, outbound) -> inbound.receive().then());

		tcpServer.warmup() (1)
		         .block();

		DisposableServer server = tcpServer.bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Initialize and load the event loop groups, the native transport libraries and the native libraries for the security

3.3. Writing Data

In order to send data to a connected client, you must attach an I/O handler. The I/O handler has access to NettyOutbound to be able to write data. The following example shows how to attach an I/O handler:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/send/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .handle((inbound, outbound) -> outbound.sendString(Mono.just("hello"))) (1)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Sends hello string to the connected clients

3.4. Consuming Data

In order to receive data from a connected client, you must attach an I/O handler. The I/O handler has access to NettyInbound to be able to read data. The following example shows how to use it:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/read/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .handle((inbound, outbound) -> inbound.receive().then()) (1)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Receives data from the connected clients

3.5. Lifecycle Callbacks

The following lifecycle callbacks are provided to let you extend the TcpServer:

Callback Description

doOnBind

Invoked when the server channel is about to bind.

doOnBound

Invoked when the server channel is bound.

doOnChannelInit

Invoked when initializing the channel.

doOnConnection

Invoked when a remote client is connected

doOnUnbound

Invoked when the server channel is unbound.

The following example uses the doOnConnection and doOnChannelInit callbacks:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/lifecycle/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LoggingHandler;
import io.netty.handler.timeout.ReadTimeoutHandler;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .doOnConnection(conn ->
				             conn.addHandlerFirst(new ReadTimeoutHandler(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS))) (1)
				         .doOnChannelInit((observer, channel, remoteAddress) ->
				             channel.pipeline()
				                    .addFirst(new LoggingHandler("reactor.netty.examples")))     (2)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Netty pipeline is extended with ReadTimeoutHandler when a remote client is connected.
2 Netty pipeline is extended with LoggingHandler when initializing the channel.

3.6. TCP-level Configurations

This section describes three kinds of configuration that you can use at the TCP level:

3.6.1. Setting Channel Options

By default, the TCP server is configured with the following options:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/tcp/TcpServerBind.java
	Map<ChannelOption<?>, Boolean> childOptions = new HashMap<>(2);
	childOptions.put(ChannelOption.AUTO_READ, false);
	childOptions.put(ChannelOption.TCP_NODELAY, true);
	this.config = new TcpServerConfig(
			Collections.singletonMap(ChannelOption.SO_REUSEADDR, true),
			childOptions,
			() -> new InetSocketAddress(DEFAULT_PORT));
}

If additional options are necessary or changes to the current options are needed, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/channeloptions/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .option(ChannelOption.CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, 10000)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

You can find more about Netty channel options at the following links:

3.6.2. Wire Logger

Reactor Netty provides wire logging for when the traffic between the peers needs to be inspected. By default, wire logging is disabled. To enable it, you must set the logger reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer level to DEBUG and apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/wiretap/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .wiretap(true) (1)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging
Wire Logger formatters

Reactor Netty supports 3 different formatters:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in hex format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] READ: 145B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 50 4f 53 54 20 2f 74 65 73 74 2f 57 6f 72 6c 64 |POST /test/World|
 * |00000010| 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 | HTTP/1.1..Conte|
 * |00000020| 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 74 65 78 74 2f 70 6c |nt-Type: text/pl|
 * |00000030| 61 69 6e 0d 0a 75 73 65 72 2d 61 67 65 6e 74 3a |ain..user-agent:|
 * |00000040| 20 52 65 61 63 74 6f 72 4e 65 74 74 79 2f 64 65 | ReactorNetty/de|
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] WRITE: 38B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 20 32 30 30 20 4f 4b 0d |HTTP/1.1 200 OK.|
 * |00000010| 0a 63 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 6c 65 6e 67 74 68 3a |.content-length:|
 * |00000020| 20 30 0d 0a 0d 0a                               | 0....          |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, only the events will be logged.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] READ: 145B
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] WRITE: 38B
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in plain text format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] READ: 145B POST /test/World HTTP/1.1
 * Content-Type: text/plain
 * user-agent: ReactorNetty/dev
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] WRITE: 38B HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 * content-length: 0
 * }
 * </pre>
 */

When you need to change the default formatter you can configure it as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/wiretap/custom/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LogLevel;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;
import reactor.netty.transport.logging.AdvancedByteBufFormat;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .wiretap("logger-name", LogLevel.DEBUG, AdvancedByteBufFormat.TEXTUAL) (1)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging, AdvancedByteBufFormat#TEXTUAL is used for printing the content.

3.6.3. Event Loop Group

By default, the TCP server uses an “Event Loop Group,” where the number of the worker threads equals the number of processors available to the runtime on initialization (but with a minimum value of 4). When you need a different configuration, you can use one of the LoopResource#create methods.

The default configuration for the Event Loop Group is the following:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/ReactorNetty.java
/**
 * Default worker thread count, fallback to available processor
 * (but with a minimum value of 4)
 */
public static final String IO_WORKER_COUNT = "reactor.netty.ioWorkerCount";
/**
 * Default selector thread count, fallback to -1 (no selector thread)
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> In most use cases using a worker thread also as a selector thread works well.
 * A possible use case for specifying a separate selector thread might be when the worker threads are too busy
 * and connections cannot be accepted fast enough.
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> Although more than 1 can be configured as a selector thread count, in reality
 * only 1 thread will be used as a selector thread.
 */
public static final String IO_SELECT_COUNT = "reactor.netty.ioSelectCount";
/**
 * Default worker thread count for UDP, fallback to available processor
 * (but with a minimum value of 4)
 */
public static final String UDP_IO_THREAD_COUNT = "reactor.netty.udp.ioThreadCount";
/**
 * Default quiet period that guarantees that the disposal of the underlying LoopResources
 * will not happen, fallback to 2 seconds.
 */
public static final String SHUTDOWN_QUIET_PERIOD = "reactor.netty.ioShutdownQuietPeriod";
/**
 * Default maximum amount of time to wait until the disposal of the underlying LoopResources
 * regardless if a task was submitted during the quiet period, fallback to 15 seconds.
 */
public static final String SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT = "reactor.netty.ioShutdownTimeout";

/**
 * Default value whether the native transport (epoll, kqueue) will be preferred,
 * fallback it will be preferred when available
 */
public static final String NATIVE = "reactor.netty.native";

If changes to the these settings are needed, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/eventloop/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.resources.LoopResources;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		LoopResources loop = LoopResources.create("event-loop", 1, 4, true);

		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .runOn(loop)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

3.7. SSL and TLS

When you need SSL or TLS, you can apply the configuration shown in the next listing. By default, if OpenSSL is available, SslProvider.OPENSSL provider is used as a provider. Otherwise SslProvider.JDK is used. Switching the provider can be done through SslContextBuilder or by setting -Dio.netty.handler.ssl.noOpenSsl=true.

The following example uses SslContextBuilder:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/security/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpSslContextSpec;

import java.io.File;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		File cert = new File("certificate.crt");
		File key = new File("private.key");

		TcpSslContextSpec tcpSslContextSpec = TcpSslContextSpec.forServer(cert, key);

		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(tcpSslContextSpec))
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

3.7.1. Server Name Indication

You can configure the TCP server with multiple SslContext mapped to a specific domain. An exact domain name or a domain name containing a wildcard can be used when configuring the SNI mapping.

The following example uses a domain name containing a wildcard:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/sni/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContext;
import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContextBuilder;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

import java.io.File;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
		File defaultCert = new File("default_certificate.crt");
		File defaultKey = new File("default_private.key");

		File testDomainCert = new File("default_certificate.crt");
		File testDomainKey = new File("default_private.key");

		SslContext defaultSslContext = SslContextBuilder.forServer(defaultCert, defaultKey).build();
		SslContext testDomainSslContext = SslContextBuilder.forServer(testDomainCert, testDomainKey).build();

		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(defaultSslContext)
				                             .addSniMapping("*.test.com",
				                                     testDomainSpec -> testDomainSpec.sslContext(testDomainSslContext)))
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

3.8. Metrics

The TCP server supports built-in integration with Micrometer. It exposes all metrics with a prefix of reactor.netty.tcp.server.

The following table provides information for the TCP server metrics:

metric name type description

reactor.netty.tcp.server.connections.total

Gauge

The number of all opened connections

reactor.netty.tcp.server.data.received

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data received, in bytes

reactor.netty.tcp.server.data.sent

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data sent, in bytes

reactor.netty.tcp.server.errors

Counter

Number of errors that occurred

reactor.netty.tcp.server.tls.handshake.time

Timer

Time spent for TLS handshake

These additional metrics are also available:

ByteBufAllocator metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.heap.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by heap buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.direct.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by direct buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.heap.arenas

Gauge

The number of heap arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.direct.arenas

Gauge

The number of direct arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.threadlocal.caches

Gauge

The number of thread local caches (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.small.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the small cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.normal.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the normal cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.chunk.size

Gauge

The chunk size for an arena (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.heap.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from heap buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.direct.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from direct buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

EventLoop metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.eventloop.pending.tasks

Gauge

The number of tasks that are pending for processing on an event loop

The following example enables that integration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/metrics/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .metrics(true) (1)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the built-in integration with Micrometer

When TCP server metrics are needed for an integration with a system other than Micrometer or you want to provide your own integration with Micrometer, you can provide your own metrics recorder, as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/metrics/custom/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.channel.ChannelMetricsRecorder;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

import java.net.SocketAddress;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .metrics(true, CustomChannelMetricsRecorder::new) (1)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
1 Enables TCP server metrics and provides ChannelMetricsRecorder implementation.

3.9. Unix Domain Sockets

The TCP server supports Unix Domain Sockets (UDS) when native transport is in use.

The following example shows how to use UDS support:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/server/uds/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.unix.DomainSocketAddress;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				TcpServer.create()
				         .bindAddress(() -> new DomainSocketAddress("/tmp/test.sock")) (1)
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Specifies DomainSocketAddress that will be used

4. TCP Client

Reactor Netty provides the easy-to-use and easy-to-configure TcpClient. It hides most of the Netty functionality that is needed in order to create a TCP client and adds Reactive Streams backpressure.

4.1. Connect and Disconnect

To connect the TCP client to a given endpoint, you must create and configure a TcpClient instance. By default, the host is localhost and the port is 12012. The following example shows how to create a TcpClient:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/create/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()      (1)
				         .connectNow(); (2)

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Creates a TcpClient instance that is ready for configuring.
2 Connects the client in a blocking fashion and waits for it to finish initializing.

The returned Connection offers a simple connection API, including disposeNow(), which shuts the client down in a blocking fashion.

4.1.1. Host and Port

To connect to a specific host and port, you can apply the following configuration to the TCP client. The following example shows how to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/address/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com") (1)
				         .port(80)            (2)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the TCP host
2 Configures the TCP port

4.2. Eager Initialization

By default, the initialization of the TcpClient resources happens on demand. This means that the connect operation absorbs the extra time needed to initialize and load:

  • the event loop group

  • the host name resolver

  • the native transport libraries (when native transport is used)

  • the native libraries for the security (in case of OpenSsl)

When you need to preload these resources, you can configure the TcpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/warmup/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		TcpClient tcpClient =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .handle((inbound, outbound) -> outbound.sendString(Mono.just("hello")));

		tcpClient.warmup() (1)
		         .block();

		Connection connection = tcpClient.connectNow(); (2)

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Initialize and load the event loop group, the host name resolver, the native transport libraries and the native libraries for the security
2 Host name resolution happens when connecting to the remote peer

4.3. Writing Data

To send data to a given endpoint, you must attach an I/O handler. The I/O handler has access to NettyOutbound to be able to write data.

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/send/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .handle((inbound, outbound) -> outbound.sendString(Mono.just("hello"))) (1)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Sends hello string to the endpoint.

When you need more control over the writing process, as an alternative for I/O handler you may use Connection#outbound. As opposed to I/O handler where the connection is closed when the provided Publisher finishes (in case of finite Publisher), when using Connection#outbound, you have to invoke explicitly Connection#dispose in order to close the connection.

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/send/connection/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.outbound()
		          .sendString(Mono.just("hello 1")) (1)
		          .then()
		          .subscribe();

		connection.outbound()
		          .sendString(Mono.just("hello 2")) (2)
		          .then()
		          .subscribe(null, null, connection::dispose); (3)

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Sends hello 1 string to the endpoint.
2 Sends hello 2 string to the endpoint.
3 Closes the connection once the message is sent to the endpoint.

4.4. Consuming Data

To receive data from a given endpoint, you must attach an I/O handler. The I/O handler has access to NettyInbound to be able to read data. The following example shows how to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/read/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .handle((inbound, outbound) -> inbound.receive().then()) (1)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Receives data from a given endpoint

When you need more control over the reading process, as an alternative for I/O handler you may use Connection#inbound. As opposed to I/O handler where the connection is closed when the provided Publisher finishes (in case of finite Publisher), when using Connection#inbound, you have to invoke explicitly Connection#dispose in order to close the connection.

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/read/connection/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.inbound()
		          .receive() (1)
		          .then()
		          .subscribe();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Receives data from a given endpoint.

4.5. Lifecycle Callbacks

The following lifecycle callbacks are provided to let you extend the TcpClient.

Callback Description

doAfterResolve

Invoked after the remote address has been resolved successfully.

doOnChannelInit

Invoked when initializing the channel.

doOnConnect

Invoked when the channel is about to connect.

doOnConnected

Invoked after the channel has been connected.

doOnDisconnected

Invoked after the channel has been disconnected.

doOnResolve

Invoked when the remote address is about to be resolved.

doOnResolveError

Invoked in case the remote address hasn’t been resolved successfully.

The following example uses the doOnConnected and doOnChannelInit callbacks:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/lifecycle/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LoggingHandler;
import io.netty.handler.timeout.ReadTimeoutHandler;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .doOnConnected(conn ->
				             conn.addHandlerFirst(new ReadTimeoutHandler(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS))) (1)
				         .doOnChannelInit((observer, channel, remoteAddress) ->
				             channel.pipeline()
				                    .addFirst(new LoggingHandler("reactor.netty.examples")))     (2)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Netty pipeline is extended with ReadTimeoutHandler when the channel has been connected.
2 Netty pipeline is extended with LoggingHandler when initializing the channel.

4.6. TCP-level Configurations

This section describes three kinds of configuration that you can use at the TCP level:

4.6.1. Channel Options

By default, the TCP client is configured with the following options:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/tcp/TcpClientConnect.java
	this.config = new TcpClientConfig(
			provider,
			Collections.singletonMap(ChannelOption.AUTO_READ, false),
			() -> AddressUtils.createUnresolved(NetUtil.LOCALHOST.getHostAddress(), DEFAULT_PORT));
}

If additional options are necessary or changes to the current options are needed, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/channeloptions/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .option(ChannelOption.CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, 10000)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}

You can find more about Netty channel options at the following links:

4.6.2. Wire Logger

Reactor Netty provides wire logging for when the traffic between the peers needs to be inspected. By default, wire logging is disabled. To enable it, you must set the logger reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient level to DEBUG and apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/wiretap/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .wiretap(true) (1)
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging
Wire Logger formatters

Reactor Netty supports 3 different formatters:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in hex format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] READ: 145B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 50 4f 53 54 20 2f 74 65 73 74 2f 57 6f 72 6c 64 |POST /test/World|
 * |00000010| 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 | HTTP/1.1..Conte|
 * |00000020| 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 74 65 78 74 2f 70 6c |nt-Type: text/pl|
 * |00000030| 61 69 6e 0d 0a 75 73 65 72 2d 61 67 65 6e 74 3a |ain..user-agent:|
 * |00000040| 20 52 65 61 63 74 6f 72 4e 65 74 74 79 2f 64 65 | ReactorNetty/de|
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] WRITE: 38B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 20 32 30 30 20 4f 4b 0d |HTTP/1.1 200 OK.|
 * |00000010| 0a 63 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 6c 65 6e 67 74 68 3a |.content-length:|
 * |00000020| 20 30 0d 0a 0d 0a                               | 0....          |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, only the events will be logged.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] READ: 145B
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] WRITE: 38B
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in plain text format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] READ: 145B POST /test/World HTTP/1.1
 * Content-Type: text/plain
 * user-agent: ReactorNetty/dev
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] WRITE: 38B HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 * content-length: 0
 * }
 * </pre>
 */

When you need to change the default formatter you can configure it as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/wiretap/custom/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LogLevel;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;
import reactor.netty.transport.logging.AdvancedByteBufFormat;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .wiretap("logger-name", LogLevel.DEBUG, AdvancedByteBufFormat.TEXTUAL) (1)
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging, AdvancedByteBufFormat#TEXTUAL is used for printing the content.

4.6.3. Event Loop Group

By default the TCP client uses an “Event Loop Group”, where the number of the worker threads equals the number of processors available to the runtime on initialization (but with a minimum value of 4). When you need a different configuration, you can use one of the LoopResource#create methods.

The following listing shows the default configuration for the Event Loop Group:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/ReactorNetty.java
/**
 * Default worker thread count, fallback to available processor
 * (but with a minimum value of 4)
 */
public static final String IO_WORKER_COUNT = "reactor.netty.ioWorkerCount";
/**
 * Default selector thread count, fallback to -1 (no selector thread)
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> In most use cases using a worker thread also as a selector thread works well.
 * A possible use case for specifying a separate selector thread might be when the worker threads are too busy
 * and connections cannot be accepted fast enough.
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> Although more than 1 can be configured as a selector thread count, in reality
 * only 1 thread will be used as a selector thread.
 */
public static final String IO_SELECT_COUNT = "reactor.netty.ioSelectCount";
/**
 * Default worker thread count for UDP, fallback to available processor
 * (but with a minimum value of 4)
 */
public static final String UDP_IO_THREAD_COUNT = "reactor.netty.udp.ioThreadCount";
/**
 * Default quiet period that guarantees that the disposal of the underlying LoopResources
 * will not happen, fallback to 2 seconds.
 */
public static final String SHUTDOWN_QUIET_PERIOD = "reactor.netty.ioShutdownQuietPeriod";
/**
 * Default maximum amount of time to wait until the disposal of the underlying LoopResources
 * regardless if a task was submitted during the quiet period, fallback to 15 seconds.
 */
public static final String SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT = "reactor.netty.ioShutdownTimeout";

/**
 * Default value whether the native transport (epoll, kqueue) will be preferred,
 * fallback it will be preferred when available
 */
public static final String NATIVE = "reactor.netty.native";

If you need changes to the these settings, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/eventloop/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.resources.LoopResources;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		LoopResources loop = LoopResources.create("event-loop", 1, 4, true);

		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .runOn(loop)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}

4.7. Connection Pool

By default, TcpClient uses a “fixed” connection pool with 500 as the maximum number of active channels and 1000 as the maximum number of further channel acquisition attempts allowed to be kept in a pending state (for the rest of the configurations check the system properties or the builder configurations below). This means that the implementation creates a new channel if someone tries to acquire a channel as long as less than 500 have been created and are managed by the pool. When the maximum number of channels in the pool is reached, up to 1000 new attempts to acquire a channel are delayed (pending) until a channel is closed (and thus a slot is free and a new connection can be opened), and further attempts are declined with an error.

Connections used by the TcpClient are never returned to the pool, but closed. When a connection is closed, a slot is freed in the pool and thus a new connection can be opened when needed. This behaviour is specific only for TcpClient and is intentional because only the user/framework knows if the actual protocol is compatible with reusing connections. (opposed to HttpClient where the protocol is known and Reactor Netty can return the connection to the pool when this is possible)
./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/ReactorNetty.java
 * Default value whether the native transport (epoll, kqueue) will be preferred,
 * fallback it will be preferred when available
 */
public static final String NATIVE = "reactor.netty.native";


/**
 * Default max connections. Fallback to
 * 2 * available number of processors (but with a minimum value of 16)
 */
public static final String POOL_MAX_CONNECTIONS = "reactor.netty.pool.maxConnections";

When you need to change the default settings, you can configure the ConnectionProvider as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/pool/config/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.resources.ConnectionProvider;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		ConnectionProvider provider =
				ConnectionProvider.builder("fixed")
				                  .maxConnections(50)
				                  .pendingAcquireTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(60)) (1)
				                  .build();

		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create(provider)
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the maximum time for the pending acquire operation to 60 seconds.

The following listing shows the available configurations:

Configuration name Description

disposeInactivePoolsInBackground

When this option is enabled, connection pools are regularly checked in the background, and those that are empty and been inactive for a specified time become eligible for disposal. By default, this background disposal of inactive pools is disabled.

disposeTimeout

When ConnectionProvider#dispose() or ConnectionProvider#disposeLater() is called, trigger a graceful shutdown for the connection pools, with this grace period timeout. From there on, all calls for acquiring a connection will fail fast with an exception. However, for the provided Duration, pending acquires will get a chance to be served. Note: The rejection of new acquires and the grace timer start immediately, irrespective of subscription to the Mono returned by ConnectionProvider#disposeLater(). Subsequent calls return the same Mono, effectively getting notifications from the first graceful shutdown call and ignoring subsequently provided timeouts. By default, dispose timeout is not specified.

maxConnections

The maximum number of connections (per connection pool) before start pending. Default to 2 * available number of processors (but with a minimum value of 16).

metrics

Enables/disables built-in integration with Micrometer. ConnectionProvider.MeterRegistrar can be provided for integration with another metrics system. By default, metrics are not enabled.

pendingAcquireMaxCount

The maximum number of extra attempts at acquiring a connection to keep in a pending queue. If -1 is specified, the pending queue does not have upper limit. Default to 2 * max connections.

pendingAcquireTimeout

The maximum time before which a pending acquire must complete, or a TimeoutException is thrown (resolution: ms). If -1 is specified, no such timeout is applied. Default: 45 seconds.

If you need to disable the connection pool, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/pool/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.newConnection()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}

4.7.1. Metrics

The pooled ConnectionProvider supports built-in integration with Micrometer. It exposes all metrics with a prefix of reactor.netty.connection.provider.

Pooled ConnectionProvider metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.connection.provider.total.connections

Gauge

The number of all connections, active or idle

reactor.netty.connection.provider.active.connections

Gauge

The number of the connections that have been successfully acquired and are in active use

reactor.netty.connection.provider.max.connections

Gauge

The maximum number of active connections that are allowed

reactor.netty.connection.provider.idle.connections

Gauge

The number of the idle connections

reactor.netty.connection.provider.pending.connections

Gauge

The number of requests that are waiting for a connection

reactor.netty.connection.provider.max.pending.connections

Gauge

The maximum number of requests that will be queued while waiting for a ready connection

The following example enables that integration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/pool/metrics/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.resources.ConnectionProvider;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		ConnectionProvider provider =
				ConnectionProvider.builder("fixed")
				                  .maxConnections(50)
				                  .metrics(true) (1)
				                  .build();

		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create(provider)
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the built-in integration with Micrometer

4.8. SSL and TLS

When you need SSL or TLS, you can apply the following configuration. By default, if OpenSSL is available, the SslProvider.OPENSSL provider is used as a provider. Otherwise, the provider is SslProvider.JDK. You can switch the provider by using SslContextBuilder or by setting -Dio.netty.handler.ssl.noOpenSsl=true.

The following example uses SslContextBuilder:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/security/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpSslContextSpec;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		TcpSslContextSpec tcpSslContextSpec = TcpSslContextSpec.forClient();

		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(443)
				         .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(tcpSslContextSpec))
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}

4.8.1. Server Name Indication

By default, the TCP client sends the remote host name as SNI server name. When you need to change this default setting, you can configure the TCP client as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/sni/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContext;
import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContextBuilder;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

import javax.net.ssl.SNIHostName;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
		SslContext sslContext = SslContextBuilder.forClient().build();

		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("127.0.0.1")
				         .port(8080)
				         .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(sslContext)
				                             .serverNames(new SNIHostName("test.com")))
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}

4.9. Proxy Support

Reactor Netty supports the proxy functionality provided by Netty and provides a way to specify non proxy hosts through the ProxyProvider builder.

Netty’s HTTP proxy support always uses CONNECT method in order to establish a tunnel to the specified proxy regardless of the scheme that is used http or https. (More information: Netty enforce HTTP proxy to support HTTP CONNECT method). Some proxies might not support CONNECT method when the scheme is http or might need to be configured in order to support this way of communication. Sometimes this might be the reason for not being able to connect to the proxy. Consider checking the proxy documentation whether it supports or needs an additional configuration in order to support CONNECT method.

The following example uses ProxyProvider:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/proxy/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.transport.ProxyProvider;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .proxy(spec -> spec.type(ProxyProvider.Proxy.SOCKS4)
				                            .host("proxy")
				                            .port(8080)
				                            .nonProxyHosts("localhost")
				                            .connectTimeoutMillis(20_000)) (1)
				        .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the connection establishment timeout to 20 seconds.

4.10. Metrics

The TCP client supports built-in integration with Micrometer. It exposes all metrics with a prefix of reactor.netty.tcp.client.

The following table provides information for the TCP client metrics:

metric name type description

reactor.netty.tcp.client.data.received

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data received, in bytes

reactor.netty.tcp.client.data.sent

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data sent, in bytes

reactor.netty.tcp.client.errors

Counter

Number of errors that occurred

reactor.netty.tcp.client.tls.handshake.time

Timer

Time spent for TLS handshake

reactor.netty.tcp.client.connect.time

Timer

Time spent for connecting to the remote address

reactor.netty.tcp.client.address.resolver

Timer

Time spent for resolving the address

These additional metrics are also available:

Pooled ConnectionProvider metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.connection.provider.total.connections

Gauge

The number of all connections, active or idle

reactor.netty.connection.provider.active.connections

Gauge

The number of the connections that have been successfully acquired and are in active use

reactor.netty.connection.provider.max.connections

Gauge

The maximum number of active connections that are allowed

reactor.netty.connection.provider.idle.connections

Gauge

The number of the idle connections

reactor.netty.connection.provider.pending.connections

Gauge

The number of requests that are waiting for a connection

reactor.netty.connection.provider.max.pending.connections

Gauge

The maximum number of requests that will be queued while waiting for a ready connection

ByteBufAllocator metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.heap.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by heap buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.direct.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by direct buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.heap.arenas

Gauge

The number of heap arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.direct.arenas

Gauge

The number of direct arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.threadlocal.caches

Gauge

The number of thread local caches (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.small.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the small cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.normal.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the normal cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.chunk.size

Gauge

The chunk size for an arena (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.heap.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from heap buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.direct.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from direct buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

EventLoop metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.eventloop.pending.tasks

Gauge

The number of tasks that are pending for processing on an event loop

The following example enables that integration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/metrics/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .metrics(true) (1)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the built-in integration with Micrometer

When TCP client metrics are needed for an integration with a system other than Micrometer or you want to provide your own integration with Micrometer, you can provide your own metrics recorder, as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/metrics/custom/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.channel.ChannelMetricsRecorder;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

import java.net.SocketAddress;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .metrics(true, CustomChannelMetricsRecorder::new) (1)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
1 Enables TCP client metrics and provides ChannelMetricsRecorder implementation.

4.11. Unix Domain Sockets

The TCP client supports Unix Domain Sockets (UDS) when native transport is in use.

The following example shows how to use UDS support:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/uds/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.unix.DomainSocketAddress;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .remoteAddress(() -> new DomainSocketAddress("/tmp/test.sock")) (1)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Specifies DomainSocketAddress that will be used

4.12. Host Name Resolution

By default, the TcpClient uses Netty’s domain name lookup mechanism that resolves a domain name asynchronously. This is as an alternative of the JVM’s built-in blocking resolver.

When you need to change the default settings, you can configure the TcpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/resolver/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .resolver(spec -> spec.queryTimeout(Duration.ofMillis(500))) (1)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 The timeout of each DNS query performed by this resolver will be 500ms.

The following listing shows the available configurations:

Configuration name Description

cacheMaxTimeToLive

The max time to live of the cached DNS resource records (resolution: seconds). If the time to live of the DNS resource record returned by the DNS server is greater than this max time to live, this resolver ignores the time to live from the DNS server and uses use this max time to live. Default to Integer.MAX_VALUE.

cacheMinTimeToLive

The min time to live of the cached DNS resource records (resolution: seconds). If the time to live of the DNS resource record returned by the DNS server is less than this min time to live, this resolver ignores the time to live from the DNS server and uses this min time to live. Default: 0.

cacheNegativeTimeToLive

The time to live of the cache for the failed DNS queries (resolution: seconds). Default: 0.

completeOncePreferredResolved

When this setting is enabled, the resolver notifies as soon as all queries for the preferred address type are complete. When this setting is disabled, the resolver notifies when all possible address types are complete. This configuration is applicable for DnsNameResolver#resolveAll(String). By default, this setting is enabled.

disableOptionalRecord

Disables the automatic inclusion of an optional record that tries to give a hint to the remote DNS server about how much data the resolver can read per response. By default, this setting is enabled.

disableRecursionDesired

Specifies whether this resolver has to send a DNS query with the recursion desired (RD) flag set. By default, this setting is enabled.

hostsFileEntriesResolver

Sets a custom HostsFileEntriesResolver to be used for hosts file entries. Default: DefaultHostsFileEntriesResolver.

maxPayloadSize

Sets the capacity of the datagram packet buffer (in bytes). Default: 4096.

maxQueriesPerResolve

Sets the maximum allowed number of DNS queries to send when resolving a host name. Default: 16.

ndots

Sets the number of dots that must appear in a name before an initial absolute query is made. Default: -1 (to determine the value from the OS on Unix or use a value of 1 otherwise).

queryTimeout

Sets the timeout of each DNS query performed by this resolver (resolution: milliseconds). Default: 5000.

resolvedAddressTypes

The list of the protocol families of the resolved address.

resolveCache

The cache to use to store resolved DNS entries.

bindAddressSupplier

The supplier of the local address to bind to.

roundRobinSelection

Enables an AddressResolverGroup of DnsNameResolver that supports random selection of destination addresses if multiple are provided by the nameserver. See RoundRobinDnsAddressResolverGroup. Default: DnsAddressResolverGroup

runOn

Performs the communication with the DNS servers on the given LoopResources. By default, the LoopResources specified on the client level are used.

searchDomains

The list of search domains of the resolver. By default, the effective search domain list is populated by using the system DNS search domains.

trace

A specific logger and log level to be used by this resolver when generating detailed trace information in case of resolution failure.

Sometimes, you may want to switch to the JVM built-in resolver. To do so, you can configure the TcpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/tcp/client/resolver/custom/Application.java
import io.netty.resolver.DefaultAddressResolverGroup;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				TcpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .resolver(DefaultAddressResolverGroup.INSTANCE) (1)
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Sets the JVM built-in resolver.

5. HTTP Server

Reactor Netty provides the easy-to-use and easy-to-configure HttpServer class. It hides most of the Netty functionality that is needed in order to create a HTTP server and adds Reactive Streams backpressure.

5.1. Starting and Stopping

To start an HTTP server, you must create and configure a HttpServer instance. By default, the host is configured for any local address, and the system picks up an ephemeral port when the bind operation is invoked. The following example shows how to create an HttpServer instance:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/create/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()   (1)
				          .bindNow(); (2)

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Creates an HttpServer instance ready for configuring.
2 Starts the server in a blocking fashion and waits for it to finish initializing.

The returned DisposableServer offers a simple server API, including disposeNow(), which shuts the server down in a blocking fashion.

5.1.1. Host and Port

To serve on a specific host and port, you can apply the following configuration to the HTTP server:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/address/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .host("localhost") (1)
				          .port(8080)        (2)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the HTTP server host
2 Configures the HTTP server port

To serve on multiple addresses, after having configured the HttpServer you can bind it multiple times to obtain separate DisposableServer`s. All created servers will share resources such as `LoopResources because they use the same configuration instance under the hood.

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/address/MultiAddressApplication.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class MultiAddressApplication {
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpServer httpServer = HttpServer.create();
		DisposableServer server1 = httpServer
				.host("localhost") (1)
				.port(8080)        (2)
				.bindNow();

		DisposableServer server2 = httpServer
				.host("0.0.0.0") (3)
				.port(8081)      (4)
				.bindNow();

		Mono.when(server1.onDispose(), server2.onDispose())
				.block();
	}
}
1 Configures the first HTTP server host
2 Configures the first HTTP server port
3 Configures the second HTTP server host
4 Configures the second HTTP server port

5.2. Eager Initialization

By default, the initialization of the HttpServer resources happens on demand. This means that the bind operation absorbs the extra time needed to initialize and load:

  • the event loop groups

  • the native transport libraries (when native transport is used)

  • the native libraries for the security (in case of OpenSsl)

When you need to preload these resources, you can configure the HttpServer as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/warmup/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpServer httpServer =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .handle((request, response) -> request.receive().then());

		httpServer.warmup() (1)
		          .block();

		DisposableServer server = httpServer.bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Initialize and load the event loop groups, the native transport libraries and the native libraries for the security

5.3. Routing HTTP

Defining routes for the HTTP server requires configuring the provided HttpServerRoutes builder. The following example shows how to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/routing/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .route(routes ->
				              routes.get("/hello",        (1)
				                        (request, response) -> response.sendString(Mono.just("Hello World!")))
				                    .post("/echo",        (2)
				                        (request, response) -> response.send(request.receive().retain()))
				                    .get("/path/{param}", (3)
				                        (request, response) -> response.sendString(Mono.just(request.param("param"))))
				                    .ws("/ws",            (4)
				                        (wsInbound, wsOutbound) -> wsOutbound.send(wsInbound.receive().retain())))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Serves a GET request to /hello and returns Hello World!
2 Serves a POST request to /echo and returns the received request body as a response.
3 Serves a GET request to /path/{param} and returns the value of the path parameter.
4 Serves websocket to /ws and returns the received incoming data as outgoing data.
The server routes are unique and only the first matching in order of declaration is invoked.

5.3.1. SSE

The following code shows how you can configure the HTTP server to serve Server-Sent Events:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/sse/Application.java
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
import io.netty.buffer.ByteBufAllocator;
import org.reactivestreams.Publisher;
import reactor.core.publisher.Flux;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServerRequest;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServerResponse;

import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.nio.charset.Charset;
import java.time.Duration;
import java.util.function.BiFunction;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .route(routes -> routes.get("/sse", serveSse()))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}

	/**
	 * Prepares SSE response
	 * The "Content-Type" is "text/event-stream"
	 * The flushing strategy is "flush after every element" emitted by the provided Publisher
	 */
	private static BiFunction<HttpServerRequest, HttpServerResponse, Publisher<Void>> serveSse() {
		Flux<Long> flux = Flux.interval(Duration.ofSeconds(10));
		return (request, response) ->
		        response.sse()
		                .send(flux.map(Application::toByteBuf), b -> true);
	}

	/**
	 * Transforms the Object to ByteBuf following the expected SSE format.
	 */
	private static ByteBuf toByteBuf(Object any) {
		ByteArrayOutputStream out = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
		try {
			out.write("data: ".getBytes(Charset.defaultCharset()));
			MAPPER.writeValue(out, any);
			out.write("\n\n".getBytes(Charset.defaultCharset()));
		}
		catch (Exception e) {
			throw new RuntimeException(e);
		}
		return ByteBufAllocator.DEFAULT
		                       .buffer()
		                       .writeBytes(out.toByteArray());
	}

	private static final ObjectMapper MAPPER = new ObjectMapper();
}

5.3.2. Static Resources

The following code shows how you can configure the HTTP server to serve static resources:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/staticresources/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

import java.net.URISyntaxException;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) throws URISyntaxException {
		Path file = Paths.get(Application.class.getResource("/logback.xml").toURI());
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .route(routes -> routes.file("/index.html", file))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

5.4. Writing Data

To send data to a connected client, you must attach an I/O handler by using either handle(…​) or route(…​). The I/O handler has access to HttpServerResponse, to be able to write data. The following example uses the handle(…​) method:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/send/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .handle((request, response) -> response.sendString(Mono.just("hello"))) (1)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Sends hello string to the connected clients

5.4.1. Adding Headers and Other Metadata

When you send data to the connected clients, you may need to send additional headers, cookies, status code, and other metadata. You can provide this additional metadata by using HttpServerResponse. The following example shows how to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/send/headers/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpHeaderNames;
import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpResponseStatus;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .route(routes ->
				              routes.get("/hello",
				                  (request, response) ->
				                      response.status(HttpResponseStatus.OK)
				                              .header(HttpHeaderNames.CONTENT_LENGTH, "12")
				                              .sendString(Mono.just("Hello World!"))))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

5.4.2. Compression

You can configure the HTTP server to send a compressed response, depending on the request header Accept-Encoding.

Reactor Netty provides three different strategies for compressing the outgoing data:

  • compress(boolean): Depending on the boolean that is provided, the compression is enabled (true) or disabled (false).

  • compress(int): The compression is performed once the response size exceeds the given value (in bytes).

  • compress(BiPredicate<HttpServerRequest, HttpServerResponse>): The compression is performed if the predicate returns true.

The following example uses the compress method (set to true) to enable compression:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/compression/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

import java.net.URISyntaxException;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) throws URISyntaxException {
		Path file = Paths.get(Application.class.getResource("/logback.xml").toURI());
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .compress(true)
				          .route(routes -> routes.file("/index.html", file))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

5.5. Consuming Data

To receive data from a connected client, you must attach an I/O handler by using either handle(…​) or route(…​). The I/O handler has access to HttpServerRequest, to be able to read data.

The following example uses the handle(…​) method:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/read/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .handle((request, response) -> request.receive().then()) (1)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Receives data from the connected clients

5.5.1. Reading Headers, URI Params, and other Metadata

When you receive data from the connected clients, you might need to check request headers, parameters, and other metadata. You can obtain this additional metadata by using HttpServerRequest. The following example shows how to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/read/headers/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .route(routes ->
				              routes.get("/{param}",
				                  (request, response) -> {
				                      if (request.requestHeaders().contains("Some-Header")) {
				                          return response.sendString(Mono.just(request.param("param")));
				                      }
				                      return response.sendNotFound();
				                  }))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

5.5.2. Reading Post Form or Multipart Data

When you receive data from the connected clients, you might want to access POST form (application/x-www-form-urlencoded) or multipart (multipart/form-data) data. You can obtain this data by using HttpServerRequest.

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/multipart/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .route(routes ->
				              routes.post("/multipart", (request, response) -> response.sendString(
				                      request.receiveForm() (1)
				                             .flatMap(data -> Mono.just('[' + data.getName() + ']')))))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Receives POST form/multipart data.

When you need to change the default settings, you can configure the HttpServer or you can provide a configuration per request:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/multipart/custom/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .httpFormDecoder(builder -> builder.maxInMemorySize(0))                  (1)
				          .route(routes ->
				              routes.post("/multipart", (request, response) -> response.sendString(
				                      request.receiveForm(builder -> builder.maxInMemorySize(256)) (2)
				                             .flatMap(data -> Mono.just('[' + data.getName() + ']')))))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Configuration on the HttpServer that specifies that the data is stored on disk only.
2 Configuration per request that specifies that if the data size exceed the specified size, the data is stored on the disk.

The following listing shows the available configurations:

Configuration name Description

baseDirectory

Configures the directory where to store the data on the disk. Default to generated temp directory.

charset

Configures the Charset for the data. Default to StandardCharsets#UTF_8.

maxInMemorySize

Configures the maximum in-memory size per data i.e. the data is written on disk if the size is greater than maxInMemorySize, else it is in memory. If set to -1 the entire contents is stored in memory. If set to 0 the entire contents is stored on disk. Default to 16kb.

maxSize

Configures the maximum size per data. When the limit is reached, an exception is raised. If set to -1 this means no limitation. Default to -1 - unlimited.

scheduler

Configures the scheduler to be used for offloading disk operations in the decoding phase. Default to Schedulers#boundedElastic()

streaming

When set to true, the data is streamed directly from the parsed input buffer stream, which means it is not stored either in memory or file. When false, parts are backed by in-memory and/or file storage. Default to false. NOTE that with streaming enabled, the provided data might not be in a complete state i.e. HttpData#isCompleted() has to be checked. Also note that enabling this property effectively ignores maxInMemorySize, baseDirectory, and scheduler.

Obtaining the Remote (Client) Address

In addition to the metadata that you can obtain from the request, you can also receive the host (server) address, the remote (client) address and the scheme. Depending on the chosen factory method, you can retrieve the information directly from the channel or by using the Forwarded or X-Forwarded-* HTTP request headers. The following example shows how to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/clientaddress/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .forwarded(true) (1)
				          .route(routes ->
				              routes.get("/clientip",
				                  (request, response) ->
				                      response.sendString(Mono.just(request.remoteAddress() (2)
				                                                           .getHostString()))))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Specifies that the information about the connection is to be obtained from the Forwarded and X-Forwarded-* HTTP request headers, if possible.
2 Returns the address of the remote (client) peer.

It is also possible to customize the behavior of the Forwarded or X-Forwarded-* header handler. The following example shows how to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/clientaddress/CustomForwardedHeaderHandlerApplication.java
import java.net.InetSocketAddress;

import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import reactor.netty.transport.AddressUtils;

public class CustomForwardedHeaderHandlerApplication {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .forwarded((connectionInfo, request) -> {  (1)
				              String hostHeader = request.headers().get("X-Forwarded-Host");
				              if (hostHeader != null) {
				                  String[] hosts = hostHeader.split(",", 2);
				                  InetSocketAddress hostAddress = AddressUtils.createUnresolved(
				                      hosts[hosts.length - 1].trim(),
				                      connectionInfo.getHostAddress().getPort());
				                  connectionInfo = connectionInfo.withHostAddress(hostAddress);
				              }
				              return connectionInfo;
				          })
				          .route(routes ->
				              routes.get("/clientip",
				                  (request, response) ->
				                      response.sendString(Mono.just(request.remoteAddress() (2)
				                                                           .getHostString()))))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Add a custom header handler.
2 Returns the address of the remote (client) peer.

5.5.3. HTTP Request Decoder

By default, Netty configures some restrictions for the incoming requests, such as:

  • The maximum length of the initial line.

  • The maximum length of all headers.

  • The maximum length of the content or each chunk.

For more information, see HttpRequestDecoder and HttpServerUpgradeHandler

By default, the HTTP server is configured with the following settings:

./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/http/HttpDecoderSpec.java
public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_INITIAL_LINE_LENGTH             = 4096;
public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_HEADER_SIZE                     = 8192;
public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_CHUNK_SIZE                      = 8192;
public static final boolean DEFAULT_VALIDATE_HEADERS                = true;
public static final int DEFAULT_INITIAL_BUFFER_SIZE                 = 128;
public static final boolean DEFAULT_ALLOW_DUPLICATE_CONTENT_LENGTHS = false;
./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/http/server/HttpRequestDecoderSpec.java
/**
 * The maximum length of the content of the HTTP/2.0 clear-text upgrade request.
 * By default, the server will reject an upgrade request with non-empty content,
 * because the upgrade request is most likely a GET request.
 */
public static final int DEFAULT_H2C_MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH = 0;

When you need to change these default settings, you can configure the HTTP server as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/requestdecoder/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .httpRequestDecoder(spec -> spec.maxHeaderSize(16384)) (1)
				          .handle((request, response) -> response.sendString(Mono.just("hello")))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 The maximum length of all headers will be 16384. When this value is exceeded, a TooLongFrameException is raised.

5.6. Lifecycle Callbacks

The following lifecycle callbacks are provided to let you extend the HttpServer:

Callback Description

doOnBind

Invoked when the server channel is about to bind.

doOnBound

Invoked when the server channel is bound.

doOnChannelInit

Invoked when initializing the channel.

doOnConnection

Invoked when a remote client is connected

doOnUnbound

Invoked when the server channel is unbound.

The following example uses the doOnConnection and doOnChannelInit callbacks:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/lifecycle/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LoggingHandler;
import io.netty.handler.timeout.ReadTimeoutHandler;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .doOnConnection(conn ->
				              conn.addHandlerFirst(new ReadTimeoutHandler(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS))) (1)
				          .doOnChannelInit((observer, channel, remoteAddress) ->
				              channel.pipeline()
				                     .addFirst(new LoggingHandler("reactor.netty.examples")))    (2)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Netty pipeline is extended with ReadTimeoutHandler when a remote client is connected.
2 Netty pipeline is extended with LoggingHandler when initializing the channel.

5.7. TCP-level Configuration

When you need to change configuration on the TCP level, you can use the following snippet to extend the default TCP server configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/channeloptions/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .option(ChannelOption.CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, 10000)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

See TCP Server for more detail about TCP-level configuration.

5.7.1. Wire Logger

Reactor Netty provides wire logging for when the traffic between the peers needs to be inspected. By default, wire logging is disabled. To enable it, you must set the logger reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer level to DEBUG and apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/wiretap/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .wiretap(true) (1)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging
Wire Logger formatters

Reactor Netty supports 3 different formatters:

./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in hex format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] READ: 145B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 50 4f 53 54 20 2f 74 65 73 74 2f 57 6f 72 6c 64 |POST /test/World|
 * |00000010| 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 | HTTP/1.1..Conte|
 * |00000020| 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 74 65 78 74 2f 70 6c |nt-Type: text/pl|
 * |00000030| 61 69 6e 0d 0a 75 73 65 72 2d 61 67 65 6e 74 3a |ain..user-agent:|
 * |00000040| 20 52 65 61 63 74 6f 72 4e 65 74 74 79 2f 64 65 | ReactorNetty/de|
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] WRITE: 38B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 20 32 30 30 20 4f 4b 0d |HTTP/1.1 200 OK.|
 * |00000010| 0a 63 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 6c 65 6e 67 74 68 3a |.content-length:|
 * |00000020| 20 30 0d 0a 0d 0a                               | 0....          |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, only the events will be logged.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] READ: 145B
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] WRITE: 38B
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in plain text format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] READ: 145B POST /test/World HTTP/1.1
 * Content-Type: text/plain
 * user-agent: ReactorNetty/dev
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] WRITE: 38B HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 * content-length: 0
 * }
 * </pre>
 */

When you need to change the default formatter you can configure it as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/wiretap/custom/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LogLevel;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import reactor.netty.transport.logging.AdvancedByteBufFormat;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .wiretap("logger-name", LogLevel.DEBUG, AdvancedByteBufFormat.TEXTUAL) (1)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging, AdvancedByteBufFormat#TEXTUAL is used for printing the content.

5.8. SSL and TLS

When you need SSL or TLS, you can apply the configuration shown in the next example. By default, if OpenSSL is available, SslProvider.OPENSSL provider is used as a provider. Otherwise SslProvider.JDK is used. You can switch the provider by using SslContextBuilder or by setting -Dio.netty.handler.ssl.noOpenSsl=true.

The following example uses SslContextBuilder:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/security/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.Http11SslContextSpec;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import java.io.File;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		File cert = new File("certificate.crt");
		File key = new File("private.key");

		Http11SslContextSpec http11SslContextSpec = Http11SslContextSpec.forServer(cert, key);

		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(http11SslContextSpec))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

5.8.1. Server Name Indication

You can configure the HTTP server with multiple SslContext mapped to a specific domain. An exact domain name or a domain name containing a wildcard can be used when configuring the SNI mapping.

The following example uses a domain name containing a wildcard:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/sni/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContext;
import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContextBuilder;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

import java.io.File;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
		File defaultCert = new File("default_certificate.crt");
		File defaultKey = new File("default_private.key");

		File testDomainCert = new File("default_certificate.crt");
		File testDomainKey = new File("default_private.key");

		SslContext defaultSslContext = SslContextBuilder.forServer(defaultCert, defaultKey).build();
		SslContext testDomainSslContext = SslContextBuilder.forServer(testDomainCert, testDomainKey).build();

		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(defaultSslContext)
				                              .addSniMapping("*.test.com",
				                                      testDomainSpec -> testDomainSpec.sslContext(testDomainSslContext)))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

5.9. HTTP Access Log

You can enable the HTTP access log either programmatically or by configuration. By default, it is disabled.

You can use -Dreactor.netty.http.server.accessLogEnabled=true to enable the HTTP access log by configuration.

You can use the following configuration (for Logback or similar logging frameworks) to have a separate HTTP access log file:

<appender name="accessLog" class="ch.qos.logback.core.FileAppender">
    <file>access_log.log</file>
    <encoder>
        <pattern>%msg%n</pattern>
    </encoder>
</appender>
<appender name="async" class="ch.qos.logback.classic.AsyncAppender">
    <appender-ref ref="accessLog" />
</appender>

<logger name="reactor.netty.http.server.AccessLog" level="INFO" additivity="false">
    <appender-ref ref="async"/>
</logger>

The following example enables it programmatically:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/accessLog/Application.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .accessLog(true)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

Calling this method takes precedence over the system property configuration.

By default, the logging format is Common Log Format, but you can specify a custom one as a parameter, as in the following example:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/accessLog/CustomLogAccessFormatApplication.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.logging.AccessLog;

public class CustomLogAccessFormatApplication {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .accessLog(true, x -> AccessLog.create("method={}, uri={}", x.method(), x.uri()))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

You can also filter HTTP access logs by using the AccessLogFactory#createFilter method, as in the following example:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/accessLog/FilterLogAccessApplication.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.logging.AccessLogFactory;

public class FilterLogAccessApplication {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .accessLog(true, AccessLogFactory.createFilter(p -> !String.valueOf(p.uri()).startsWith("/health/")))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

Note that this method can take a custom format parameter too, as in this example:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/accessLog/CustomFormatAndFilterAccessLogApplication.java.java
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.logging.AccessLog;
import reactor.netty.http.server.logging.AccessLogFactory;

public class CustomFormatAndFilterAccessLogApplication {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .accessLog(true, AccessLogFactory.createFilter(p -> !String.valueOf(p.uri()).startsWith("/health/"), (1)
						          x -> AccessLog.create("method={}, uri={}", x.method(), x.uri()))) (2)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Specifies the filter predicate to use
2 Specifies the custom format to apply

5.10. HTTP/2

By default, the HTTP server supports HTTP/1.1. If you need HTTP/2, you can get it through configuration. In addition to the protocol configuration, if you need H2 but not H2C (cleartext), you must also configure SSL.

As Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation (ALPN) is not supported “out-of-the-box” by JDK8 (although some vendors backported ALPN to JDK8), you need an additional dependency to a native library that supports it — for example, netty-tcnative-boringssl-static.

The following listing presents a simple H2 example:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/http2/H2Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.Http2SslContextSpec;
import reactor.netty.http.HttpProtocol;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import java.io.File;

public class H2Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		File cert = new File("certificate.crt");
		File key = new File("private.key");

		Http2SslContextSpec http2SslContextSpec = Http2SslContextSpec.forServer(cert, key);

		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .port(8080)
				          .protocol(HttpProtocol.H2)                            (1)
				          .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(http2SslContextSpec)) (2)
				          .handle((request, response) -> response.sendString(Mono.just("hello")))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the server to support only HTTP/2
2 Configures SSL

The application should now behave as follows:

$ curl --http2 https://localhost:8080 -i
HTTP/2 200

hello

The following listing presents a simple H2C example:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/http2/H2CApplication.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.HttpProtocol;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class H2CApplication {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .port(8080)
				          .protocol(HttpProtocol.H2C)
				          .handle((request, response) -> response.sendString(Mono.just("hello")))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

The application should now behave as follows:

$ curl --http2-prior-knowledge http://localhost:8080 -i
HTTP/2 200

hello

5.10.1. Protocol Selection

./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/http/HttpProtocol.java
public enum HttpProtocol {

	/**
	 * The default supported HTTP protocol by HttpServer and HttpClient
	 */
	HTTP11,

	/**
	 * HTTP/2.0 support with TLS
	 * <p>If used along with HTTP/1.1 protocol, HTTP/2.0 will be the preferred protocol.
	 * While negotiating the application level protocol, HTTP/2.0 or HTTP/1.1 can be chosen.
	 * <p>If used without HTTP/1.1 protocol, HTTP/2.0 will always be offered as a protocol
	 * for communication with no fallback to HTTP/1.1.
	 */
	H2,

	/**
	 * HTTP/2.0 support with clear-text.
	 * <p>If used along with HTTP/1.1 protocol, will support H2C "upgrade":
	 * Request or consume requests as HTTP/1.1 first, looking for HTTP/2.0 headers
	 * and {@literal Connection: Upgrade}. A server will typically reply a successful
	 * 101 status if upgrade is successful or a fallback HTTP/1.1 response. When
	 * successful the client will start sending HTTP/2.0 traffic.
	 * <p>If used without HTTP/1.1 protocol, will support H2C "prior-knowledge": Doesn't
	 * require {@literal Connection: Upgrade} handshake between a client and server but
	 * fallback to HTTP/1.1 will not be supported.
	 */
	H2C
}

5.11. Metrics

The HTTP server supports built-in integration with Micrometer. It exposes all metrics with a prefix of reactor.netty.http.server.

The following table provides information for the HTTP server metrics:

metric name type description

reactor.netty.http.server.streams.active

Gauge

The number of active HTTP/2 streams.

reactor.netty.http.server.connections.active

Gauge

The number of http connections currently processing requests

reactor.netty.http.server.connections.total

Gauge

The number of all opened connections

reactor.netty.http.server.data.received

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data received, in bytes

reactor.netty.http.server.data.sent

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data sent, in bytes

reactor.netty.http.server.errors

Counter

Number of errors that occurred

reactor.netty.http.server.data.received.time

Timer

Time spent in consuming incoming data

reactor.netty.http.server.data.sent.time

Timer

Time spent in sending outgoing data

reactor.netty.http.server.response.time

Timer

Total time for the request/response

These additional metrics are also available:

ByteBufAllocator metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.heap.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by heap buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.direct.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by direct buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.heap.arenas

Gauge

The number of heap arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.direct.arenas

Gauge

The number of direct arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.threadlocal.caches

Gauge

The number of thread local caches (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.small.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the small cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.normal.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the normal cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.chunk.size

Gauge

The chunk size for an arena (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.heap.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from heap buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.direct.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from direct buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

EventLoop metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.eventloop.pending.tasks

Gauge

The number of tasks that are pending for processing on an event loop

The following example enables that integration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/metrics/Application.java
import io.micrometer.core.instrument.Metrics;
import io.micrometer.core.instrument.config.MeterFilter;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Metrics.globalRegistry (1)
		       .config()
		       .meterFilter(MeterFilter.maximumAllowableTags("reactor.netty.http.server", "URI", 100, MeterFilter.deny()));

		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .metrics(true, s -> {
				              if (s.startsWith("/stream/")) { (2)
				                  return "/stream/{n}";
				              }
				              else if (s.startsWith("/bytes/")) {
				                  return "/bytes/{n}";
				              }
				              return s;
				          }) (3)
				          .route(r ->
				              r.get("/stream/{n}",
				                   (req, res) -> res.sendString(Mono.just(req.param("n"))))
				               .get("/bytes/{n}",
				                   (req, res) -> res.sendString(Mono.just(req.param("n")))))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Applies upper limit for the meters with URI tag
2 Templated URIs will be used as an URI tag value when possible
3 Enables the built-in integration with Micrometer
In order to avoid a memory and CPU overhead of the enabled metrics, it is important to convert the real URIs to templated URIs when possible. Without a conversion to a template-like form, each distinct URI leads to the creation of a distinct tag, which takes a lot of memory for the metrics.
Always apply an upper limit for the meters with URI tags. Configuring an upper limit on the number of meters can help in cases when the real URIs cannot be templated. You can find more information at maximumAllowableTags.

When HTTP server metrics are needed for an integration with a system other than Micrometer or you want to provide your own integration with Micrometer, you can provide your own metrics recorder, as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/metrics/custom/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServerMetricsRecorder;

import java.net.SocketAddress;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .metrics(true, CustomHttpServerMetricsRecorder::new) (1)
				          .route(r ->
				              r.get("/stream/{n}",
				                   (req, res) -> res.sendString(Mono.just(req.param("n"))))
				               .get("/bytes/{n}",
				                   (req, res) -> res.sendString(Mono.just(req.param("n")))))
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
1 Enables HTTP server metrics and provides HttpServerMetricsRecorder implementation.

5.12. Unix Domain Sockets

The HTTP server supports Unix Domain Sockets (UDS) when native transport is in use.

The following example shows how to use UDS support:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/server/uds/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.unix.DomainSocketAddress;
import reactor.netty.DisposableServer;
import reactor.netty.http.server.HttpServer;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		DisposableServer server =
				HttpServer.create()
				          .bindAddress(() -> new DomainSocketAddress("/tmp/test.sock")) (1)
				          .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Specifies DomainSocketAddress that will be used

6. HTTP Client

Reactor Netty provides the easy-to-use and easy-to-configure HttpClient. It hides most of the Netty functionality that is required to create an HTTP client and adds Reactive Streams backpressure.

6.1. Connect

To connect the HTTP client to a given HTTP endpoint, you must create and configure a HttpClient instance. The following example shows how to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/connect/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create();  (1)

		client.get()                       (2)
		      .uri("https://example.com/") (3)
		      .response()                  (4)
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Creates a HttpClient instance ready for configuring.
2 Specifies that GET method will be used.
3 Specifies the path.
4 Obtains the response HttpClientResponse

The following example uses WebSocket:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/websocket/Application.java
import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
import io.netty.util.CharsetUtil;
import reactor.core.publisher.Flux;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create();

		client.websocket()
		      .uri("wss://echo.websocket.org")
		      .handle((inbound, outbound) -> {
		          inbound.receive()
		                 .asString()
		                 .take(1)
		                 .subscribe(System.out::println);

		          final byte[] msgBytes = "hello".getBytes(CharsetUtil.ISO_8859_1);
		          return outbound.send(Flux.just(Unpooled.wrappedBuffer(msgBytes), Unpooled.wrappedBuffer(msgBytes)))
		                         .neverComplete();
		      })
		      .blockLast();
	}
}

6.1.1. Host and Port

In order to connect to a specific host and port, you can apply the following configuration to the HTTP client:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/address/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .host("example.com") (1)
				          .port(80);           (2)

		client.get()
		      .uri("/")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the HTTP host
2 Configures the HTTP port

6.2. Eager Initialization

By default, the initialization of the HttpClient resources happens on demand. This means that the first request absorbs the extra time needed to initialize and load:

  • the event loop group

  • the host name resolver

  • the native transport libraries (when native transport is used)

  • the native libraries for the security (in case of OpenSsl)

When you need to preload these resources, you can configure the HttpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/warmup/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.ByteBufFlux;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create();

		client.warmup() (1)
		      .block();

		client.post()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .send(ByteBufFlux.fromString(Mono.just("hello")))
		      .response()
		      .block(); (2)
	}
}
1 Initialize and load the event loop group, the host name resolver, the native transport libraries and the native libraries for the security
2 Host name resolution happens with the first request. In this example, a connection pool is used, so with the first request the connection to the URL is established, the subsequent requests to the same URL reuse the connections from the pool.

6.3. Writing Data

To send data to a given HTTP endpoint, you can provide a Publisher by using the send(Publisher) method. By default, Transfer-Encoding: chunked is applied for those HTTP methods for which a request body is expected. Content-Length provided through request headers disables Transfer-Encoding: chunked, if necessary. The following example sends hello:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/send/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.ByteBufFlux;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create();

		client.post()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .send(ByteBufFlux.fromString(Mono.just("hello"))) (1)
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Sends a hello string to the given HTTP endpoint

6.3.1. Adding Headers and Other Metadata

When sending data to a given HTTP endpoint, you may need to send additional headers, cookies and other metadata. You can use the following configuration to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/send/headers/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpHeaderNames;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.ByteBufFlux;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .headers(h -> h.set(HttpHeaderNames.CONTENT_LENGTH, 5)); (1)

		client.post()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .send(ByteBufFlux.fromString(Mono.just("hello")))
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Disables Transfer-Encoding: chunked and provides Content-Length header.
Compression

You can enable compression on the HTTP client, which means the request header Accept-Encoding is added to the request headers. The following example shows how to do so:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/compression/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .compress(true);

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}
Auto-Redirect Support

You can configure the HTTP client to enable auto-redirect support.

Reactor Netty provides two different strategies for auto-redirect support:

  • followRedirect(boolean): Specifies whether HTTP auto-redirect support is enabled for statuses 301|302|303|307|308. When it is 303 status code, GET method is used for the redirect.

  • followRedirect(BiPredicate<HttpClientRequest, HttpClientResponse>): Enables auto-redirect support if the supplied predicate matches.

The following example uses followRedirect(true):

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/redirect/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .followRedirect(true);

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}

6.4. Consuming Data

To receive data from a given HTTP endpoint, you can use one of the methods from HttpClient.ResponseReceiver. The following example uses the responseContent method:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/read/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create();

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .responseContent() (1)
		      .aggregate()       (2)
		      .asString()        (3)
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Receives data from a given HTTP endpoint
2 Aggregates the data
3 Transforms the data as string

6.4.1. Reading Headers and Other Metadata

When receiving data from a given HTTP endpoint, you can check response headers, status code, and other metadata. You can obtain this additional metadata by using HttpClientResponse. The following example shows how to do so.

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/read/status/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create();

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .responseSingle((resp, bytes) -> {
		          System.out.println(resp.status()); (1)
		          return bytes.asString();
		      })
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Obtains the status code.

6.4.2. HTTP Response Decoder

By default, Netty configures some restrictions for the incoming responses, such as:

  • The maximum length of the initial line.

  • The maximum length of all headers.

  • The maximum length of the content or each chunk.

For more information, see HttpResponseDecoder

By default, the HTTP client is configured with the following settings:

./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/http/HttpDecoderSpec.java
public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_INITIAL_LINE_LENGTH             = 4096;
public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_HEADER_SIZE                     = 8192;
public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_CHUNK_SIZE                      = 8192;
public static final boolean DEFAULT_VALIDATE_HEADERS                = true;
public static final int DEFAULT_INITIAL_BUFFER_SIZE                 = 128;
public static final boolean DEFAULT_ALLOW_DUPLICATE_CONTENT_LENGTHS = false;
./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/http/client/HttpResponseDecoderSpec.java
public static final boolean DEFAULT_FAIL_ON_MISSING_RESPONSE         = false;
public static final boolean DEFAULT_PARSE_HTTP_AFTER_CONNECT_REQUEST = false;

/**
 * The maximum length of the content of the HTTP/2.0 clear-text upgrade request.
 * By default, the client will allow an upgrade request with up to 65536 as
 * the maximum length of the aggregated content.
 */
public static final int DEFAULT_H2C_MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH = 65536;

When you need to change these default settings, you can configure the HTTP client as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/responsedecoder/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .httpResponseDecoder(spec -> spec.maxHeaderSize(16384)); (1)

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .responseContent()
		      .aggregate()
		      .asString()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 The maximum length of all headers will be 16384. When this value is exceeded, a TooLongFrameException is raised.

6.5. Lifecycle Callbacks

The following lifecycle callbacks are provided to let you extend the HttpClient.

Callback Description

doAfterRequest

Invoked when the request has been sent.

doAfterResolve

Invoked after the remote address has been resolved successfully.

doAfterResponseSuccess

Invoked after the response has been fully received.

doOnChannelInit

Invoked when initializing the channel.

doOnConnect

Invoked when the channel is about to connect.

doOnConnected

Invoked after the channel has been connected.

doOnDisconnected

Invoked after the channel has been disconnected.

doOnError

Invoked when the request has not been sent and when the response has not been fully received.

doOnRedirect

Invoked when the response headers have been received, and the request is about to be redirected.

doOnRequest

Invoked when the request is about to be sent.

doOnRequestError

Invoked when the request has not been sent.

doOnResolve

Invoked when the remote address is about to be resolved.

doOnResolveError

Invoked in case the remote address hasn’t been resolved successfully.

doOnResponse

Invoked after the response headers have been received.

doOnResponseError

Invoked when the response has not been fully received.

The following example uses the doOnConnected and doOnChannelInit callbacks:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/lifecycle/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LoggingHandler;
import io.netty.handler.timeout.ReadTimeoutHandler;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .doOnConnected(conn ->
				              conn.addHandlerFirst(new ReadTimeoutHandler(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS)))   (1)
				          .doOnChannelInit((observer, channel, remoteAddress) ->
				              channel.pipeline()
				                     .addFirst(new LoggingHandler("reactor.netty.examples")));      (2)

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Netty pipeline is extended with ReadTimeoutHandler when the channel has been connected.
2 Netty pipeline is extended with LoggingHandler when initializing the channel.

6.6. TCP-level Configuration

When you need configurations on a TCP level, you can use the following snippet to extend the default TCP client configuration (add an option, bind address etc.):

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/channeloptions/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
import io.netty.channel.epoll.EpollChannelOption;
//import io.netty.channel.socket.nio.NioChannelOption;
//import jdk.net.ExtendedSocketOptions;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import java.net.InetSocketAddress;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .bindAddress(() -> new InetSocketAddress("host", 1234))
				          .option(ChannelOption.CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, 10000) (1)
				          .option(ChannelOption.SO_KEEPALIVE, true)            (2)
				          // The options below are available only when NIO transport (Java 11) is used
				          // on Mac or Linux (Java does not currently support these extended options on Windows)
				          // https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8194298
				          //.option(NioChannelOption.of(ExtendedSocketOptions.TCP_KEEPIDLE), 300)
				          //.option(NioChannelOption.of(ExtendedSocketOptions.TCP_KEEPINTERVAL), 60)
				          //.option(NioChannelOption.of(ExtendedSocketOptions.TCP_KEEPCOUNT), 8);
				          // The options below are available only when Epoll transport is used
				          .option(EpollChannelOption.TCP_KEEPIDLE, 300)        (3)
				          .option(EpollChannelOption.TCP_KEEPINTVL, 60)        (4)
				          .option(EpollChannelOption.TCP_KEEPCNT, 8);          (5)

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);
	}
}
1 Configures the connection establishment timeout to 10 seconds.
2 Enables TCP keepalive. This means that TCP starts sending keepalive probes when a connection is idle for some time.
3 The connection needs to remain idle for 5 minutes before TCP starts sending keepalive probes.
4 Configures the time between individual keepalive probes to 1 minute.
5 Configures the maximum number of TCP keepalive probes to 8.

See TCP Client for more about TCP level configurations.

6.6.1. Wire Logger

Reactor Netty provides wire logging for when the traffic between the peers needs to be inspected. By default, wire logging is disabled. To enable it, you must set the logger reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient level to DEBUG and apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/wiretap/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .wiretap(true); (1)

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging
Wire Logger formatters

Reactor Netty supports 3 different formatters:

./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in hex format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] READ: 145B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 50 4f 53 54 20 2f 74 65 73 74 2f 57 6f 72 6c 64 |POST /test/World|
 * |00000010| 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 | HTTP/1.1..Conte|
 * |00000020| 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 74 65 78 74 2f 70 6c |nt-Type: text/pl|
 * |00000030| 61 69 6e 0d 0a 75 73 65 72 2d 61 67 65 6e 74 3a |ain..user-agent:|
 * |00000040| 20 52 65 61 63 74 6f 72 4e 65 74 74 79 2f 64 65 | ReactorNetty/de|
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] WRITE: 38B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 20 32 30 30 20 4f 4b 0d |HTTP/1.1 200 OK.|
 * |00000010| 0a 63 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 6c 65 6e 67 74 68 3a |.content-length:|
 * |00000020| 20 30 0d 0a 0d 0a                               | 0....          |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, only the events will be logged.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] READ: 145B
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] WRITE: 38B
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in plain text format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] READ: 145B POST /test/World HTTP/1.1
 * Content-Type: text/plain
 * user-agent: ReactorNetty/dev
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] WRITE: 38B HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 * content-length: 0
 * }
 * </pre>
 */

When you need to change the default formatter you can configure it as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/wiretap/custom/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LogLevel;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import reactor.netty.transport.logging.AdvancedByteBufFormat;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .wiretap("logger-name", LogLevel.DEBUG, AdvancedByteBufFormat.TEXTUAL); (1)

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging, AdvancedByteBufFormat#TEXTUAL is used for printing the content.

6.7. Connection Pool

By default, HttpClient uses a “fixed” connection pool with 500 as the maximum number of active channels and 1000 as the maximum number of further channel acquisition attempts allowed to be kept in a pending state (for the rest of the configurations check the system properties or the builder configurations below). This means that the implementation creates a new channel if someone tries to acquire a channel as long as less than 500 have been created and are managed by the pool. When the maximum number of channels in the pool is reached, up to 1000 new attempts to acquire a channel are delayed (pending) until a channel is returned to the pool again, and further attempts are declined with an error.

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/ReactorNetty.java
 * Default value whether the native transport (epoll, kqueue) will be preferred,
 * fallback it will be preferred when available
 */
public static final String NATIVE = "reactor.netty.native";


/**
 * Default max connections. Fallback to
 * 2 * available number of processors (but with a minimum value of 16)
 */
public static final String POOL_MAX_CONNECTIONS = "reactor.netty.pool.maxConnections";
/**
 * Default acquisition timeout (milliseconds) before error. If -1 will never wait to
 * acquire before opening a new
 * connection in an unbounded fashion. Fallback 45 seconds
 */
public static final String POOL_ACQUIRE_TIMEOUT = "reactor.netty.pool.acquireTimeout";
/**
 * Default max idle time, fallback - max idle time is not specified.
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> This configuration is not applicable for {@link reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient}.
 * A TCP connection is always closed and never returned to the pool.
 */
public static final String POOL_MAX_IDLE_TIME = "reactor.netty.pool.maxIdleTime";
/**
 * Default max life time, fallback - max life time is not specified.
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> This configuration is not applicable for {@link reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient}.
 * A TCP connection is always closed and never returned to the pool.
 */
public static final String POOL_MAX_LIFE_TIME = "reactor.netty.pool.maxLifeTime";
/**
 * Default leasing strategy (fifo, lifo), fallback to fifo.
 * <ul>
 *     <li>fifo - The connection selection is first in, first out</li>
 *     <li>lifo - The connection selection is last in, first out</li>
 * </ul>
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> This configuration is not applicable for {@link reactor.netty.tcp.TcpClient}.
 * A TCP connection is always closed and never returned to the pool.
 */
public static final String POOL_LEASING_STRATEGY = "reactor.netty.pool.leasingStrategy";
/**
 * Default {@code getPermitsSamplingRate} (between 0d and 1d (percentage))
 * to be used with a {@link SamplingAllocationStrategy}.
 * This strategy wraps a {@link PoolBuilder#sizeBetween(int, int) sizeBetween} {@link AllocationStrategy}
 * and samples calls to {@link AllocationStrategy#getPermits(int)}.
 * Fallback - sampling is not enabled.
 */
public static final String POOL_GET_PERMITS_SAMPLING_RATE = "reactor.netty.pool.getPermitsSamplingRate";
/**
 * Default {@code returnPermitsSamplingRate} (between 0d and 1d (percentage))

When you need to change the default settings, you can configure the ConnectionProvider as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/pool/config/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import reactor.netty.resources.ConnectionProvider;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		ConnectionProvider provider =
				ConnectionProvider.builder("custom")
				                  .maxConnections(50)
				                  .maxIdleTime(Duration.ofSeconds(20))           (1)
				                  .maxLifeTime(Duration.ofSeconds(60))           (2)
				                  .pendingAcquireTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(60)) (3)
				                  .evictInBackground(Duration.ofSeconds(120))    (4)
				                  .build();

		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create(provider);

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);

		provider.disposeLater()
		        .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the maximum time for a connection to stay idle to 20 seconds.
2 Configures the maximum time for a connection to stay alive to 60 seconds.
3 Configures the maximum time for the pending acquire operation to 60 seconds.
4 Every two minutes, the connection pool is regularly checked for connections that are applicable for removal.
Notice that only the default HttpClient (HttpClient.create()) uses 500 as the maximum number of active channels. In the example above, when instantiating a custom ConnectionProvider, we are changing this value to 50 using maxConnections. Also, if you don’t set this parameter the default maxConnections is used (2 * available number of processors).

The following listing shows the available configurations:

Configuration name Description

disposeInactivePoolsInBackground

When this option is enabled, connection pools are regularly checked in the background, and those that are empty and been inactive for a specified time become eligible for disposal. Connection pool is considered empty when there are no active connections, idle connections and pending acquisitions. By default, this background disposal of inactive pools is disabled.

disposeTimeout

When ConnectionProvider#dispose() or ConnectionProvider#disposeLater() is called, trigger a graceful shutdown for the connection pools, with this grace period timeout. From there on, all calls for acquiring a connection will fail fast with an exception. However, for the provided Duration, pending acquires will get a chance to be served. Note: The rejection of new acquires and the grace timer start immediately, irrespective of subscription to the Mono returned by ConnectionProvider#disposeLater(). Subsequent calls return the same Mono, effectively getting notifications from the first graceful shutdown call and ignoring subsequently provided timeouts. By default, dispose timeout is not specified.

evictInBackground

When this option is enabled, each connection pool regularly checks for connections that are eligible for removal according to eviction criteria like maxIdleTime. By default, this background eviction is disabled.

fifo

Configure the connection pool so that if there are idle connections (i.e. pool is under-utilized), the next acquire operation will get the Least Recently Used connection (LRU, i.e. the connection that was released first among the current idle connections). Default leasing strategy.

lifo

Configure the connection pool so that if there are idle connections (i.e. pool is under-utilized), the next acquire operation will get the Most Recently Used connection (MRU, i.e. the connection that was released last among the current idle connections).

maxConnections

The maximum number of connections (per connection pool) before start pending. Default to 2 * available number of processors (but with a minimum value of 16).

maxIdleTime

The time after which the channel is eligible to be closed when idle (resolution: ms). Default: max idle time is not specified.

maxLifeTime

The total life time after which the channel is eligible to be closed (resolution: ms). Default: max life time is not specified.

metrics

Enables/disables built-in integration with Micrometer. ConnectionProvider.MeterRegistrar can be provided for integration with another metrics system. By default, metrics are not enabled.

pendingAcquireMaxCount

The maximum number of extra attempts at acquiring a connection to keep in a pending queue. If -1 is specified, the pending queue does not have upper limit. Default to 2 * max connections.

pendingAcquireTimeout

The maximum time before which a pending acquire must complete, or a TimeoutException is thrown (resolution: ms). If -1 is specified, no such timeout is applied. Default: 45 seconds.

When you expect a high load, be cautious with a connection pool with a very high value for maximum connections. You might experience reactor.netty.http.client.PrematureCloseException exception with a root cause "Connect Timeout" due to too many concurrent connections opened/acquired.

If you need to disable the connection pool, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/pool/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.newConnection()
				          .doOnConnected(conn -> System.out.println("Connection " + conn.channel()));

		String response =
				// A new connection is established for every request
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://httpbin.org/get")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);

		response =
				// A new connection is established for every request
				client.post()
				      .uri("https://httpbin.org/post")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);
	}
}

6.7.1. Metrics

The pooled ConnectionProvider supports built-in integration with Micrometer. It exposes all metrics with a prefix of reactor.netty.connection.provider.

Pooled ConnectionProvider metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.connection.provider.total.connections

Gauge

The number of all connections, active or idle

reactor.netty.connection.provider.active.connections

Gauge

The number of the connections that have been successfully acquired and are in active use

reactor.netty.connection.provider.max.connections

Gauge

The maximum number of active connections that are allowed

reactor.netty.connection.provider.idle.connections

Gauge

The number of the idle connections

reactor.netty.connection.provider.pending.connections

Gauge

The number of requests that are waiting for a connection

reactor.netty.connection.provider.max.pending.connections

Gauge

The maximum number of requests that will be queued while waiting for a ready connection

The following example enables that integration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/pool/metrics/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import reactor.netty.resources.ConnectionProvider;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		ConnectionProvider provider =
				ConnectionProvider.builder("custom")
				                  .maxConnections(50)
				                  .metrics(true) (1)
				                  .build();

		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create(provider);

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);

		provider.disposeLater()
		        .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the built-in integration with Micrometer

6.8. SSL and TLS

When you need SSL or TLS, you can apply the configuration shown in the next example. By default, if OpenSSL is available, a SslProvider.OPENSSL provider is used as a provider. Otherwise, a SslProvider.JDK provider is used You can switch the provider by using SslContextBuilder or by setting -Dio.netty.handler.ssl.noOpenSsl=true. The following example uses SslContextBuilder:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/security/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.Http11SslContextSpec;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Http11SslContextSpec http11SslContextSpec = Http11SslContextSpec.forClient();

		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(http11SslContextSpec));

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://example.com/")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}

6.8.1. Server Name Indication

By default, the HTTP client sends the remote host name as SNI server name. When you need to change this default setting, you can configure the HTTP client as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/sni/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContext;
import io.netty.handler.ssl.SslContextBuilder;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

import javax.net.ssl.SNIHostName;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
		SslContext sslContext = SslContextBuilder.forClient().build();

		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(sslContext)
				                              .serverNames(new SNIHostName("test.com")));

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://127.0.0.1:8080/")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}

6.9. Retry Strategies

By default, the HTTP client retries the request once if it was aborted on the TCP level.

6.10. HTTP/2

By default, the HTTP client supports HTTP/1.1. If you need HTTP/2, you can get it through configuration. In addition to the protocol configuration, if you need H2 but not H2C (cleartext), you must also configure SSL.

As Application-Layer Protocol Negotiation (ALPN) is not supported “out-of-the-box” by JDK8 (although some vendors backported ALPN to JDK8), you need an additional dependency to a native library that supports it — for example, netty-tcnative-boringssl-static.

The following listing presents a simple H2 example:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/http2/H2Application.java
import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpHeaders;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.http.HttpProtocol;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import reactor.util.function.Tuple2;

public class H2Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .protocol(HttpProtocol.H2) (1)
				          .secure();                 (2)

		Tuple2<String, HttpHeaders> response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseSingle((res, bytes) -> bytes.asString()
				                                           .zipWith(Mono.just(res.responseHeaders())))
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Used stream ID: " + response.getT2().get("x-http2-stream-id"));
		System.out.println("Response: " + response.getT1());
	}
}
1 Configures the client to support only HTTP/2
2 Configures SSL

The following listing presents a simple H2C example:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/http2/H2CApplication.java
import io.netty.handler.codec.http.HttpHeaders;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.http.HttpProtocol;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import reactor.util.function.Tuple2;

public class H2CApplication {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .protocol(HttpProtocol.H2C);

		Tuple2<String, HttpHeaders> response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("http://localhost:8080/")
				      .responseSingle((res, bytes) -> bytes.asString()
				                                           .zipWith(Mono.just(res.responseHeaders())))
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Used stream ID: " + response.getT2().get("x-http2-stream-id"));
		System.out.println("Response: " + response.getT1());
	}
}

6.10.1. Protocol Selection

./../../reactor-netty-http/src/main/java/reactor/netty/http/HttpProtocol.java
public enum HttpProtocol {

	/**
	 * The default supported HTTP protocol by HttpServer and HttpClient
	 */
	HTTP11,

	/**
	 * HTTP/2.0 support with TLS
	 * <p>If used along with HTTP/1.1 protocol, HTTP/2.0 will be the preferred protocol.
	 * While negotiating the application level protocol, HTTP/2.0 or HTTP/1.1 can be chosen.
	 * <p>If used without HTTP/1.1 protocol, HTTP/2.0 will always be offered as a protocol
	 * for communication with no fallback to HTTP/1.1.
	 */
	H2,

	/**
	 * HTTP/2.0 support with clear-text.
	 * <p>If used along with HTTP/1.1 protocol, will support H2C "upgrade":
	 * Request or consume requests as HTTP/1.1 first, looking for HTTP/2.0 headers
	 * and {@literal Connection: Upgrade}. A server will typically reply a successful
	 * 101 status if upgrade is successful or a fallback HTTP/1.1 response. When
	 * successful the client will start sending HTTP/2.0 traffic.
	 * <p>If used without HTTP/1.1 protocol, will support H2C "prior-knowledge": Doesn't
	 * require {@literal Connection: Upgrade} handshake between a client and server but
	 * fallback to HTTP/1.1 will not be supported.
	 */
	H2C
}

6.11. Proxy Support

Reactor Netty supports the proxy functionality provided by Netty and provides a way to specify non proxy hosts through the ProxyProvider builder.

Netty’s HTTP proxy support always uses CONNECT method in order to establish a tunnel to the specified proxy regardless of the scheme that is used http or https. (More information: Netty enforce HTTP proxy to support HTTP CONNECT method). Some proxies might not support CONNECT method when the scheme is http or might need to be configured in order to support this way of communication. Sometimes this might be the reason for not being able to connect to the proxy. Consider checking the proxy documentation whether it supports or needs an additional configuration in order to support CONNECT method.

The following example uses ProxyProvider:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/proxy/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import reactor.netty.transport.ProxyProvider;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .proxy(spec -> spec.type(ProxyProvider.Proxy.HTTP)
				                             .host("proxy")
				                             .port(8080)
				                             .nonProxyHosts("localhost")
				                             .connectTimeoutMillis(20_000)); (1)

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);
	}
}
1 Configures the connection establishment timeout to 20 seconds.

6.12. Metrics

The HTTP client supports built-in integration with Micrometer. It exposes all metrics with a prefix of reactor.netty.http.client.

The following table provides information for the HTTP client metrics:

metric name type description

reactor.netty.http.client.data.received

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data received, in bytes

reactor.netty.http.client.data.sent

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data sent, in bytes

reactor.netty.http.client.errors

Counter

Number of errors that occurred

reactor.netty.http.client.tls.handshake.time

Timer

Time spent for TLS handshake

reactor.netty.http.client.connect.time

Timer

Time spent for connecting to the remote address

reactor.netty.http.client.address.resolver

Timer

Time spent for resolving the address

reactor.netty.http.client.data.received.time

Timer

Time spent in consuming incoming data

reactor.netty.http.client.data.sent.time

Timer

Time spent in sending outgoing data

reactor.netty.http.client.response.time

Timer

Total time for the request/response

These additional metrics are also available:

Pooled ConnectionProvider metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.connection.provider.total.connections

Gauge

The number of all connections, active or idle

reactor.netty.connection.provider.active.connections

Gauge

The number of the connections that have been successfully acquired and are in active use

reactor.netty.connection.provider.max.connections

Gauge

The maximum number of active connections that are allowed

reactor.netty.connection.provider.idle.connections

Gauge

The number of the idle connections

reactor.netty.connection.provider.pending.connections

Gauge

The number of requests that are waiting for a connection

reactor.netty.connection.provider.max.pending.connections

Gauge

The maximum number of requests that will be queued while waiting for a ready connection

The following table provides information for the HTTP client metrics when it is configured to serve HTTP/2 traffic:

metric name type description

reactor.netty.connection.provider.active.streams

Gauge

The number of the active HTTP/2 streams

reactor.netty.connection.provider.pending.streams

Gauge

The number of requests that are waiting for opening HTTP/2 stream

ByteBufAllocator metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.heap.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by heap buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.direct.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by direct buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.heap.arenas

Gauge

The number of heap arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.direct.arenas

Gauge

The number of direct arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.threadlocal.caches

Gauge

The number of thread local caches (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.small.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the small cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.normal.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the normal cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.chunk.size

Gauge

The chunk size for an arena (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.heap.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from heap buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.direct.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from direct buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

EventLoop metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.eventloop.pending.tasks

Gauge

The number of tasks that are pending for processing on an event loop

The following example enables that integration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/metrics/Application.java
import io.micrometer.core.instrument.Metrics;
import io.micrometer.core.instrument.config.MeterFilter;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Metrics.globalRegistry (1)
		       .config()
		       .meterFilter(MeterFilter.maximumAllowableTags("reactor.netty.http.client", "URI", 100, MeterFilter.deny()));

		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .metrics(true, s -> {
				              if (s.startsWith("/stream/")) { (2)
				                  return "/stream/{n}";
				              }
				              else if (s.startsWith("/bytes/")) {
				                  return "/bytes/{n}";
				              }
				              return s;
				          }); (3)

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://httpbin.org/stream/2")
		      .responseContent()
		      .blockLast();

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://httpbin.org/bytes/1024")
		      .responseContent()
		      .blockLast();
	}
}
1 Applies upper limit for the meters with URI tag
2 Templated URIs will be used as a URI tag value when possible
3 Enables the built-in integration with Micrometer
In order to avoid a memory and CPU overhead of the enabled metrics, it is important to convert the real URIs to templated URIs when possible. Without a conversion to a template-like form, each distinct URI leads to the creation of a distinct tag, which takes a lot of memory for the metrics.
Always apply an upper limit for the meters with URI tags. Configuring an upper limit on the number of meters can help in cases when the real URIs cannot be templated. You can find more information at maximumAllowableTags.

When HTTP client metrics are needed for an integration with a system other than Micrometer or you want to provide your own integration with Micrometer, you can provide your own metrics recorder, as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/metrics/custom/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClientMetricsRecorder;

import java.net.SocketAddress;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .metrics(true, CustomHttpClientMetricsRecorder::new); (1)

		client.get()
		      .uri("https://httpbin.org/stream/2")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
1 Enables HTTP client metrics and provides HttpClientMetricsRecorder implementation.

6.13. Unix Domain Sockets

The HTTP client supports Unix Domain Sockets (UDS) when native transport is in use.

The following example shows how to use UDS support:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/uds/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.unix.DomainSocketAddress;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .remoteAddress(() -> new DomainSocketAddress("/tmp/test.sock")); (1)

		client.get()
		      .uri("/")
		      .response()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Specifies DomainSocketAddress that will be used

6.14. Host Name Resolution

By default, the HttpClient uses Netty’s domain name lookup mechanism that resolves a domain name asynchronously. This is as an alternative of the JVM’s built-in blocking resolver.

When you need to change the default settings, you can configure the HttpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/resolver/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .resolver(spec -> spec.queryTimeout(Duration.ofMillis(500))); (1)

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);
	}
}
1 The timeout of each DNS query performed by this resolver will be 500ms.

The following listing shows the available configurations:

Configuration name Description

cacheMaxTimeToLive

The max time to live of the cached DNS resource records (resolution: seconds). If the time to live of the DNS resource record returned by the DNS server is greater than this max time to live, this resolver ignores the time to live from the DNS server and uses this max time to live. Default to Integer.MAX_VALUE.

cacheMinTimeToLive

The min time to live of the cached DNS resource records (resolution: seconds). If the time to live of the DNS resource record returned by the DNS server is less than this min time to live, this resolver ignores the time to live from the DNS server and uses this min time to live. Default: 0.

cacheNegativeTimeToLive

The time to live of the cache for the failed DNS queries (resolution: seconds). Default: 0.

completeOncePreferredResolved

When this setting is enabled, the resolver notifies as soon as all queries for the preferred address type are complete. When this setting is disabled, the resolver notifies when all possible address types are complete. This configuration is applicable for DnsNameResolver#resolveAll(String). By default, this setting is enabled.

disableOptionalRecord

Disables the automatic inclusion of an optional record that tries to give a hint to the remote DNS server about how much data the resolver can read per response. By default, this setting is enabled.

disableRecursionDesired

Specifies whether this resolver has to send a DNS query with the recursion desired (RD) flag set. By default, this setting is enabled.

hostsFileEntriesResolver

Sets a custom HostsFileEntriesResolver to be used for hosts file entries. Default: DefaultHostsFileEntriesResolver.

maxPayloadSize

Sets the capacity of the datagram packet buffer (in bytes). Default: 4096.

maxQueriesPerResolve

Sets the maximum allowed number of DNS queries to send when resolving a host name. Default: 16.

ndots

Sets the number of dots that must appear in a name before an initial absolute query is made. Default: -1 (to determine the value from the OS on Unix or use a value of 1 otherwise).

queryTimeout

Sets the timeout of each DNS query performed by this resolver (resolution: milliseconds). Default: 5000.

resolvedAddressTypes

The list of the protocol families of the resolved address.

resolveCache

The cache to use to store resolved DNS entries.

bindAddressSupplier

The supplier of the local address to bind to.

roundRobinSelection

Enables an AddressResolverGroup of DnsNameResolver that supports random selection of destination addresses if multiple are provided by the nameserver. See RoundRobinDnsAddressResolverGroup. Default: DnsAddressResolverGroup

runOn

Performs the communication with the DNS servers on the given LoopResources. By default, the LoopResources specified on the client level are used.

searchDomains

The list of search domains of the resolver. By default, the effective search domain list is populated by using the system DNS search domains.

trace

A specific logger and log level to be used by this resolver when generating detailed trace information in case of resolution failure.

Sometimes, you may want to switch to the JVM built-in resolver. To do so, you can configure the HttpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/resolver/custom/Application.java
import io.netty.resolver.DefaultAddressResolverGroup;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .resolver(DefaultAddressResolverGroup.INSTANCE); (1)

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);
	}
}
1 Sets the JVM built-in resolver.

6.15. Timeout Configuration

This section describes various timeout configuration options that can be used in HttpClient. Configuring a proper timeout may improve or solve issues in the communication process. The configuration options can be grouped as follows:

6.15.1. Connection Pool Timeout

By default, HttpClient uses a connection pool. When a request is completed successfully and if the connection is not scheduled for closing, the connection is returned to the connection pool and can thus be reused for processing another request. The connection may be reused immediately for another request or may stay idle in the connection pool for some time.

The following list describes the available timeout configuration options:

  • maxIdleTime - The maximum time (resolution: ms) that this connection stays idle in the connection pool. By default, maxIdleTime is not specified.

When you configure maxIdleTime, you should consider the idle timeout configuration on the target server. Choose a configuration that is equal to or less than the one on the target server. By doing so, you can reduce the I/O issues caused by a connection closed by the target server.
  • maxLifeTime - The maximum time (resolution: ms) that this connection stays alive. By default, maxLifeTime is not specified.

  • pendingAcquireTimeout - The maximum time (resolution: ms) after which a pending acquire operation must complete, or a PoolAcquireTimeoutException is thrown. Default: 45s.

By default, these timeouts are checked on connection release or acquire operations and, if some timeout is reached, the connection is closed and removed from the connection pool. However, you can also configure the connection pool, by setting evictInBackground, to perform periodic checks on connections.

To customize the default settings, you can configure HttpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/pool/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import reactor.netty.resources.ConnectionProvider;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		ConnectionProvider provider =
				ConnectionProvider.builder("custom")
				                  .maxConnections(50)
				                  .maxIdleTime(Duration.ofSeconds(20))           (1)
				                  .maxLifeTime(Duration.ofSeconds(60))           (2)
				                  .pendingAcquireTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(60)) (3)
				                  .evictInBackground(Duration.ofSeconds(120))    (4)
				                  .build();

		HttpClient client = HttpClient.create(provider);

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);

		provider.disposeLater()
		        .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the maximum time for a connection to stay idle to 20 seconds.
2 Configures the maximum time for a connection to stay alive to 60 seconds.
3 Configures the maximum time for the pending acquire operation to 60 seconds.
4 Every two minutes, the connection pool is regularly checked for connections that are applicable for removal.

6.15.2. HttpClient Timeout

This section provides information for the various timeout configuration options at the HttpClient level.

Reactor Netty uses Reactor Core as its Reactive Streams implementation, and you may want to use the timeout operator that Mono and Flux provide. Keep in mind, however, that it is better to use the more specific timeout configuration options available in Reactor Netty, since they provide more control for a specific purpose and use case. By contrast, the timeout operator can only apply to the operation as a whole, from establishing the connection to the remote peer to receiving the response.
Response Timeout

HttpClient provides an API for configuring a default response timeout for all requests. You can change this default response timeout through an API for a specific request. By default, responseTimeout is not specified.

It is always a good practice to configure a response timeout.

To customize the default settings, you can configure HttpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/read/timeout/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .responseTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(1));    (1)

		String response1 =
				client.post()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .send((req, out) -> {
				          req.responseTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(2)); (2)
				          return out.sendString(Mono.just("body1"));
				      })
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response1);

		String response2 =
				client.post()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .send((req, out) -> out.sendString(Mono.just("body2")))
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response2);
	}
}
1 Configures the default response timeout to 1 second.
2 Configures a response timeout for a specific request to 2 seconds.
Connection Timeout

The following listing shows all available connection timeout configuration options, but some of them may apply only to a specific transport.

  • CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS - If the connection establishment attempt to the remote peer does not finish within the configured connect timeout (resolution: ms), the connection establishment attempt fails. Default: 30s.

  • SO_KEEPALIVE - When the connection stays idle for some time (the time is implementation dependent, but the default is typically two hours), TCP automatically sends a keepalive probe to the remote peer. By default, SO_KEEPALIVE is not enabled. When you run with Epoll/NIO (since Java 11 on Mac or Linux) transport, you may also configure:

    • TCP_KEEPIDLE - The maximum time (resolution: seconds) that this connection stays idle before TCP starts sending keepalive probes, if SO_KEEPALIVE has been set. The maximum time is implementation dependent, but the default is typically two hours.

    • TCP_KEEPINTVL (Epoll)/TCP_KEEPINTERVAL (NIO) - The time (resolution: seconds) between individual keepalive probes.

    • TCP_KEEPCNT (Epoll)/TCP_KEEPCOUNT (NIO) - The maximum number of keepalive probes TCP should send before dropping the connection.

Sometimes, between the client and the server, you may have a network component that silently drops the idle connections without sending a response. From the Reactor Netty point of view, in this use case, the remote peer just does not respond. To be able to handle such a use case you may consider configuring SO_KEEPALIVE.

To customize the default settings, you can configure HttpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/channeloptions/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
import io.netty.channel.epoll.EpollChannelOption;
//import io.netty.channel.socket.nio.NioChannelOption;
//import jdk.net.ExtendedSocketOptions;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import java.net.InetSocketAddress;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .bindAddress(() -> new InetSocketAddress("host", 1234))
				          .option(ChannelOption.CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, 10000) (1)
				          .option(ChannelOption.SO_KEEPALIVE, true)            (2)
				          // The options below are available only when NIO transport (Java 11) is used
				          // on Mac or Linux (Java does not currently support these extended options on Windows)
				          // https://bugs.openjdk.java.net/browse/JDK-8194298
				          //.option(NioChannelOption.of(ExtendedSocketOptions.TCP_KEEPIDLE), 300)
				          //.option(NioChannelOption.of(ExtendedSocketOptions.TCP_KEEPINTERVAL), 60)
				          //.option(NioChannelOption.of(ExtendedSocketOptions.TCP_KEEPCOUNT), 8);
				          // The options below are available only when Epoll transport is used
				          .option(EpollChannelOption.TCP_KEEPIDLE, 300)        (3)
				          .option(EpollChannelOption.TCP_KEEPINTVL, 60)        (4)
				          .option(EpollChannelOption.TCP_KEEPCNT, 8);          (5)

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);
	}
}
1 Configures the connection establishment timeout to 10 seconds.
2 Enables TCP keepalive. This means that TCP starts sending keepalive probes when a connection is idle for some time.
3 The connection needs to remain idle for 5 minutes before TCP starts sending keepalive probes.
4 Configures the time between individual keepalive probes to 1 minute.
5 Configures the maximum number of TCP keepalive probes to 8.
SSL/TLS Timeout

HttpClient supports the SSL/TLS functionality provided by Netty.

The following list describes the available timeout configuration options:

  • handshakeTimeout - Use this option to configure the SSL handshake timeout (resolution: ms). Default: 10s.

You should consider increasing the SSL handshake timeout when expecting slow network connections.
  • closeNotifyFlushTimeout - Use this option to configure the SSL close_notify flush timeout (resolution: ms). Default: 3s.

  • closeNotifyReadTimeout - Use this option to configure the SSL close_notify read timeout (resolution: ms). Default: 0s.

To customize the default settings, you can configure HttpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/security/custom/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.Http11SslContextSpec;
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Http11SslContextSpec http11SslContextSpec = Http11SslContextSpec.forClient();

		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .secure(spec -> spec.sslContext(http11SslContextSpec)
				                              .handshakeTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(30))         (1)
				                              .closeNotifyFlushTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))  (2)
				                              .closeNotifyReadTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(10))); (3)

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);
	}
}
1 Configures the SSL handshake timeout to 30 seconds.
2 Configures the SSL close_notify flush timeout to 10 seconds.
3 Configures the SSL close_notify read timeout to 10 seconds.
Proxy Timeout

HttpClient supports the proxy functionality provided by Netty and provides a way to specify the connection establishment timeout. If the connection establishment attempt to the remote peer does not finish within the timeout, the connection establishment attempt fails. Default: 10s.

To customize the default settings, you can configure HttpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/proxy/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;
import reactor.netty.transport.ProxyProvider;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .proxy(spec -> spec.type(ProxyProvider.Proxy.HTTP)
				                             .host("proxy")
				                             .port(8080)
				                             .nonProxyHosts("localhost")
				                             .connectTimeoutMillis(20_000)); (1)

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);
	}
}
1 Configures the connection establishment timeout to 20 seconds.
Host Name Resolution Timeout

By default, the HttpClient uses Netty’s domain name lookup mechanism to resolve a domain name asynchronously.

The following list describes the available timeout configuration options:

  • cacheMaxTimeToLive - The maximum time to live of the cached DNS resource records (resolution: seconds). If the time to live of the DNS resource record returned by the DNS server is greater than this maximum time to live, this resolver ignores the time to live from the DNS server and uses this maximum time to live. Default: Integer.MAX_VALUE.

  • cacheMinTimeToLive - The minimum time to live of the cached DNS resource records (resolution: seconds). If the time to live of the DNS resource record returned by the DNS server is less than this minimum time to live, this resolver ignores the time to live from the DNS server and uses this minimum time to live. Default: 0s.

  • cacheNegativeTimeToLive - The time to live of the cache for the failed DNS queries (resolution: seconds). Default: 0s.

  • queryTimeout - Sets the timeout of each DNS query performed by this resolver (resolution: milliseconds). Default: 5s.

To customize the default settings, you can configure HttpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/http/client/resolver/Application.java
import reactor.netty.http.client.HttpClient;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HttpClient client =
				HttpClient.create()
				          .resolver(spec -> spec.queryTimeout(Duration.ofMillis(500))); (1)

		String response =
				client.get()
				      .uri("https://example.com/")
				      .responseContent()
				      .aggregate()
				      .asString()
				      .block();

		System.out.println("Response " + response);
	}
}
1 The timeout of each DNS query performed by this resolver will be 500ms.

7. UDP Server

Reactor Netty provides the easy-to-use and easy-to-configure UdpServer. It hides most of the Netty functionality that is required to create a UDP server and adds Reactive Streams backpressure.

7.1. Starting and Stopping

To start a UDP server, a UdpServer instance has to be created and configured. By default, the host is configured to be localhost and the port is 12012. The following example shows how to create and start a UDP server:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/create/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()                         (1)
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30)); (2)

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Creates a UdpServer instance that is ready for configuring.
2 Starts the server in a blocking fashion and waits for it to finish initializing.

The returned Connection offers a simple server API, including disposeNow(), which shuts the server down in a blocking fashion.

7.1.1. Host and Port

In order to serve on a specific host and port, you can apply the following configuration to the UDP server:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/address/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .host("localhost") (1)
				         .port(8080)        (2)
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the UDP server host
2 Configures the UDP server port

7.2. Eager Initialization

By default, the initialization of the UdpServer resources happens on demand. This means that the bind operation absorbs the extra time needed to initialize and load:

  • the event loop group

  • the native transport libraries (when native transport is used)

When you need to preload these resources, you can configure the UdpServer as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/warmup/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.socket.DatagramPacket;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		UdpServer udpServer =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .handle((in, out) ->
				             out.sendObject(
				                 in.receiveObject()
				                   .map(o -> {
				                       if (o instanceof DatagramPacket) {
				                           DatagramPacket p = (DatagramPacket) o;
				                           return new DatagramPacket(p.content().retain(), p.sender());
				                       }
				                       else {
				                           return Mono.error(new Exception("Unexpected type of the message: " + o));
				                       }
				                   })));

		udpServer.warmup() (1)
		         .block();

		Connection server = udpServer.bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Initialize and load the event loop group and the native transport libraries

7.3. Writing Data

To send data to the remote peer, you must attach an I/O handler. The I/O handler has access to UdpOutbound, to be able to write data. The following example shows how to send hello:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/send/Application.java
import io.netty.buffer.ByteBuf;
import io.netty.buffer.Unpooled;
import io.netty.channel.socket.DatagramPacket;
import io.netty.util.CharsetUtil;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .handle((in, out) ->
				             out.sendObject(
				                 in.receiveObject()
				                   .map(o -> {
				                       if (o instanceof DatagramPacket) {
				                           DatagramPacket p = (DatagramPacket) o;
				                           ByteBuf buf = Unpooled.copiedBuffer("hello", CharsetUtil.UTF_8);
				                           return new DatagramPacket(buf, p.sender()); (1)
				                       }
				                       else {
				                           return Mono.error(new Exception("Unexpected type of the message: " + o));
				                       }
				                   })))
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Sends a hello string to the remote peer

7.4. Consuming Data

To receive data from a remote peer, you must attach an I/O handler. The I/O handler has access to UdpInbound, to be able to read data. The following example shows how to consume data:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/read/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.socket.DatagramPacket;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .handle((in, out) ->
				             out.sendObject(
				                 in.receiveObject()
				                   .map(o -> {
				                       if (o instanceof DatagramPacket) {
				                           DatagramPacket p = (DatagramPacket) o;
				                           return new DatagramPacket(p.content().retain(), p.sender()); (1)
				                       }
				                       else {
				                           return Mono.error(new Exception("Unexpected type of the message: " + o));
				                       }
				                   })))
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Receives data from the remote peer

7.5. Lifecycle Callbacks

The following lifecycle callbacks are provided to let you extend the UdpServer:

Callback Description

doOnBind

Invoked when the server channel is about to bind.

doOnBound

Invoked when the server channel is bound.

doOnChannelInit

Invoked when initializing the channel.

doOnUnbound

Invoked when the server channel is unbound.

The following example uses the doOnBound and doOnChannelInit callbacks:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/lifecycle/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.codec.LineBasedFrameDecoder;
import io.netty.handler.logging.LoggingHandler;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .doOnBound(conn -> conn.addHandlerLast(new LineBasedFrameDecoder(8192))) (1)
				         .doOnChannelInit((observer, channel, remoteAddress) ->
				             channel.pipeline()
				                    .addFirst(new LoggingHandler("reactor.netty.examples")))      (2)
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Netty pipeline is extended with LineBasedFrameDecoder when the server channel is bound.
2 Netty pipeline is extended with LoggingHandler when initializing the channel.

7.6. Connection Configuration

This section describes three kinds of configuration that you can use at the UDP level:

7.6.1. Channel Options

By default, the UDP server is configured with the following options:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/udp/UdpServerBind.java
UdpServerBind() {
	this.config = new UdpServerConfig(
			Collections.singletonMap(ChannelOption.AUTO_READ, false),
			() -> new InetSocketAddress(NetUtil.LOCALHOST, DEFAULT_PORT));
}

If you need additional options or need to change the current options, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/channeloptions/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .option(ChannelOption.CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, 10000)
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

For more information about Netty channel options, see the following links:

7.6.2. Wire Logger

Reactor Netty provides wire logging for when the traffic between the peers needs to be inspected. By default, wire logging is disabled. To enable it, you must set the logger reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer level to DEBUG and apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/wiretap/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .wiretap(true) (1)
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging
Wire Logger formatters

Reactor Netty supports 3 different formatters:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in hex format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] READ: 145B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 50 4f 53 54 20 2f 74 65 73 74 2f 57 6f 72 6c 64 |POST /test/World|
 * |00000010| 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 | HTTP/1.1..Conte|
 * |00000020| 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 74 65 78 74 2f 70 6c |nt-Type: text/pl|
 * |00000030| 61 69 6e 0d 0a 75 73 65 72 2d 61 67 65 6e 74 3a |ain..user-agent:|
 * |00000040| 20 52 65 61 63 74 6f 72 4e 65 74 74 79 2f 64 65 | ReactorNetty/de|
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] WRITE: 38B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 20 32 30 30 20 4f 4b 0d |HTTP/1.1 200 OK.|
 * |00000010| 0a 63 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 6c 65 6e 67 74 68 3a |.content-length:|
 * |00000020| 20 30 0d 0a 0d 0a                               | 0....          |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, only the events will be logged.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] READ: 145B
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] WRITE: 38B
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in plain text format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] READ: 145B POST /test/World HTTP/1.1
 * Content-Type: text/plain
 * user-agent: ReactorNetty/dev
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] WRITE: 38B HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 * content-length: 0
 * }
 * </pre>
 */

When you need to change the default formatter you can configure it as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/wiretap/custom/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LogLevel;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.transport.logging.AdvancedByteBufFormat;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .wiretap("logger-name", LogLevel.DEBUG, AdvancedByteBufFormat.TEXTUAL) (1)
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging, AdvancedByteBufFormat#TEXTUAL is used for printing the content.

7.6.3. Event Loop Group

By default, the UDP server uses “Event Loop Group,” where the number of the worker threads equals the number of processors available to the runtime on initialization (but with a minimum value of 4). When you need a different configuration, you can use one of the LoopResource#create methods.

The default configuration for the “Event Loop Group” is the following:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/ReactorNetty.java
/**
 * Default worker thread count, fallback to available processor
 * (but with a minimum value of 4)
 */
public static final String IO_WORKER_COUNT = "reactor.netty.ioWorkerCount";
/**
 * Default selector thread count, fallback to -1 (no selector thread)
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> In most use cases using a worker thread also as a selector thread works well.
 * A possible use case for specifying a separate selector thread might be when the worker threads are too busy
 * and connections cannot be accepted fast enough.
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> Although more than 1 can be configured as a selector thread count, in reality
 * only 1 thread will be used as a selector thread.
 */
public static final String IO_SELECT_COUNT = "reactor.netty.ioSelectCount";
/**
 * Default worker thread count for UDP, fallback to available processor
 * (but with a minimum value of 4)
 */
public static final String UDP_IO_THREAD_COUNT = "reactor.netty.udp.ioThreadCount";
/**
 * Default quiet period that guarantees that the disposal of the underlying LoopResources
 * will not happen, fallback to 2 seconds.
 */
public static final String SHUTDOWN_QUIET_PERIOD = "reactor.netty.ioShutdownQuietPeriod";
/**
 * Default maximum amount of time to wait until the disposal of the underlying LoopResources
 * regardless if a task was submitted during the quiet period, fallback to 15 seconds.
 */
public static final String SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT = "reactor.netty.ioShutdownTimeout";

/**
 * Default value whether the native transport (epoll, kqueue) will be preferred,
 * fallback it will be preferred when available
 */
public static final String NATIVE = "reactor.netty.native";

If you need changes to these settings, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/eventloop/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.resources.LoopResources;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		LoopResources loop = LoopResources.create("event-loop", 1, 4, true);

		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .runOn(loop)
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}

7.7. Metrics

The UDP server supports built-in integration with Micrometer. It exposes all metrics with a prefix of reactor.netty.udp.server.

The following table provides information for the UDP server metrics:

metric name type description

reactor.netty.udp.server.data.received

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data received, in bytes

reactor.netty.udp.server.data.sent

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data sent, in bytes

reactor.netty.udp.server.errors

Counter

Number of errors that occurred

These additional metrics are also available:

ByteBufAllocator metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.heap.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by heap buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.direct.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by direct buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.heap.arenas

Gauge

The number of heap arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.direct.arenas

Gauge

The number of direct arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.threadlocal.caches

Gauge

The number of thread local caches (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.small.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the small cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.normal.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the normal cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.chunk.size

Gauge

The chunk size for an arena (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.heap.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from heap buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.direct.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from direct buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

EventLoop metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.eventloop.pending.tasks

Gauge

The number of tasks that are pending for processing on an event loop

The following example enables that integration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/metrics/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .metrics(true) (1)
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the built-in integration with Micrometer

When UDP server metrics are needed for an integration with a system other than Micrometer or you want to provide your own integration with Micrometer, you can provide your own metrics recorder, as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/metrics/custom/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.channel.ChannelMetricsRecorder;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;

import java.net.SocketAddress;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .metrics(true, CustomChannelMetricsRecorder::new) (1)
				         .bindNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
1 Enables UDP server metrics and provides ChannelMetricsRecorder implementation.

7.8. Unix Domain Sockets

The UdpServer supports Unix Domain Datagram Sockets (UDS) when native transport is in use.

The following example shows how to use UDS support:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/server/uds/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.unix.DomainDatagramPacket;
import io.netty.channel.unix.DomainSocketAddress;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpServer;

import java.io.File;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection server =
				UdpServer.create()
				         .bindAddress(Application::newDomainSocketAddress) (1)
				         .handle((in, out) ->
				             out.sendObject(
				                 in.receiveObject()
				                   .map(o -> {
				                       if (o instanceof DomainDatagramPacket) {
				                           DomainDatagramPacket p = (DomainDatagramPacket) o;
				                           return new DomainDatagramPacket(p.content().retain(), p.sender());
				                       }
				                       else {
				                           return Mono.error(new Exception("Unexpected type of the message: " + o));
				                       }
				                   })))
				         .bindNow();

		server.onDispose()
		      .block();
	}
1 Specifies DomainSocketAddress that will be used

8. UDP Client

Reactor Netty provides the easy-to-use and easy-to-configure UdpClient. It hides most of the Netty functionality that is required to create a UDP client and adds Reactive Streams backpressure.

8.1. Connecting and Disconnecting

To connect the UDP client to a given endpoint, you must create and configure a UdpClient instance. By default, the host is configured for localhost and the port is 12012. The following example shows how to create and connect a UDP client:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/create/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()                            (1)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30)); (2)

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Creates a UdpClient instance that is ready for configuring.
2 Connects the client in a blocking fashion and waits for it to finish initializing.

The returned Connection offers a simple connection API, including disposeNow(), which shuts the client down in a blocking fashion.

8.1.1. Host and Port

To connect to a specific host and port, you can apply the following configuration to the UDP client:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/address/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com") (1)
				         .port(80)            (2)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Configures the host to which this client should connect
2 Configures the port to which this client should connect

8.2. Eager Initialization

By default, the initialization of the UdpClient resources happens on demand. This means that the connect operation absorbs the extra time needed to initialize and load:

  • the event loop group

  • the host name resolver

  • the native transport libraries (when native transport is used)

When you need to preload these resources, you can configure the UdpClient as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/warmup/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		UdpClient udpClient = UdpClient.create()
		                               .host("example.com")
		                               .port(80)
		                               .handle((udpInbound, udpOutbound) -> udpOutbound.sendString(Mono.just("hello")));

		udpClient.warmup() (1)
		         .block();

		Connection connection = udpClient.connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30)); (2)

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Initialize and load the event loop group, the host name resolver, and the native transport libraries
2 Host name resolution happens when connecting to the remote peer

8.3. Writing Data

To send data to a given peer, you must attach an I/O handler. The I/O handler has access to UdpOutbound, to be able to write data.

The following example shows how to send hello:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/send/Application.java
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .handle((udpInbound, udpOutbound) -> udpOutbound.sendString(Mono.just("hello"))) (1)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Sends hello string to the remote peer.

8.4. Consuming Data

To receive data from a given peer, you must attach an I/O handler. The I/O handler has access to UdpInbound, to be able to read data. The following example shows how to consume data:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/read/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .handle((udpInbound, udpOutbound) -> udpInbound.receive().then()) (1)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Receives data from a given peer

8.5. Lifecycle Callbacks

The following lifecycle callbacks are provided to let you extend the UdpClient:

Callback Description

doAfterResolve

Invoked after the remote address has been resolved successfully.

doOnChannelInit

Invoked when initializing the channel.

doOnConnect

Invoked when the channel is about to connect.

doOnConnected

Invoked after the channel has been connected.

doOnDisconnected

Invoked after the channel has been disconnected.

doOnResolve

Invoked when the remote address is about to be resolved.

doOnResolveError

Invoked in case the remote address hasn’t been resolved successfully.

The following example uses the doOnConnected and doOnChannelInit callbacks:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/lifecycle/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.codec.LineBasedFrameDecoder;
import io.netty.handler.logging.LoggingHandler;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .doOnConnected(conn -> conn.addHandlerLast(new LineBasedFrameDecoder(8192))) (1)
				         .doOnChannelInit((observer, channel, remoteAddress) ->
				             channel.pipeline()
				                    .addFirst(new LoggingHandler("reactor.netty.examples")))           (2)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Netty pipeline is extended with LineBasedFrameDecoder when the channel has been connected.
2 Netty pipeline is extended with LoggingHandler when initializing the channel.

8.6. Connection Configuration

This section describes three kinds of configuration that you can use at the UDP level:

8.6.1. Channel Options

By default, the UDP client is configured with the following options:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/udp/UdpClientConnect.java
UdpClientConnect() {
	this.config = new UdpClientConfig(
			ConnectionProvider.newConnection(),
			Collections.singletonMap(ChannelOption.AUTO_READ, false),
			() -> new InetSocketAddress(NetUtil.LOCALHOST, DEFAULT_PORT));
}

If you need additional options or need to change the current options, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/channeloptions/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.ChannelOption;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .option(ChannelOption.CONNECT_TIMEOUT_MILLIS, 10000)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}

You can find more about Netty channel options at the following links:

8.6.2. Wire Logger

Reactor Netty provides wire logging for when the traffic between the peers needs to be inspected. By default, wire logging is disabled. To enable it, you must set the logger reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient level to DEBUG and apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/wiretap/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .wiretap(true) (1)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging
Wire Logger formatters

Reactor Netty supports 3 different formatters:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in hex format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] READ: 145B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 50 4f 53 54 20 2f 74 65 73 74 2f 57 6f 72 6c 64 |POST /test/World|
 * |00000010| 20 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 0d 0a 43 6f 6e 74 65 | HTTP/1.1..Conte|
 * |00000020| 6e 74 2d 54 79 70 65 3a 20 74 65 78 74 2f 70 6c |nt-Type: text/pl|
 * |00000030| 61 69 6e 0d 0a 75 73 65 72 2d 61 67 65 6e 74 3a |ain..user-agent:|
 * |00000040| 20 52 65 61 63 74 6f 72 4e 65 74 74 79 2f 64 65 | ReactorNetty/de|
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [d5230a14, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60267 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60269] WRITE: 38B
 *          +-------------------------------------------------+
 *          |  0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * |00000000| 48 54 54 50 2f 31 2e 31 20 32 30 30 20 4f 4b 0d |HTTP/1.1 200 OK.|
 * |00000010| 0a 63 6f 6e 74 65 6e 74 2d 6c 65 6e 67 74 68 3a |.content-length:|
 * |00000020| 20 30 0d 0a 0d 0a                               | 0....          |
 * +--------+-------------------------------------------------+----------------+
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, only the events will be logged.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] READ: 145B
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [230d3686, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60241 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60245] WRITE: 38B
 * }
 * </pre>
 */
./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/transport/logging/AdvancedByteBufFormat.java
/**
 * When wire logging is enabled with this format, both events and content will be logged.
 * The content will be in plain text format.
 * <p>Examples:</p>
 * <pre>
 * {@code
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] REGISTERED
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] ACTIVE
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] READ: 145B POST /test/World HTTP/1.1
 * Content-Type: text/plain
 * user-agent: ReactorNetty/dev
 * ...
 * reactor.netty.http.HttpTests - [02c3db6c, L:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60317 - R:/0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:60319] WRITE: 38B HTTP/1.1 200 OK
 * content-length: 0
 * }
 * </pre>
 */

When you need to change the default formatter you can configure it as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/wiretap/custom/Application.java
import io.netty.handler.logging.LogLevel;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.transport.logging.AdvancedByteBufFormat;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .wiretap("logger-name", LogLevel.DEBUG, AdvancedByteBufFormat.TEXTUAL) (1)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the wire logging, AdvancedByteBufFormat#TEXTUAL is used for printing the content.

8.6.3. Event Loop Group

By default, the UDP client uses “Event Loop Group,” where the number of the worker threads equals the number of processors available to the runtime on initialization (but with a minimum value of 4). When you need a different configuration, you can use one of the LoopResources#create methods.

The following listing shows the default configuration for the “Event Loop Group”:

./../../reactor-netty-core/src/main/java/reactor/netty/ReactorNetty.java
/**
 * Default worker thread count, fallback to available processor
 * (but with a minimum value of 4)
 */
public static final String IO_WORKER_COUNT = "reactor.netty.ioWorkerCount";
/**
 * Default selector thread count, fallback to -1 (no selector thread)
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> In most use cases using a worker thread also as a selector thread works well.
 * A possible use case for specifying a separate selector thread might be when the worker threads are too busy
 * and connections cannot be accepted fast enough.
 * <p><strong>Note:</strong> Although more than 1 can be configured as a selector thread count, in reality
 * only 1 thread will be used as a selector thread.
 */
public static final String IO_SELECT_COUNT = "reactor.netty.ioSelectCount";
/**
 * Default worker thread count for UDP, fallback to available processor
 * (but with a minimum value of 4)
 */
public static final String UDP_IO_THREAD_COUNT = "reactor.netty.udp.ioThreadCount";
/**
 * Default quiet period that guarantees that the disposal of the underlying LoopResources
 * will not happen, fallback to 2 seconds.
 */
public static final String SHUTDOWN_QUIET_PERIOD = "reactor.netty.ioShutdownQuietPeriod";
/**
 * Default maximum amount of time to wait until the disposal of the underlying LoopResources
 * regardless if a task was submitted during the quiet period, fallback to 15 seconds.
 */
public static final String SHUTDOWN_TIMEOUT = "reactor.netty.ioShutdownTimeout";

/**
 * Default value whether the native transport (epoll, kqueue) will be preferred,
 * fallback it will be preferred when available
 */
public static final String NATIVE = "reactor.netty.native";

If you need changes to the these settings, you can apply the following configuration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/eventloop/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.resources.LoopResources;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		LoopResources loop = LoopResources.create("event-loop", 1, 4, true);

		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .runOn(loop)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}

8.7. Metrics

The UDP client supports built-in integration with Micrometer. It exposes all metrics with a prefix of reactor.netty.udp.client.

The following table provides information for the UDP client metrics:

metric name type description

reactor.netty.udp.client.data.received

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data received, in bytes

reactor.netty.udp.client.data.sent

DistributionSummary

Amount of the data sent, in bytes

reactor.netty.udp.client.errors

Counter

Number of errors that occurred

reactor.netty.udp.client.connect.time

Timer

Time spent for connecting to the remote address

reactor.netty.udp.client.address.resolver

Timer

Time spent for resolving the address

These additional metrics are also available:

ByteBufAllocator metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.heap.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by heap buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.used.direct.memory

Gauge

The number of bytes reserved by direct buffer allocator

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.heap.arenas

Gauge

The number of heap arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.direct.arenas

Gauge

The number of direct arenas (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.threadlocal.caches

Gauge

The number of thread local caches (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.small.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the small cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.normal.cache.size

Gauge

The size of the normal cache (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.chunk.size

Gauge

The chunk size for an arena (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.heap.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from heap buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.direct.memory

Gauge

The actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from direct buffer pools (when PooledByteBufAllocator)

EventLoop metrics

metric name type description

reactor.netty.eventloop.pending.tasks

Gauge

The number of tasks that are pending for processing on an event loop

The following example enables that integration:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/metrics/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;

import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .metrics(true) (1)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
}
1 Enables the built-in integration with Micrometer

When UDP client metrics are needed for an integration with a system other than Micrometer or you want to provide your own integration with Micrometer, you can provide your own metrics recorder, as follows:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/metrics/custom/Application.java
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.channel.ChannelMetricsRecorder;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;

import java.net.SocketAddress;
import java.time.Duration;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .host("example.com")
				         .port(80)
				         .metrics(true, CustomChannelMetricsRecorder::new) (1)
				         .connectNow(Duration.ofSeconds(30));

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
1 Enables UDP client metrics and provides ChannelMetricsRecorder implementation.

8.8. Unix Domain Sockets

The UdpClient supports Unix Domain Datagram Sockets (UDS) when native transport is in use.

The following example shows how to use UDS support:

./../../reactor-netty-examples/src/main/java/reactor/netty/examples/documentation/udp/client/uds/Application.java
import io.netty.channel.unix.DomainSocketAddress;
import reactor.core.publisher.Mono;
import reactor.netty.Connection;
import reactor.netty.udp.UdpClient;

import java.io.File;

public class Application {

	public static void main(String[] args) {
		Connection connection =
				UdpClient.create()
				         .bindAddress(Application::newDomainSocketAddress)
				         .remoteAddress(() -> new DomainSocketAddress("/tmp/test-server.sock")) (1)
				         .handle((in, out) ->
				             out.sendString(Mono.just("hello"))
				                .then(in.receive()
				                        .asString()
				                        .doOnNext(System.out::println)
				                        .then()))
				         .connectNow();

		connection.onDispose()
		          .block();
	}
1 Specifies DomainSocketAddress that will be used

Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions

This section covers the following content:

A.1. Connection to the proxy cannot be established

Netty’s HTTP proxy support always uses CONNECT method in order to establish a tunnel to the specified proxy regardless of the scheme that is used http or https. (More information: Netty enforce HTTP proxy to support HTTP CONNECT method). Some proxies might not support CONNECT method when the scheme is http or might need to be configured in order to support this way of communication. Sometimes this might be the reason for not being able to connect to the proxy. Consider checking the proxy documentation whether it supports or needs an additional configuration in order to support CONNECT method.

A.2. What is it meaning of the information that is prepended to every log record?

Reactor Netty adds information for the connection at the beginning of every log record (when this is possible). There is a slight difference in the details for the connection when you use TCP, UDP, HTTP/1.1 or HTTP/2.

A.2.1. TCP and UDP

In case of TCP and UDP, the following is added at the beginning of every log record: the id of the underlying connection, local and remote addresses.

Examples
[a1566d55, L:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53446 - R:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53444]
[a1566d55, L:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53446 ! R:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53444]

Format
[<CONNECTION_ID>, L:<LOCAL_ADDRESS> <CONNECTION_OPENED_CLOSED> R:<REMOTE_ADDRESS>]
<CONNECTION_ID>: a1566d55
<LOCAL_ADDRESS>: [0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53446
<CONNECTION_OPENED_CLOSED>: - (connection opened)
                            ! (connection closed)
<REMOTE_ADDRESS>: [0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53444

A.2.2. HTTP/1.1

In case of HTTP/1.1, the following is added at the beginning of every log record: the id of the underlying connection, the serial number of the request received on that connection, local and remote addresses.

Examples
[a1566d55-5, L:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53446 - R:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53444]
[a1566d55-5, L:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53446 ! R:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53444]

Format
[<CONNECTION_ID>-<REQUEST_NUMBER>, L:<LOCAL_ADDRESS> <CONNECTION_OPENED_CLOSED> R:<REMOTE_ADDRESS>]
<CONNECTION_ID>: a1566d55
<REQUEST_NUMBER>: 5
<LOCAL_ADDRESS>: [0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53446
<CONNECTION_OPENED_CLOSED>: - (connection opened)
                            ! (connection closed)
<REMOTE_ADDRESS>: [0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53444

A.2.3. HTTP/2

In case of HTTP/2, the following is added at the beginning of every log record: the id of the underlying connection, local and remote addresses, the id of the stream received on that connection.

Examples
[a1566d55, L:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53446 - R:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53444](H2 - 5)
[a1566d55, L:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53446 ! R:/[0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53444](H2 - 5)

Format
[<CONNECTION_ID>, L:<LOCAL_ADDRESS> <CONNECTION_OPENED_CLOSED> R:<REMOTE_ADDRESS>]<STREAM_ID>
<CONNECTION_ID>: a1566d55
<LOCAL_ADDRESS>: [0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53446
<CONNECTION_OPENED_CLOSED>: - (connection opened)
                            ! (connection closed)
<REMOTE_ADDRESS>: [0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1]:53444
<STREAM_ID>: (H2 - 5)

A.3. How can I extract all log records for a particular HTTP request?

Reactor Netty adds information for the connection at the beginning of every log record (when this is possible). Use the id of the connection in order to extract all log records for a particular HTTP request. For more information see What is it meaning of the information that is prepended to every log record?

A.4. How can I debug a memory leak?

By default, Reactor Netty uses direct memory as this is more performant when there are many native I/O operations (working with sockets), as this can remove the copying operations. As allocation and deallocation are expensive operations, Reactor Netty also uses pooled buffers by default. For more information, see Reference Counted Objects.

To be able to debug memory issues with the direct memory and the pooled buffers, Netty provides a special memory leak detection mechanism. Follow the instructions for Troubleshooting Buffer Leaks to enable this mechanism. In addition to the instructions provided by Netty, Reactor Netty provides a special logger (_reactor.netty.channel.LeakDetection) that helps to identify where the memory leak might be located inside Reactor Netty or whether Reactor Netty already forwarded the ownership of the buffers to the application/framework. By default, this logger is disabled. To enable it, increase the log level to DEBUG.

Another way to detect memory leaks is to monitor reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.heap.memory and reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.direct.memory meters:

  • The reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.heap.memory provides the actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from heap buffer pools

  • The reactor.netty.bytebuf.allocator.active.direct.memory provides the actual bytes consumed by in-use buffers allocated from direct buffer pools

If the above meters are constantly growing, then it’s likely that there is a buffer memory leak.

Consider reducing the used memory when debugging memory leak issues (e.g -XX:MaxDirectMemorySize, -Xms, -Xmx). The less memory the application has, the sooner the memory leak will happen.

A.5. How can I debug "Connection prematurely closed BEFORE response"?

By default, Reactor Netty clients use connection pooling. When a connection is acquired from the connection pool, it is checked to see whether it is still open. However, the connection can be closed at any time after the acquisition. There are many reasons that can cause a connection to be closed. In most cases, the client might not send directly to the server. Instead, there might be other network components (proxies, load balancers, and so on) between them.

If, on the client side, you observe Connection prematurely closed BEFORE response, perform the following checks to identify the reason for the connection being closed:

  • Obtain a TCP dump and check which peer sends a FIN/RST signal.

  • Check your network connection.

  • Check your Firewall and VPN.

  • Check for any proxies and load balancers.

  • Check the target server. Are there configurations related to any of the following?

    • idle timeout (the connection is closed when there is no incoming data for a certain period of time)

    • limit for buffering data in memory

    • multipart exceeds the max file size limit

    • bad request

    • max keep alive requests (the connection is closed when the requests reach the configured maximum number)

Consider checking Timeout Configuration. The section describes various timeout configuration options that are available for Reactor Netty clients. Configuring a proper timeout may improve or solve issues in the communication process.