Sun RPC Tutorial

Tim Salo

Sai Ram Kuchibhatla

Original (Non-Distributed) Program

RPCdemo.c
#include <stdio.h>
int add(int a, int b) { return a+b; }
int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
int i1 = 1;
int i2 = 2;
printf("\n\nThe sum of %i and %i is "
"%i.\n\n\n", i1, i2, add(i1, i2));
}

Original (Non-Distributed) Program

Compile
% gcc -o RPCdemo RPCdemo.c

Execute
% ./RPCdemo
The sum of 1 and 2 is 3.

Skeleton for Distributed Program

RPCdemo.x
Define program

Define interface

program RPCDEMO {
version RPCDEMOVERS {
int ADD(int, int) = 1;
} = 1;

Define function

} = 0x20004088;
Ensure uniqueness (e.g., last four student ID digits)

Compile Skeleton
%rpcgen -N -a RPCdemo.x
%mv Makefile* Makefile
% ls -l
1118 Feb 6 21:19 Makefile
969 Feb 6 21:19 RPCdemo.h
122 Feb 6 21:03 RPCdemo.x
787 Feb 6 21:19 RPCdemo_client.c
605 Feb 6 21:19 RPCdemo_clnt.c
317 Feb 6 21:19 RPCdemo_server.c
2263 Feb 6 21:19 RPCdemo_svc.c
281 Feb 6 21:19 RPCdemo_xdr.c

Make Skeleton
% make
cc -g
-c -o RPCdemo_clnt.o RPCdemo_clnt.c
cc -g
-c -o RPCdemo_client.o
RPCdemo_client.c
cc -g
-c -o RPCdemo_xdr.o RPCdemo_xdr.c
cc -g
-o RPCdemo_client RPCdemo_clnt.o
RPCdemo_client.o RPCdemo_xdr.c -lnsl
cc -g
-c -o RPCdemo_svc.o RPCdemo_svc.c
cc -g
-c -o RPCdemo_server.o
RPCdemo_server.c
cc -g
-o RPCdemo_server RPCdemo_svc.o
RPCdemo_server.o RPCdemo_xdr.o lnsl

Make Skeleton
% ls -l
122 Feb
21144 Feb
8056 Feb
7464 Feb
24797 Feb
7120 Feb
11704 Feb
4944 Feb

6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6

21:03
21:29
21:29
21:29
21:29
21:29
21:29
21:29

RPCdemo.x
RPCdemo_client*
RPCdemo_client.o
RPCdemo_clnt.o
RPCdemo_server*
RPCdemo_server.o
RPCdemo_svc.o
RPCdemo_xdr.o

RPCdemo.h
/*
* Please do not edit this file.
* It was generated using rpcgen.
*/
#ifndef _RPCDEMO_H_RPCGEN
#define _RPCDEMO_H_RPCGEN
#include <rpc/rpc.h>
#ifdef __cplusplus
extern "C" {
#endif
struct add_1_argument {
int arg1;
int arg2;
};
typedef struct add_1_argument add_1_argument;
...

RPCdemo_clnt.c
/*
* Please do not edit this file.
* It was generated using rpcgen.
*/
#include <memory.h> /* for memset */
#include "RPCdemo.h"
/* Default timeout can be changed using clnt_control() */
static struct timeval TIMEOUT = { 25, 0 };
int *
add_1(int arg1, int arg2, CLIENT *clnt)
{
add_1_argument arg;
static int clnt_res;
...

RPCdemo_svc.c
/*
* Please do not edit this file.
* It was generated using rpcgen.
*/
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include
#include

"RPCdemo.h"
<stdio.h>
<stdlib.h>
<rpc/pmap_clnt.h>
<string.h>
<memory.h>
<sys/socket.h>
<netinet/in.h>

#ifndef SIG_PF
#define SIG_PF void(*)(int)
#endif
...

RPCdemo_xdr.c
/*
* Please do not edit this file.
* It was generated using rpcgen.
*/
#include "RPCdemo.h"
bool_t
xdr_add_1_argument (XDR *xdrs, add_1_argument *objp)
{
if (!xdr_int (xdrs, &objp->arg1))
return FALSE;
if (!xdr_int (xdrs, &objp->arg2))
return FALSE;
return TRUE;
}

RPCdemo_server.c (part 1 of 2)
/*
* This is sample code generated by rpcgen.
* These are only templates and you can use
them
* as a guideline for developing your own
functions.
*/

RPCdemo_server.c (part 2 of 2)
#include "RPCdemo.h"
int * add_1_svc(int arg1, int arg2,
struct svc_req *rqstp) {
static int result;
/*
* insert server code here
*/
return &result;
}

RPCdemo_server.c (modified)
#include "RPCdemo.h"
int * add_1_svc(int arg1, int arg2,
struct svc_req *rqstp) {
static int

result;

result = arg1 + arg2;

return &result;
}

RPCdemo_client.c (part 1 of 3)
/*
* This is sample code generated by rpcgen.
* These are only templates and you can use
them
* as a guideline for developing your own
functions.
*/

RPCdemo_client.c (part 2 of 3)
#include "RPCdemo.h"
int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
char *host;
...
host = argv[1];
rpcdemo_1 (host);
exit (0);
}

RPCdemo_client.c (part 3 of 3)
void rpcdemo_1(char *host) {
CLIENT *clnt;
int *result_1;
int add_1_arg1; int add_1_arg2;
clnt = clnt_create (host, RPCDEMO,
RPCDEMOVERS, "udp");
if (clnt == NULL) {...}
The
result_1 = add_1(add_1_arg1,
real
add_1_arg2, clnt);
thing
if (result_1 == (int *) NULL) {...}
clnt_destroy (clnt);
}

RPCdemo_client.c (modified)
void rpcdemo_1(char *host) {
CLIENT *clnt;
int *result_1;
int add_1_arg1 = 1;
int add_1_arg2 = 2;
...
result_1 = add_1(add_1_arg1,
add_1_arg2, clnt);
printf("\n\nThe sum of %i and %i is "
"%i.\n\n\n", add_1_arg1,
add_1_arg2, *result_1);
...
}

Run It!
lind24-06% RPCdemo_server

lind24-20% RPCdemo_client lind24-06

The sum of 1 and 2 is 3.

RPCdemo_server.c (Version 2)
int * add_1_svc(int arg1, int arg2,
struct svc_req *rqstp) {
static int

result;

result = arg1 + arg2;

printf("add(%i, %i) called.\n",
arg1, arg2);
return &result;
}

Run It! (Version 2)

lind24-06% RPCdemo_server

lind24-20% RPCdemo_client lind24-06

The sum of 1 and 2 is 3.

lind24-06% RPCdemo_server
add(1, 2) called.

Review All We Did Was...

Create RPCdemo.x
program RPCDEMO {
version RPCDEMOVERS {
int ADD(int, int) = 1;
} = 1;
} = 0x20004088;
Run rpcgen.

Review All We Did Was...

Modify skeleton server code
int * add_1_svc(int arg1, int arg2,
struct svc_req *rqstp) {
static int

result;

result = arg1 + arg2;

return &result;
}

Review All We Did Was...

Modify skeleton client code.
void rpcdemo_1(char *host) {
int add_1_arg1 = 1;
int add_1_arg2 = 2;
...
result_1 = add_1(add_1_arg1,
add_1_arg2, clnt);
printf("\n\nThe sum of %i and %i is "
"%i.\n\n\n", add_1_arg1,
add_1_arg2, *result_1);
}

Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI)

There are three processes that participate in
supporting remote method invocation.

The Client
The Server
The Object Registry

Remote Interface
package example.hello;
import java.rmi.Remote;
import java.rmi.RemoteException;
public interface Hello extends Remote {
String sayHello() throws RemoteException;
}

Server (1 of 2)
package example.hello;
import java.rmi.registry.Registry;
import java.rmi.registry.LocateRegistry;
import java.rmi.RemoteException;
import java.rmi.server.UnicastRemoteObject;
public class Server implements Hello {
public Server() {}
public String sayHello() {
return "Hello, world!";
}

Server (2 of 2)
public static void main(String args[]) {
try {
Server obj = new Server();
Hello stub = (Hello) UnicastRemoteObject.exportObject(obj, 0);

// Bind the remote object's stub in the registry

Registry registry = LocateRegistry.getRegistry();
registry.bind("Hello", stub);
System.err.println("Server ready");
} catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println("Server exception: " + e.toString());
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

Client ( 1 of 2)
package example.hello;
import java.rmi.registry.LocateRegistry;
import java.rmi.registry.Registry;
public class Client {
private Client() {}
public static void main(String[] args) {
String host = (args.length < 1) ? null : args[0];
try {
Registry registry = LocateRegistry.getRegistry(host);
Hello stub = (Hello) registry.lookup("Hello");

Client (2 of 2)
String response = stub.sayHello();
System.out.println("response: " + response);
} catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println("Client exception: " + e.toString());
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

Steps
Compile all of the Remote interfaces and classes
% javac -d destDir Hello.java Server.java Client.java
Start Registry
% rmiregistry <port-number> &

Run
Server:
% java -classpath classDir
example.hello.Server &
Output:
Server Ready
Client:
% java -classpath classDir
example.hello.Client
Output:
response: Hello, world!

Concluding Thoughts and Hints

Why use Sun RPC
Its simple
Its transparent
You can look at it and see how it works

But
It gives the C/Unix error message
segmentation fault
It performs C/Unix error checking
none
Real programmers dont make mistakes

Concluding Thoughts and Hints

So
Be patient
Be methodical
Dont be too aggressive (maybe)
Dont be too tricky
Develop incrementally
Save working versions

Concluding Thoughts and Hints

And
Use the IT Labs machines
There are a lot of them
You can (usually) ssh in
You wont fight with firewalls, SELinux

Careful
Sun RPC is not reentrant
Static variables
Interaction with threads can be messy

Concluding Thoughts and Hints

Documentation
man rpc
man rpcgen
Sun ONC+ Documentation
I will update the RPC and RMI resources on
the class Web pages

Concluding Thoughts and Hints

Questions