Node: net.Socket has no setConnectionTimeout(timeout) method

[DanielYWoo]

• Version: v5.7.1
• Platform: Mac OSX Yosemite 64bit
• Subsystem: net

Currently we can only set timeout for an established idle socket, I cannot find a way to set connection timeout. This is missing piece, right?

[alvieirajr]

The socket.setTimeout(timeout[, callback]) doesn't works to you ? (Node.js - Net Module)

[DanielYWoo]

setTimeout is for socket timeout which means the max idle time (no bytes received or sent) for an established connection, what I need is a connection timeout, that's the max time to establish a connection.

[piiiet]

Just need the same.

[tniessen]

I don't think libuv supports this. Usually, people handle connect timeouts by putting the socket into non-blocking mode before connecting and then waiting for select to either run into a timeout or a status change on the socket. In node, you don't have the problem of blocking sockets, so you can just define your own timeout using setTimeout() and socket.destroy().

[bnoordhuis]

socket.setTimeout() works for this: it sets a timer that expires after n milliseconds of inactivity; that includes connecting. Example:

var socket = net.connect(/* ... */);
socket.setTimeout(5e3, () => socket.destroy());
socket.once('connect', () => socket.setTimeout(0));

I'm closing this as the existing APIs have this covered.

[falahati]

The solution provided by @bnoordhuis is unreliable and might not work. I had no success getting it to work on Windows 10 (Electron 7). The reality of the situation is that setTimeout() only changes the SO_RCVTIMEO and the SO_SNDTIMEO options and since they are not meant to be used for connecting; their effect generally depends on the environment or the underlying implementation and therefore should not be relied upon.
And since there is no way to set other socket options manually (otherwise TCP_USER_TIMEOUT could have been an option) the best way is to use
global.setTimeout() to destroy the socket to force the connection to be dropped. This is essentially what @tniessen suggested before.

However, it would be great if we could have used the setsockopt() method directly.

[DanielYWoo]

@falahati Does this work?

var socket = net.connect(/* ... */);
var t = setTimeout(CONN_TIMEOUT, () => socket.destroy());
socket.once('connect', () => {clearTimeout(t); socket.setTimeout(SOCK_TIMEOUT);});

[falahati]

Essentially yeah. My code is a little more complicated but in the end the same underlying logic is at work.

isAlive(): Promise<boolean> {
    if (!this.config || !this.config.portNumber || !this.config.ipAddress) {
        return Promise.resolve(false);
    }

    var client = new net.Socket();

    function destroy() {
        if (client != null) {
            client.destroy();
            client = null;
        }
    }

    return new Promise<boolean>(
            (resolve) => {
                try {
                    client.once(
                        "connect",
                        () => {
                            destroy();
                            resolve(true);
                        }
                    );

                    client.once(
                        "error",
                        () => {
                            destroy();
                            resolve(false);
                        }
                    );

                    client.connect(this.config.portNumber, this.config.ipAddress);
                } catch (e) {
                    destroy();
                    resolve(false);
                }
            }
        )
        .timeout(2000)
        .catch(() => {
                destroy();
                return false;
            }
        );
}

With timeout() coming from here:

Promise.delay = (duration: number) => new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(() => resolve(), duration));

Promise.prototype.timeout = function (duration): Promise<any> {
    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
        this.then(value => { resolve(value) });
        Promise.delay(duration).then(() => { reject(new Error("timed out")) });
    });
};

[kvelaro]

Have exactly the same problem, and actually found good solution

let client = net.connect({...})

this setTimeout works only for sockets whose connection established

client.setTimeout(10000, (e) => {});
client.on('data', function (data) {});
client.on('error', (e) => {});
client.on('end', function () {});

general timeout, if we dont want to wait time set by default,
then we should emit error ourselfs

 timer = setTimeout(function() {
            client.emit('error', new Error('Connection could not be established'))
  }, 15000);

You are welcome :)

[DanielYWoo]

@kvelaro the timeout you mentioned is for the whole duration including establishing the connection, transferring, and finally closing. What we need here is the just connection timeout.

[gbidkar]

Can we re-open this? The solutions given by @kvelaro and @falahati do work but it does make sense if this will be included in the API.

[Antonius-S]

@gbidkar actually the existing API works. Tested with Node 10.17 and 13.2

'use strict';

const net = require('net');
const events = require('events');

const sock = new net.Socket();
sock.setTimeout(5000);
sock.on('timeout', () => sock.emit('error', new Error('ETIMEDOUT')));
sock.on('error', (e) => console.log((new Date()).toISOString(), 'Error', e.message));
sock.connect(111, '8.8.8.8');
console.log((new Date()).toISOString(), 'Connecting');

Prints

2020-05-14T08:39:09.882Z Connecting
2020-05-14T08:39:14.883Z Error ETIMEDOUT
2020-05-14T08:39:30.890Z Error connect ETIMEDOUT 8.8.8.8:111

Note that by default socket already has 20 sec timeout that won't be overridden by your custom one (the last log line) even if timeout is set to 0. So unless the socket is destroyed error will be thrown by socket's internals.
This also means you must handle this error specially if you want greater connect timeout.

[DanielYWoo]

@Antonius-S The problem is to set connection timeout, not the socket timeout.

[Antonius-S]

@DanielYWoo IDK what do you mean by 'connection' and 'socket' timeout but my code detects timeout during connect.

[falahati]

@Antonius-S
I described here why this solution is unreliable. Please read the older comments.

@gbidkar
Unfortunately, I don't believe that the Net library should do anything more than what it does now directly regarding the timeout. I believe it makes it more complicated for people who have used sockets in almost every other language.
The problem described in this issue is present when using C++, C#, Python, and others. This is due to the fact that the Net library and other similar counterparts are simply wrappers around the OS's socket API.
In fact, I believe this issue should be limited to collaborators.

However, I strongly ask for a direct setSocketOption() method so that the programmer can directly communicate with the underlying socket implementation if required. But that a separate issue.

[Antonius-S]

@falahati

I described here why this solution is unreliable. Please read the older comments.

I've read your comment before posting. Honestly I'm neither an expert in Node internals nor have an idea what your opinion is based on, I just prefer to trust the facts.
Fact №1. Sources of Socket.prototype.setTimeout clearly say that instance of Timeout is created and bound to socket.
Fact №2. My code above runs as expected on Win7, Win10 and even Linux (I tested it on two online Node playgrounds which both run Linux).

Your move ;-P