1 TODO for 1.2 And Beyond
2 =======================
4 NOTE: Any item that doesn't have (***DONE) in it, isn't done yet. The
5 (***TESTING NEEDED) means that the item has been done but not yet properly
8 NOTE: A TODO entry does not mean that it is ever going to be done. Some
9 of the entries may be just ideas, good, bad or ugly. If you want to work
10 on some of the TODO entries simply let us know about it by dropping a note
11 to silc-devel mailing list or appear on 'silc' channel on SILCNet.
17 o Create apps/tutorial containing various Toolkit API tutorials.
19 o The Toolkit split. The Toolkit is to be splitted in parts. How many
20 parts and what the parts are isn't decided yet. Each part is a separate
21 software package. Current thinking is of the following:
23 SILC Toolkit SILC protocol, client and server library
24 SILC Runtime Toolkit runtime library
25 SILC Crypto Toolkit crypto, asn1, math, skr, pgp, etc.
27 The rationale for this is of course that other than SILC projects
28 might like to use the various libraries SILC Toolkit provides, but
29 naturally they don't want the bloat of SILC protocol related stuff.
31 The Runtime library in SILC Toolkit is a general purpose runtime library,
32 like Glib and APR are. The runtime library is to be developed further
33 to provide alternative to Glib and APR.
35 The Crypto library in SILC Toolkit is a general purpose crypto library
36 providing pretty nice APIs compared to many other crypto libraries,
37 especially OpenSSL. The Crypto library is to be developed further
38 to include support for OpenPGP, X.509 and SSH2.
44 o SILC_PACKET_FLAG_ACK support. Implement ACK packet and packet payload
47 o All payload encoding routines should take SilcStack as argument.
49 o Remove SilcCommandCb from silccommand.h.
51 o All payload test routines into lib/silccore/tests/.
54 lib/silcclient, The Client Library
55 ==================================
57 o Giving WHOIS for nick that doesn't exist should remove any same
58 named entries from the client cache.
60 o peer-to-peer private messages
62 o Private message key request notification to application. See XXX in
65 o in JOIN notify handle resolving that timedout. Currently the user is
66 never joined the channel if this happens. What to do if message is
67 received from user that hasn't been resolved/joined?
69 o Message ACKing support.
71 o in /cmode and /cumode with +r, maybe the public key and private key
72 could be just some "string", which would then match to "string.pub" and
75 o If the SILC Events (see below) are implemented, perhaps client library
76 should provide events so that application developer has a choice of
77 developing the SILC app with callbacks or with events.
80 Runtime library, lib/silcutil/
81 ==============================
83 o Fix universal time decoding (doesn't accept all formats) in silctime.c.
85 o Add functions to manipulate environment variables.
87 SilcBool silc_setenv(const char *variable, const char *value);
88 const char *silc_getenv(const char *variable);
89 SilcBool silc_clearenv(const char *variable);
91 o Add functions to loading shared/dynamic object symbols (replaces the
92 SIM library (lib/silcsim) and introduces generic library). Add this
93 to lib/silcutil/silcdll.[ch].
95 SilcDll silc_dll_load(const char *object_path, SilcDllFlags flags);
96 void silc_dll_close(SilcDll dll);
97 void *silc_dll_getsym(SilcDll dll, const char *symbol);
98 const char *silc_dll_error(SilcDll dll);
100 o Add directory opening/traversing functions
102 o silc_getopt routines
104 o silc_hash_table_replace -> silc_hash_table_set. Retain support for
105 silc_hash_table_replace as macro.
107 o The SILC Event signals. Asynchronous events that can be created,
108 connected to and signalled. Either own event routines or glued into
111 SilcTask silc_schedule_task_add_event(SilcSchedule schedule,
112 const char *event, ...);
113 SilcBool silc_schedule_event_connect(SilcSchedule schedule,
115 SilcTaskCallback event_callback,
117 SilcBool silc_schedule_event_signal(SilcSchedule schedule,
118 const char *event, ...);
121 silc_schedule_task_add_event(schedule, "connected",
125 silc_schedule_event_connect(schedule, "connected", connected_cb, ctx);
126 silc_schedule_event_signal(schedule, "connected", integer, buf,
128 SILC_TASK_CALLBACK(connected_cb)
130 FooCtx ctx = context;
135 va_start(args, context);
136 integer = va_arg(args, SilcUInt32);
137 buf = va_arg(args, SilcBuffer);
142 Problems: Events would be SilcSchedule specific, and would not work on
143 multi-thread/multi-scheduler system. The events should be copyable
144 between schedulers. Another problem is the signal delivery. Do we
145 deliver them synchronously possibly from any thread to any other thread
146 or do we deliver them through the target schedulers. If we use the
147 schedulers then signalling would be asynchronous (data must be
148 duplicated and later freed) which is not very nice.
150 o If the event signals are added, the SILC_PARAM_* stuff needs to be
151 moved from silcbuffmt.h to silctypes.h or something similar.
153 o In case the SILC Events are done we shall create a new concept of
154 parent and child SilcSchedule's. When new SilcSchedule is created a
155 parent can be associated to it. This association could be done either
156 directly by the parent or by any other children. This way the signals
157 would in effect be global and would reach all children schedulers.
159 This relationship would be associative only. The schedulers are still
160 independent and run independently from each other. All schedulers
161 would be linked and could be accessed from any of the schedulers.
162 It should be possible to retrieve the parent and enumate all children
163 from any of the schedulers.
165 SilcSchedule silc_schedule_init(int max_tasks, void *app_context,
166 SilcSchedule parent);
167 SilcSchedule silc_schedule_get_parent(SilcSchedule schedule);
169 o Additional scheduler changes: optimize silc_schedule_wakeup. Wakeup
170 only if the scheduler is actually waiting something. If it is
171 delivering tasks wakeup is not needed.
173 o Structured log messages to Log API. Allows machine readable log
174 messages. Would allow sending of any kind of data in a log message.
176 o Base64 to an own API
180 o Add builtin SOCKS and HTTP Proxy support, well the SOCKS at least.
181 SILC currently supports SOCKS4 and SOCKS5 but it needs to be compiled
184 o silc_stringprep to non-allocating version.
186 o SilcStack aware SilcHashTable.
188 o SilcStack aware SilcDList.
190 o Thread pool API. Add this to lib/silcutil/silcthread.[ch].
192 typedef void (*SilcThreadPoolFunc)(SilcSchedule schedule,
195 /* Allocate thread pool with at least `min_threads' and at most
196 `max_threads' many threads. If `stack' is non-NULL all memory
197 is allocated from the `stack'. If `start_min_threads' is TRUE
198 this will start `min_threads' many threads immediately. */
199 SilcThreadPool silc_thread_pool_alloc(SilcStack stack,
200 SilcUInt32 min_threads,
201 SilcUInt32 max_threads,
202 SilcBool start_min_threads);
204 /* Free thread pool. If `wait_unfinished' is TRUE this will block
205 and waits that all remaining active threads finish before freeing
207 void silc_thread_pool_free(SilcThreadPool tp, SilcBool wait_unfinished);
209 /* Run `run' function with `run_context' in one of the threads in the
210 thread pool. Returns FALSE if the thread pool is being freed. If
211 there are no free threads left in the pool this will queue the
212 the `run' and will call it once a thread becomes free.
214 If `completion' is non-NULL it will be called to indicate completion
215 of the `run' function. If `schedule' is non-NULL the `completion'
216 will be called through the scheduler in the main thread. If it is
217 NULL the `completion' is called directly from the thread after the
218 `run' has returned. */
219 SilcBool silc_thread_pool_run(SilcThreadPool tp,
220 SilcSchedule schedule,
221 SilcThreadPoolFunc run,
223 SilcThreadPoolFunc completion,
224 void *completion_context);
226 /* Modify the amount of maximum threads of the pool. */
227 void silc_thread_pool_set_max_threads(SilcThreadPool tp,
228 SilcUInt32 max_threads);
230 /* Returns the amount of maximum size the pool can grow. */
231 SilcUInt32 silc_thread_pool_num_max_threads(SilcThreadPool tp);
233 /* Returns the amount of free threads in the pool currently. */
234 SilcUInt32 silc_thread_pool_num_free_threads(SilcThreadPool tp);
236 /* Stops all free and started threads. The minumum amount of threads
237 specified to silc_thread_pool_alloc always remains. */
238 void silc_thread_pool_purge(SilcThreadPool tp);
240 o Fast mutex implementation. Fast rwlock implementation. Mutex and
241 rwlock implementation using atomic operations.
243 o Compression routines are missing. The protocol supports packet
244 compression thus it must be implemented. SILC Zip API must be
247 o Add new functions to SilcStack API in lib/silcutil/silcstack.[ch]. Add
248 silc_stack_[set|get]_byte_alignment and
249 silc_stack_[set|get]_address_alignment. The _byte_alignment defines the
250 default alignment when allocating aligned memory for structures etc.
251 The _address_alignment defines the default alignment for memory
252 addresses SilcStack routines return. Usefull when needing special
253 aligned addresses for example for hardware devices (such as crypto
254 accelerators). In 1.1 both are unsigned long, but in 1.2 both can be
255 user defined. Move also the low level silc_stack_malloc and
256 silc_stack_realloc from silcstack_i.h to silcstack.h.
258 (o Generic SilcStatus or SilcResult that includes all possible status and
259 error conditions, including those of SILC protocol. Though, the SILC
260 protocol related status (currently in silcstatus.h) cannot be in
261 runtime library) maybe
263 (o SILC specific socket creation/closing routines to silcnet.h, wrappers
264 to all send(), recv(), sendto() etc. Bad thing is that we'd have to
265 define all socket options, sockaddrs, etc.) maybe
270 lib/silcutil/symbian/
271 =====================
273 o Something needs to be thought to the logging globals as well,
274 like silc_debug etc. They won't work on EPOC. Perhaps logging
275 and debugging is to be disabled on EPOC. The logging currently works
276 by it cannot be controlled, same with debugging.
279 SFTP Library, lib/silcsftp/
280 ===========================
282 o Read prefetch (read-ahead, reading ahead of time). Maybe if this can
286 SKR Library, lib/silcskr/
287 =========================
289 o Add fingerprint as search constraint.
291 o Add OpenPGP support. Adding, removing, fetching PGP keys. (Keyring
294 o Add support for importing public keys from a directory and/or from a
295 file. Add support for exporting the repository (different formats for
296 different key types?).
298 o Change the entire silc_skr_find API. Remove SilcSKRFind and just simply
299 add the find constraints as variable argument list to silc_skr_find, eg:
301 silc_skr_find(skr, schedule, callback, context,
302 SILC_SKR_FIND_PUBLIC_KEY, public_key,
303 SILC_SKR_FIND_COUNTRY, "FI",
304 SILC_SKR_FIND_USAGE, SILC_SKR_USAGE_AUTH,
307 NULL argument would be ignored and skipped.
309 o Add OR logical rule in addition of the current default AND, eg:
311 // Found key(s) MUST have this public key AND this country.
312 silc_skr_find(skr, schedule, callback, context,
313 SILC_SKR_FIND_RULE_AND,
314 SILC_SKR_FIND_PUBLIC_KEY, public_key,
315 SILC_SKR_FIND_COUNTRY, "FI",
318 // Found key(s) MUST have this public key OR this key context
319 silc_skr_find(skr, schedule, callback, context,
320 SILC_SKR_FIND_RULE_OR,
321 SILC_SKR_FIND_PUBLIC_KEY, public_key,
322 SILC_SKR_FIND_CONTEXT, key_context,
325 o SilcStack to SKR API.
328 Crypto Library, lib/silccrypt/
329 ==============================
333 o Add fingerprint to SilcSILCPublicKey and retrieval to silcpk.h, and
334 possibly to silcpkcs.h.
336 /* Return fingerprint of the `public_key'. Returns also the algorithm
337 that has been used to make the fingerprint. */
338 const unsigned char *
339 silc_pkcs_get_fingerprint(SilcPublicKey public_key,
340 const char **hash_algorithm,
341 SilcUInt32 *fingerprint_len);
343 o Change SILC PKCS API to asynchronous, so that accelerators can be used.
344 All PKCS routines should now take callbacks as argument and they should
345 be delivered to SilcPKCSObject and SilcPKCSAlgorithm too.
347 /* Signature computation callback */
348 typedef void (*SilcPKCSSignCb)(SilcBool success,
349 const unsigned char *signature,
350 SilcUInt32 signature_len,
353 /* Signature verification callback */
354 typedef void (*SilcPKCSVerifyCb)(SilcBool success, void *context);
356 /* Encryption callback */
357 typedef void (*SilcPKCSEncryptCb)(SilcBool success,
358 const unsigned char *encrypted,
359 SilcUInt32 encrypted_len,
362 /* Decryption callback */
363 typedef void (*SilcPKCSDecryptCb)(SilcBool success,
364 const unsigned char *decrypted,
365 SilcUInt32 decrypted_len,
368 Either add new _async functions or add the callbacks to existing API
369 and if the callback is NULL then the API is not async and if provided
370 it may be async. For example;
372 SilcBool silc_pkcs_sign(SilcPrivateKey private_key,
373 unsigned char *src, SilcUInt32 src_len,
374 unsigned char *dst, SilcUInt32 dst_size,
376 SilcBool compute_hash, SilcHash hash,
377 SilcPKCSSignCb async_sign,
378 void *async_sign_context);
380 (if this is done then there's no reason why the buffers in the
381 callbacks cannot be the ones user gives here) or allow only async:
383 SilcBool silc_pkcs_sign(SilcPrivateKey private_key,
384 unsigned char *src, SilcUInt32 src_len,
385 SilcBool compute_hash, SilcHash hash,
386 SilcPKCSSignCb async_sign,
387 void *async_sign_context);
391 SilcBool silc_pkcs_sign_async(SilcPrivateKey private_key,
392 unsigned char *src, SilcUInt32 src_len,
393 SilcBool compute_hash, SilcHash hash,
394 SilcPKCSSignCb async_sign,
395 void *async_sign_context);
397 o Change PKCS Algorithm API to take SilcPKCSAlgorithm as argument to
398 encrypt, decrypt, sign and verify functions. We may need to for exmaple
399 check the alg->hash, supported hash functions. Maybe deliver it also
400 to all other functions in SilcPKCSAlgorithm to be consistent.
402 o Add DSS support. Take implementation from Tom or make it yourself.
404 o Implement the defined SilcDH API. The definition is in
405 lib/silccrypt/silcdh.h. Make sure it is asynchronous so that it can
406 be accelerated. Also take into account that it could use elliptic
411 o All cipher, hash, hmac etc. allocation routines should take their name
412 in as const char * not const unsigned char *.
415 SILC Accelerator Library
416 ========================
418 o SILC Accelerator API. Provides generic way to use different kind of
419 accelerators. Basically implements SILC PKCS API so that SilcPublicKey
420 and SilcPrivateKey can be used but they call the accelerators.
422 Something in the lines of (preliminary):
424 /* Register accelerator to system. Initializes the accelerator. */
425 Varargs are optional accelerator specific init parameteres. */
426 SilcBool silc_acc_register(SilcAccelerator acc, ...);
428 silc_acc_register(softacc, "min_threads", 2, "max_threads", 16, NULL);
430 /* Unregister accelerator. Uninitializes the accelerator. */
431 SilcBool silc_acc_unregister(const SilcAccelerator acc);
433 /* Return list of the registered accelerators */
434 SilcDList silc_acc_get_supported(void);
436 /* Find existing accelerator. `name' is accelerator's name. */
437 SilcAccelerator silc_acc_find(const char *name);
439 /* Return accelerator's name */
440 const char *silc_acc_get_name(SilcAccelerator acc);
442 /* Accelerate `public_key'. Return accelerated public key. */
443 SilcPublicKey silc_acc_public_key(SilcAccelerator acc,
444 SilcPublicKey public_key);
446 /* Accelerate `private_key'. Returns accelerated private key. */
447 SilcPrivateKey silc_acc_private_key(SilcAccelerator acc,
448 SilcPrivateKey private_key);
450 /* Return the underlaying public key */
451 SilcPublicKey silc_acc_get_public_key(SilcAccelerator acc,
452 SilcPublicKey public_key);
454 /* Return the underlaying private key */
455 SilcPrivateKey silc_acc_get_private_key(SilcAccelerator acc,
456 SilcPrivateKey private_key);
458 typedef struct SilcAcceleratorObject {
459 const char *name; /* Accelerator's name */
460 SilcBool (*init)(va_list va); /* Initialize accelerator */
461 SilcBool (*uninit)(void); /* Uninitialize accelerator */
462 const SilcPKCSAlgorithm *pkcs; /* Accelerated PKCS algorithms */
463 const SilcDHObject *dh; /* Accelerated Diffie-Hellmans */
464 const SilcCipherObject *cipher; /* Accelerated ciphers */
465 const SilcHashObject *hash; /* Accelerated hashes */
466 const SilcHmacObject *hmac; /* Accelerated HMACs */
467 const SilcRngObject *rng; /* Accelerated RNG's */
468 } *SilcAccelerator, SilcAcceleratorStruct;
470 Allows accelerator to have multiple accelerators (cipher, hash etc)
471 and multiple different algorithms and implementations (SHA-1, SHA-256 etc).
473 SilcPublicKey->SilcSILCPublicKey->RsaPublicKey accelerated as:
474 SilcPublicKey->SilcAcceleratorPublicKey->SilcSoftAccPublicKey->
475 SilcPublicKey->SilcSILCPublicKey->RsaPublicKey
477 silc_acc_public_key creates SilcPublicKey and SilcAcceleratorPublicKey
478 and acc->pkcs->import_public_key creates SilcSoftAccPublicKey.
480 o Implement software accelerator. It is a thread pool system where the
481 public key and private key operations are executed in threads.
483 const struct SilcAcceleratorObject softacc =
485 "softacc", softacc_init, softacc_uninit,
486 softacc_pkcs, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL
489 /* Called from silc_acc_private_key */
490 int silc_softacc_import_private_key(void *key, SilcUInt32 key_len,
491 void **ret_private_key)
493 SilcSoftAccPrivateKey prv = silc_calloc(1, sizeof(*prv));
494 prv->pkcs = acc->pkcs;
495 prv->private_key = key;
496 *ret_private_key = prv;
499 (o Symmetric key cryptosystem acceleration? They are always sycnhronouos
500 even with hardware acceleration so the crypto API shouldn't require
507 o Import TFM. Talk to Tom to add the missing functions. Use TFM in
508 client and client library, but TMA in server, due to the significantly
509 increased memory consumption with TFM, and the rare need for public
510 key operations in server.
512 We want TFM's speed but not TFM's memory requirements. Talk to Tom
513 about making the TFM mp dynamic just as it is in LTM.
515 o The SILC MP API function must start returning indication of success
516 and failure of the operation.
518 o Do SilcStack support for silc_mp_init, silc_mp_init_size and other
519 any other MP function (including utility ones) that may allocate
522 o All utility functions should be made non-allocating ones.
525 SILC XML Library, lib/silcxml/
526 ==============================
528 o SILC XML API (wrapper to expat). Look at the expat API and simplify
529 it. The SILC XML API should have at most 8-10 API functions. It should
530 be possible to create full XML parser with only one function. And, it
531 should be possible to have a function that is able to parse an entire
532 XML document. It should also have a parser function to be able to
533 parse a stream of XML data (SilcStream). It MUST NOT have operations
534 that require multiple function calls to be able to execute that one
535 operation (like creating parser).
538 lib/silcske/silcske.[ch]
539 ========================
541 o Ratelimit to UDP/IP transport for incoming packets.
547 o Negative integer encoding is missing, add it.
549 o SILC_ASN1_CHOICE should perhaps return an index what choice in the
550 choice list was found. Currently it is left for caller to figure out
551 which choice was found.
553 o SILC_ASN1_NULL in decoding should return SilcBool whether or not
554 the NULL was present. It's important when it's SILC_ASN1_OPTIONAL
555 and we need to know whether it was present or not.
561 o OpenPGP certificate support, allowing the use of PGP public keys
568 o SSH2 public key/private key support, allowing the use of SSH2 keys
575 o PKIX implementation
581 o Deprecate the old server. Write interface for the new lib/silcserver
582 server library. The interface should work on Unix/Linux systems.
584 o Consider deprecating also the old config file format and use XML
585 istead. This should require SILC XML API implementation first.
587 o The configuration must support dynamic router and server connections.
588 The silcd must work without specifying any servers or routers to
591 o The configuration must support specifying whether the server is
592 SILC Server or SILC Router. This should not be deduced from the
593 configuration as it was in < 1.2.
595 o The configuration must support specifying the ciphers and hmacs and
596 their order so that user can specify which algorithms take preference.
602 o Rewrite the entire server. Deprecate apps/silcd as the main server
603 implementation and create lib/silcserver/. It is a platform
604 independent server library. The apps/silcd will merely provide a
605 a simple interface for the library.
607 o Write the SILC Server library extensively using SILC FSM.
609 o Server library must support multiple networks. This means that one
610 server must be able to create multiple connections that each reach
611 different SILC network. This means also that all cache's etc. must
612 be either connection-specific or network-specific.
614 o Library must support dynamic router and server connections. This means
615 that connections are create only when they are needed, like when someone
616 says JOIN foo@foo.bar.com or WHOIS foobar@silcnet.org.
618 o Library must support server-to-server connections even though protocol
619 prohibits that. The responder of the connection should automatically
620 act as a router. The two servers create an own, isolated, SILC network.
621 To be used specifically with dynamic connections.
623 o Library must support multiple threads and must be entirely thread safe.
625 o Library must have support for SERVICE command.
627 o The server must be able to run behind NAT device. This means that
628 Server ID must be based on public IP instead of private IP.
630 o The following data must be in per-connection context: client id cache,
631 server id cache, channel id cache, all statistics must be
634 o The following data must be in per-thread context: command context
635 freelist/pool, pending commands, random number generator.
637 o Do inccoming packet processing in an own FSM thread in the
638 server-threads FSM. Same as in client library.
640 o Reference count all Silc*Entry structures.
642 Some issues that must be kept in mind from 1.0 and 1.1 silcd's:
644 o The SERVER_SIGNOFF notify handing is not optimal, because it'll
645 cause sending of multiple SIGNOFF notify's instead of the one
646 SERVER_SIGNOFF notify that the server received. This should be
647 optimized so that the only SERVER_SIGNOFF is sent and not
648 SIGNOFF of notify at all (using SIGNOFF takes the idea about
649 SERVER_SIGNOFF away entirely).
651 o Another SERVER_SIGNOFF opt/bugfix: Currently the signoff is
652 sent to a client if it is on same channel as the client that
653 signoffed. However, the entire SERVER_SIGNOFF list is sent to
654 the client, ie. it may receive clients that was not on the
655 same channel. This is actually against the specs. It must be
656 done per channel. It shouldn't receive the whole list just
657 because one client happened to be on same channel.
659 o If client's public key is saved in the server (and doing public key
660 authentication) then the hostname and the username information could
661 be taken from the public key. Should be a configuration option!
663 o Add a timeout to handling incoming JOIN commands. It should be
664 enforced that JOIN command is executed only once in a second or two
665 seconds. Now it is possible to accept n incoming JOIN commands
666 and process them without any timeouts. THis must be employed because
667 each JOIN command will create and distribute the new channel key
668 to everybody on the channel.
670 o Related to above. If multiple JOINs are received in sequence perhaps
671 new key should be created only once, if the JOINs are handeled at the same
672 time. Now we create multiple keys and never end up using them because
673 many JOINs are processed at the same time in sequence. Only the last
674 key ends up being used.