Tag: grpc

Transient fault handling in gRPC with retries in C#

gRPC calls can be interrupted by transient faults. Transient faults include:

  • Momentary loss of network connectivity.
  • Temporary unavailability of a service.
  • Timeouts due to server load.

When a gRPC call is interrupted, the client throws an RpcException with details about the error. The client app must catch the exception and choose how to handle the error.

var client = new Greeter.GreeterClient(channel);
try
{
    var response = await client.SayHelloAsync(
        new HelloRequest { Name = ".NET" });

    Console.WriteLine("From server: " + response.Message);
}
catch (RpcException ex)
{
    // Write logic to inspect the error and retry
    // if the error is from a transient fault.
}

Duplicating retry logic throughout an app is verbose and error-prone. Fortunately, the .NET gRPC client now has built-in support for automatic retries. Retries are centrally configured on a channel, and there are many options for customizing retry behavior using a RetryPolicy.

var defaultMethodConfig = new MethodConfig
{
    Names = { MethodName.Default },
    RetryPolicy = new RetryPolicy
    {
        MaxAttempts = 5,
        InitialBackoff = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1),
        MaxBackoff = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5),
        BackoffMultiplier = 1.5,
        RetryableStatusCodes = { StatusCode.Unavailable }
    }
};

// Clients created with this channel will automatically retry failed calls.
var channel = GrpcChannel.ForAddress("https://localhost:5001", new GrpcChannelOptions
{
    ServiceConfig = new ServiceConfig { MethodConfigs = { defaultMethodConfig } }
});

References
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/grpc-in-dotnet-6/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/grpc/retries?view=aspnetcore-6.0

gRPC client-side load balancing in C#

The following code example configures a channel to use DNS service discovery with round-robin load balancing:

var channel = GrpcChannel.ForAddress(
    "dns:///my-example-host",
    new GrpcChannelOptions
    {
        Credentials = ChannelCredentials.Insecure,
        ServiceConfig = new ServiceConfig { LoadBalancingConfigs = { new RoundRobinConfig() } }
    });
var client = new Greet.GreeterClient(channel);

var response = await client.SayHelloAsync(new HelloRequest { Name = "world" });

References
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/dotnet/grpc-in-dotnet-6/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/grpc/loadbalancing?view=aspnetcore-6.0

Bidirectional Streaming with gRPC in C#

.proto

syntax = "proto3";

import "google/protobuf/timestamp.proto";

option csharp_namespace = "GrpcBidiStearming";

package greet;

service Greeter {
  rpc SayHello (stream HelloRequest) returns (stream HelloReply);
}

message HelloRequest {
  string name = 1;
  google.protobuf.Timestamp timestamp = 2;
}

message HelloReply {
  string message = 1;
  google.protobuf.Timestamp timestamp = 2;
}

Server

public override async Task SayHello(IAsyncStreamReader<HelloRequest> requestStream,
    IServerStreamWriter<HelloReply> responseStream, ServerCallContext context)
{
    while (await requestStream.MoveNext() && !context.CancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Request : {0}, Timestamp : {1}", requestStream.Current.Name,
            requestStream.Current.Timestamp);

        await responseStream.WriteAsync(new HelloReply
        {
            Message = $"Hello {requestStream.Current.Name}",
            Timestamp = Timestamp.FromDateTime(DateTime.UtcNow)
        });
        
        Console.WriteLine("Response : {0}, Timestamp : {1}", requestStream.Current.Name,
            requestStream.Current.Timestamp);
    }
}

Client

static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
    using var channel = GrpcChannel.ForAddress("http://localhost:5000");
    var client = new Greeter.GreeterClient(channel);

    CancellationToken cancellationToken = new CancellationToken(false);
    var response = client.SayHello(new CallOptions(null, null, cancellationToken));


    for (int i = 0; i < 100; i++)
    {
        var timestamp = Timestamp.FromDateTime(DateTime.UtcNow);
        await response.RequestStream.WriteAsync(new HelloRequest
        {
            Name = "Mahmood",
            Timestamp = timestamp
        });

        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Request : {0}", timestamp.ToString()));

        await response.ResponseStream.MoveNext();

        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Response : {0}, Timestamp : {1}",
            response.ResponseStream.Current.Message,
            response.ResponseStream.Current.Timestamp));

        await Task.Delay(1000);
    }
}

References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY4nMSUF9e0&list=PLUOequmGnXxPOlhyA57ijmEyOeVmYQt32&index=4

Client Streaming with gRPC in C#

,proto

syntax = "proto3";

option csharp_namespace = "GrpcClientStreaming";

import "google/protobuf/timestamp.proto";

package greet;

service Greeter {
  rpc SayHello (stream HelloRequest) returns (HelloReply);
}

message HelloRequest {
  string name = 1;
  google.protobuf.Timestamp timestamp = 2;
}

message HelloReply {
  repeated string messages = 1;
}

Server

public override async Task<HelloReply> SayHello(IAsyncStreamReader<HelloRequest> requestStream,
    ServerCallContext context)
{
    HelloReply response = new HelloReply();

    while (await requestStream.MoveNext() && !context.CancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
    {
        response.Messages.Add(requestStream.Current.Timestamp.ToString());
        Console.WriteLine(requestStream.Current.Timestamp.ToString());
    }

    return response;
}

Client

static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
    using var channel = GrpcChannel.ForAddress("http://localhost:5000");
    var client = new Greeter.GreeterClient(channel);

    CancellationToken cancellationToken = new CancellationToken(false);
    var response = client.SayHello(new CallOptions(null, null, cancellationToken));

    for (int i = 0; i < 5; i++)
    {
        var timestamp = Timestamp.FromDateTime(DateTime.UtcNow);
        await response.RequestStream.WriteAsync(new HelloRequest
        {
            Name = "Mahmood",
            Timestamp = timestamp
        });

        Console.WriteLine(String.Format("Request : {0}", timestamp.ToString()));

        await Task.Delay(1000);
    }

    await response.RequestStream.CompleteAsync();

    Console.WriteLine("--------------------------------------");

    var result = response.ResponseAsync.Result;

    foreach (string message in result.Messages)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Response : {0}", message);
    }
}

References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNxdvRQ4qRQ&list=PLUOequmGnXxPOlhyA57ijmEyOeVmYQt32&index=3

Server Streaming with gRPC in C#

.proto

syntax = "proto3";

import "google/protobuf/timestamp.proto";

option csharp_namespace = "GrpcServerStreaming";

package greet;

service Greeter {
  rpc SayHello (HelloRequest) returns (stream HelloReply);
}

message HelloRequest {
  string name = 1;
}

message HelloReply {
  string message = 1;
  google.protobuf.Timestamp timestamp = 2;
}

Server

public override async Task SayHello(HelloRequest request, IServerStreamWriter<HelloReply> responseStream,
    ServerCallContext context)
{
    while (!context.CancellationToken.IsCancellationRequested)
    {
        await responseStream.WriteAsync(new HelloReply
        {
            Message = String.Format("Hello {0}", request.Name),
            Timestamp = Timestamp.FromDateTime(DateTime.UtcNow)
        });
        
        Console.WriteLine(Timestamp.FromDateTime(DateTime.UtcNow));
        await Task.Delay(1000);
    }
}

Client

static async Task Main(string[] args)
{
    // The port number(5001) must match the port of the gRPC server.
    using var channel = GrpcChannel.ForAddress("http://localhost:5000");
    var client = new Greeter.GreeterClient(channel);
    var response = client.SayHello(new HelloRequest {Name = "Mahmood"});
    
    while (await response.ResponseStream.MoveNext(new CancellationToken(false)))
    {
        Console.WriteLine(response.ResponseStream.Current.Message);
        Console.WriteLine(response.ResponseStream.Current.Timestamp);
        Console.WriteLine("----------------------------------------------------------------");
    }

    Console.ReadKey();
}

References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2T6xNRoa1E&list=PLUOequmGnXxPOlhyA57ijmEyOeVmYQt32&index=2

Host ASP.NET Core on Linux with Apache

dotnet add package Microsoft.AspNetCore.HttpOverrides

Configure a proxy server

Invoke the UseForwardedHeaders method at the top of Startup.Configure before calling other middleware. Configure the middleware to forward the X-Forwarded-For and X-Forwarded-Proto headers:

// using Microsoft.AspNetCore.HttpOverrides;

app.UseForwardedHeaders(new ForwardedHeadersOptions
{
    ForwardedHeaders = ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedFor | ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedProto
});

app.UseAuthentication();
// using System.Net;

services.Configure<ForwardedHeadersOptions>(options =>
{
    options.KnownProxies.Add(IPAddress.Parse("10.0.0.100"));
});

Forwarded Headers Middleware order

Forwarded Headers Middleware should run before other middleware. This ordering ensures that the middleware relying on forwarded headers information can consume the header values for processing. Forwarded Headers Middleware can run after diagnostics and error handling, but it must be run before calling UseHsts:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.HttpOverrides;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddRazorPages();
builder.Services.Configure<ForwardedHeadersOptions>(options =>
{
    options.ForwardedHeaders =
        ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedFor | ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedProto;
});

var app = builder.Build();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseForwardedHeaders();
    app.UseHsts();
}
else
{
    app.UseDeveloperExceptionPage();
    app.UseForwardedHeaders();
}

app.UseHttpsRedirection();
app.UseStaticFiles();

app.UseAuthorization();

app.MapRazorPages();

app.Run();

Alternatively, call UseForwardedHeaders before diagnostics:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.HttpOverrides;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddRazorPages();
builder.Services.Configure<ForwardedHeadersOptions>(options =>
{
    options.ForwardedHeaders =
        ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedFor | ForwardedHeaders.XForwardedProto;
});

var app = builder.Build();

app.UseForwardedHeaders();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseHttpsRedirection();
app.UseStaticFiles();

app.UseAuthorization();

app.MapRazorPages();

app.Run();

Forwarded Headers Middleware options

using System.Net;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

builder.Services.AddRazorPages();
builder.Services.Configure<ForwardedHeadersOptions>(options =>
{
    options.ForwardLimit = 2;
    options.KnownProxies.Add(IPAddress.Parse("127.0.10.1"));
    options.ForwardedForHeaderName = "X-Forwarded-For-My-Custom-Header-Name";
});

var app = builder.Build();

app.UseForwardedHeaders();

if (!app.Environment.IsDevelopment())
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseHsts();
}

app.UseHttpsRedirection();
app.UseStaticFiles();

app.UseAuthorization();

app.MapRazorPages();

app.Run();

References
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/host-and-deploy/linux-apache?view=aspnetcore-5.0
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/host-and-deploy/proxy-load-balancer?view=aspnetcore-6.0

Self-hosted gRPC applications

Run your app as a Linux service with systemd

To configure your ASP.NET Core application to run as a Linux service (or daemon in Linux parlance), install the Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Systemd package from NuGet. Then add a call to UseSystemd to the CreateHostBuilder method in Program.cs

public static IHostBuilder CreateHostBuilder(string[] args) =>
    Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
        .UseSystemd() // Enable running as a Systemd service
        .ConfigureWebHostDefaults(webBuilder =>
        {
            webBuilder.UseStartup<Startup>();
        });
dotnet publish -c Release -r linux-x64 -o ./publish

/etc/systemd/system/myapp.service

[Unit]
Description=My gRPC Application

[Service]
Type=notify
ExecStart=/usr/sbin/myapp

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl status myapp
sudo systemctl start myapp.service
sudo systemctl enable myapp

References
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/architecture/grpc-for-wcf-developers/self-hosted

Bind gRPC Service to specific port in ASP.NET Core

This works (server side) with Kestrel:

public static IHostBuilder CreateHostBuilder(string[] args) =>
Host.CreateDefaultBuilder(args)
.ConfigureWebHostDefaults(webBuilder =>
{
    webBuilder.ConfigureKestrel(options =>
    {
       options.Listen(IPAddress.Loopback, 5000);
       options.Listen(IPAddress.Loopback, 5005, configure => configure.UseHttps());
    });
    webBuilder.UseStartup<Startup>();
});

client side:

var httpHandler = new HttpClientHandler
 {
     ServerCertificateCustomValidationCallback =
     HttpClientHandler.DangerousAcceptAnyServerCertificateValidator
 };  

AppContext.SetSwitch("System.Net.Http.SocketsHttpHandler.Http2UnencryptedSupport", true);
                
using var channel = GrpcChannel.ForAddress("https://localhost:5005", new GrpcChannelOptions { HttpHandler = httpHandler } );
            
var client = new Greeter.GreeterClient(channel);

References
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/63827667/bind-grpc-services-to-specific-port-in-aspnetcore
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/fundamentals/servers/kestrel/options?view=aspnetcore-5.0
https://andrewlock.net/5-ways-to-set-the-urls-for-an-aspnetcore-app/