Following the simple example which shows how we can send and receive an integer over a socket. This program is a simple c client program which sends integer over sockets and receives a reply which is also an integer ( Normally useful in example like to send some command number and await for integer response to that command ) $ vim example_client.c #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> #include <sys/socket.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <arpa/inet.h> #include <errno.h> // first argument to this program is IP address // Second argument is Port void send_receive_integer_over_socket(int sockfd) { int int_to_send = 879612345, int_to_receive; //integer_to_send is something like command write(sockfd, &int_to_send, sizeof(int_to_send)); read(sockfd, &int_to_receive, sizeof(int_to_receive)); //int_to_receive = ntohl(int_to_receive); printf("Integer Received from Server : %d\n", int_to_receive); } int main(int argc, char **argv) { int sockfd, port; struct sockaddr_in servaddr, cli; if (argc < 3) { printf("Some of the command line arguments missing"); return -1; } sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0); if (sockfd == -1) { printf("socket creation failed...\n"); exit(errno); } printf("Socket successfully created..\n"); bzero(&servaddr, sizeof(servaddr)); servaddr.sin_family = AF_INET; servaddr.sin_addr.s_addr = inet_addr(argv[1]); port = atoi(argv[2]); servaddr.sin_port = htons(port); if (connect(sockfd, (struct sockaddr*)&servaddr, sizeof(servaddr)) != 0) { printf("connection with the server failed...\n"); exit(errno); } printf("connected to the server..\n"); send_receive_integer_over_socket(sockfd); close(sockfd); return 0; } Now compile the program as, $ gcc -o simple_client simple_client.c Now, lets create a simple server program as, #include <stdio.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <string.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <errno.h> #include <sys/socket.h> #include <arpa/inet.h> #define MAXBUF 1024 #define QUEUE_NO 5 int main(int argc, char **argv) { int sockfd, clientfd, port, int_to_receive, int_to_send=8796; struct sockaddr_in s_addr, c_addr; char buffer[MAXBUF]; socklen_t socklen = (socklen_t)sizeof(struct sockaddr_in); if (argc < 2) { printf("Some of the command line arguments missing"); return -1; } sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0); if (sockfd == -1) { printf("socket creation failed...\n"); exit(errno); } printf("Socket successfully created..\n"); bzero(&s_addr, sizeof(s_addr)); s_addr.sin_family = AF_INET; port = atoi(argv[1]); s_addr.sin_port = htons(port); s_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY; if (bind(sockfd, (struct sockaddr*)&s_addr, sizeof(s_addr)) != 0){ printf("socket creation failed...\n"); exit(errno); } if (listen(sockfd, QUEUE_NO) != 0) { printf("socket listen failed...\n"); exit(errno); } while (1) { clientfd = accept(sockfd, (struct sockaddr*)&c_addr, &socklen); printf("%s:%d connected\n", inet_ntoa(c_addr.sin_addr), ntohs(c_addr.sin_port)); read(clientfd, &int_to_receive, sizeof(int_to_receive)); //int_to_receive = ntohl(int_to_receive); write(clientfd, &int_to_send, sizeof(int_to_send)); printf("Received from client: %d\n", int_to_receive); close(clientfd); } close(sockfd); return 0; } Compile the server as, $ gcc -o simple_server simple_server.c Now, execute the server program with some random port number passed as command line argument one one terminal as, [ Note, we taken port number as 1564 as example, you may use any other number] $ ./simple_server 1564 This command will start server and await for clients to connect. Now, lets start the client program as we compiled above, [ Here, for client it needs to know server IP which is in our case as, 192.168.42.158 ] $./simple_client 192.168.42.158 1564 Socket successfully created..
Command line execution
gcc -o simple_client simple_client.c Now, lets create a simple server program as, #include <stdio.h> #include <unistd.h> #include <string.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <errno.h> #include <sys/socket.h> #include <arpa/inet.h> #define MAXBUF 1024 #define QUEUE_NO 5 int main(int argc, char **argv) { int sockfd, clientfd, port, int_to_receive, int_to_send=8796; struct sockaddr_in s_addr, c_addr; char buffer[MAXBUF]; socklen_t socklen = (socklen_t)sizeof(struct sockaddr_in); if (argc < 2) { printf("Some of the command line arguments missing"); return -1; } sockfd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM, 0); if (sockfd == -1) { printf("socket creation failed...\n"); exit(errno); } printf("Socket successfully created..\n"); bzero(&s_addr, sizeof(s_addr)); s_addr.sin_family = AF_INET; port = atoi(argv[1]); s_addr.sin_port = htons(port); s_addr.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY; if (bind(sockfd, (struct sockaddr*)&s_addr, sizeof(s_addr)) != 0){ printf("socket creation failed...\n"); exit(errno); } if (listen(sockfd, QUEUE_NO) != 0) { printf("socket listen failed...\n"); exit(errno); } while (1) { clientfd = accept(sockfd, (struct sockaddr*)&c_addr, &socklen); printf("%s:%d connected\n", inet_ntoa(c_addr.sin_addr), ntohs(c_addr.sin_port)); read(clientfd, &int_to_receive, sizeof(int_to_receive)); //int_to_receive = ntohl(int_to_receive); write(clientfd, &int_to_send, sizeof(int_to_send)); printf("Received from client: %d\n", int_to_receive); close(clientfd); } close(sockfd); return 0; } Compile the server as, $ gcc -o simple_server simple_server.c Now, execute the server program with some random port number passed as command line argument one one terminal as, [ Note, we taken port number as 1564 as example, you may use any other number] $ ./simple_server 1564 This command will start server and await for clients to connect. Now, lets start the client program as we compiled above, [ Here, for client it needs to know server IP which is in our case as, 192.168.42.158 ] $./simple_client 192.168.42.158 1564 Socket successfully created.. connected to the server.. Integer Received from Server : 8796 $ ./simple_server 1564 Socket successfully created.. 192.168.42.158:52120 connected Received from client: 879612345Risk level: destructive. Review the command before running it.
Implementation details
connected to the server.. Integer Received from Server : 8796 $ ./simple_server 1564 Socket successfully created.. 192.168.42.158:52120 connected Received from client: 879612345
Gotchas and common issues
Permission checks - verify user access rights and sudo privileges before executing system-level operations.
Environment configuration - double-check path variables and dependency versions to prevent runtime failures.
Backup safeguards - maintain configuration backups before applying system or database modifications.
Following these steps ensures clean configuration and reliable execution for send and receive (transfer) integer over socket using c program.
Comments and corrections