Merge pull request #3425 from mkg20001/pr

Add user@address:port support

doc/manual/rl-next/port-in-store-uris.md

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+synopsis: "Add support for user@address:port syntax in store URIs"
+prs: [3425]
+issues: [7044]
+---
+
+It's now possible to specify the port used for the SSH stores directly in the store URL in accordance with [RFC3986](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc3986). Previously the only way to specify custom ports was via `ssh_config` or `NIX_SSHOPTS` environment variable, because Nix incorrectly passed the port number together with the host name to the SSH executable. This has now been fixed.
+
+This change affects [store references](@docroot@/store/types/index.md#store-url-format) passed via the `--store` and similar flags in CLI as well as in the configuration for [remote builders](@docroot@/command-ref/conf-file.md#conf-builders). For example, the following store URIs now work:
+
+- `ssh://127.0.0.1:2222`
+- `ssh://[b573:6a48:e224:840b:6007:6275:f8f7:ebf3]:22`
+- `ssh-ng://[b573:6a48:e224:840b:6007:6275:f8f7:ebf3]:22`

src/libfetchers/git-lfs-fetch.cc

@@ -44,16 +44,19 @@ static void downloadToSink(
 
 static std::string getLfsApiToken(const ParsedURL & url)
 {
+    assert(url.authority.has_value());
+
+    // FIXME: Not entirely correct.
     auto [status, output] = runProgram(
         RunOptions{
             .program = "ssh",
-            .args = {*url.authority, "git-lfs-authenticate", url.path, "download"},
+            .args = {url.authority->to_string(), "git-lfs-authenticate", url.path, "download"},
         });
 
     if (output.empty())
         throw Error(
             "git-lfs-authenticate: no output (cmd: ssh %s git-lfs-authenticate %s download)",
-            url.authority.value_or(""),
+            url.authority.value_or(ParsedURL::Authority{}).to_string(),
             url.path);
 
     auto queryResp = nlohmann::json::parse(output);

src/libfetchers/path.cc

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ struct PathInputScheme : InputScheme
         if (url.scheme != "path")
             return {};
 
-        if (url.authority && *url.authority != "")
+        if (url.authority && url.authority->host.size())
             throw Error("path URL '%s' should not have an authority ('%s')", url, *url.authority);
 
         Input input{settings};

src/libflake/flakeref.cc

@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ std::pair<FlakeRef, std::string> parsePathFlakeRefWithFragment(
                 if (pathExists(flakeRoot + "/.git")) {
                     auto parsedURL = ParsedURL{
                         .scheme = "git+file",
-                        .authority = "",
+                        .authority = ParsedURL::Authority{},
                         .path = flakeRoot,
                         .query = query,
                         .fragment = fragment,
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ std::pair<FlakeRef, std::string> parsePathFlakeRefWithFragment(
 
     return fromParsedURL(
         fetchSettings,
-        {.scheme = "path", .authority = "", .path = path, .query = query, .fragment = fragment},
+        {.scheme = "path", .authority = ParsedURL::Authority{}, .path = path, .query = query, .fragment = fragment},
         isFlake);
 }
 
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ parseFlakeIdRef(const fetchers::Settings & fetchSettings, const std::string & ur
     if (std::regex_match(url, match, flakeRegex)) {
         auto parsedURL = ParsedURL{
             .scheme = "flake",
-            .authority = "",
+            .authority = ParsedURL::Authority{},
             .path = match[1],
         };
 

src/libstore-tests/machines.cc

@@ -39,6 +39,14 @@ TEST(machines, getMachinesUriOnly)
     EXPECT_THAT(actual[0], Field(&Machine::sshPublicHostKey, SizeIs(0)));
 }
 
+TEST(machines, getMachinesUriWithPort)
+{
+    auto actual = Machine::parseConfig({"TEST_ARCH-TEST_OS"}, "nix@scratchy.labs.cs.uu.nl:2222");
+    ASSERT_THAT(actual, SizeIs(1));
+    EXPECT_THAT(
+        actual[0], Field(&Machine::storeUri, Eq(StoreReference::parse("ssh://nix@scratchy.labs.cs.uu.nl:2222"))));
+}
+
 TEST(machines, getMachinesDefaults)
 {
     auto actual = Machine::parseConfig({"TEST_ARCH-TEST_OS"}, "nix@scratchy.labs.cs.uu.nl - - - - - - -");

src/libstore/common-ssh-store-config.cc

@@ -5,33 +5,22 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
-static std::string extractConnStr(std::string_view scheme, std::string_view _connStr)
+CommonSSHStoreConfig::CommonSSHStoreConfig(std::string_view scheme, std::string_view authority, const Params & params)
+    : CommonSSHStoreConfig(scheme, ParsedURL::Authority::parse(authority), params)
 {
-    if (_connStr.empty())
-        throw UsageError("`%s` store requires a valid SSH host as the authority part in Store URI", scheme);
-
-    std::string connStr{_connStr};
-
-    std::smatch result;
-    static std::regex v6AddrRegex("^((.*)@)?\\[(.*)\\]$");
-
-    if (std::regex_match(connStr, result, v6AddrRegex)) {
-        connStr = result[1].matched ? result.str(1) + result.str(3) : result.str(3);
 }
 
-    return connStr;
+CommonSSHStoreConfig::CommonSSHStoreConfig(
-}
+    std::string_view scheme, const ParsedURL::Authority & authority, const Params & params)
-
-CommonSSHStoreConfig::CommonSSHStoreConfig(std::string_view scheme, std::string_view host, const Params & params)
     : StoreConfig(params)
-    , host(extractConnStr(scheme, host))
+    , authority(authority)
 {
 }
 
 SSHMaster CommonSSHStoreConfig::createSSHMaster(bool useMaster, Descriptor logFD) const
 {
     return {
-        host,
+        authority,
         sshKey.get(),
         sshPublicHostKey.get(),
         useMaster,

src/libstore/include/nix/store/common-ssh-store-config.hh

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 ///@file
 
 #include "nix/store/store-api.hh"
+#include "nix/util/url.hh"
 
 namespace nix {
 
@@ -11,7 +12,8 @@ struct CommonSSHStoreConfig : virtual StoreConfig
 {
     using StoreConfig::StoreConfig;
 
-    CommonSSHStoreConfig(std::string_view scheme, std::string_view host, const Params & params);
+    CommonSSHStoreConfig(std::string_view scheme, const ParsedURL::Authority & authority, const Params & params);
+    CommonSSHStoreConfig(std::string_view scheme, std::string_view authority, const Params & params);
 
     const Setting<Path> sshKey{
         this, "", "ssh-key", "Path to the SSH private key used to authenticate to the remote machine."};
@@ -32,23 +34,9 @@ struct CommonSSHStoreConfig : virtual StoreConfig
         )"};
 
     /**
-     * The `parseURL` function supports both IPv6 URIs as defined in
+     * Authority representing the SSH host to connect to.
-     * RFC2732, but also pure addresses. The latter one is needed here to
-     * connect to a remote store via SSH (it's possible to do e.g. `ssh root@::1`).
-     *
-     * When initialized, the following adjustments are made:
-     *
-     * - If the URL looks like `root@[::1]` (which is allowed by the URL parser and probably
-     *   needed to pass further flags), it
-     *   will be transformed into `root@::1` for SSH (same for `[::1]` -> `::1`).
-     *
-     * - If the URL looks like `root@::1` it will be left as-is.
-     *
-     * - In any other case, the string will be left as-is.
-     *
-     * Will throw an error if `connStr` is empty too.
      */
-    std::string host;
+    ParsedURL::Authority authority;
 
     /**
      * Small wrapper around `SSHMaster::SSHMaster` that gets most

src/libstore/include/nix/store/globals.hh

@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ public:
           Only the first element is required.
           To leave a field at its default, set it to `-`.
 
-          1. The URI of the remote store in the format `ssh://[username@]hostname`.
+          1. The URI of the remote store in the format `ssh://[username@]hostname[:port]`.
 
              > **Example**
              >

src/libstore/include/nix/store/ssh.hh

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 ///@file
 
 #include "nix/util/sync.hh"
+#include "nix/util/url.hh"
 #include "nix/util/processes.hh"
 #include "nix/util/file-system.hh"
 
@@ -11,7 +12,8 @@ class SSHMaster
 {
 private:
 
-    const std::string host;
+    ParsedURL::Authority authority;
+    std::string hostnameAndUser;
     bool fakeSSH;
     const std::string keyFile;
     /**
@@ -43,7 +45,7 @@ private:
 public:
 
     SSHMaster(
-        std::string_view host,
+        const ParsedURL::Authority & authority,
         std::string_view keyFile,
         std::string_view sshPublicHostKey,
         bool useMaster,

src/libstore/legacy-ssh-store.cc

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ namespace nix {
 
 LegacySSHStoreConfig::LegacySSHStoreConfig(std::string_view scheme, std::string_view authority, const Params & params)
     : StoreConfig(params)
-    , CommonSSHStoreConfig(scheme, authority, params)
+    , CommonSSHStoreConfig(scheme, ParsedURL::Authority::parse(authority), params)
 {
 }
 
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ ref<LegacySSHStore::Connection> LegacySSHStore::openConnection()
     TeeSource tee(conn->from, saved);
     try {
         conn->remoteVersion =
-            ServeProto::BasicClientConnection::handshake(conn->to, tee, SERVE_PROTOCOL_VERSION, config->host);
+            ServeProto::BasicClientConnection::handshake(conn->to, tee, SERVE_PROTOCOL_VERSION, config->authority.host);
     } catch (SerialisationError & e) {
         // in.close(): Don't let the remote block on us not writing.
         conn->sshConn->in.close();
@@ -79,9 +79,10 @@ ref<LegacySSHStore::Connection> LegacySSHStore::openConnection()
             NullSink nullSink;
             tee.drainInto(nullSink);
         }
-        throw Error("'nix-store --serve' protocol mismatch from '%s', got '%s'", config->host, chomp(saved.s));
+        throw Error(
+            "'nix-store --serve' protocol mismatch from '%s', got '%s'", config->authority.host, chomp(saved.s));
     } catch (EndOfFile & e) {
-        throw Error("cannot connect to '%1%'", config->host);
+        throw Error("cannot connect to '%1%'", config->authority.host);
     }
 
     return conn;
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ ref<LegacySSHStore::Connection> LegacySSHStore::openConnection()
 
 std::string LegacySSHStore::getUri()
 {
-    return *Config::uriSchemes().begin() + "://" + config->host;
+    return *Config::uriSchemes().begin() + "://" + config->authority.to_string();
 }
 
 std::map<StorePath, UnkeyedValidPathInfo> LegacySSHStore::queryPathInfosUncached(const StorePathSet & paths)
@@ -99,7 +100,10 @@ std::map<StorePath, UnkeyedValidPathInfo> LegacySSHStore::queryPathInfosUncached
     /* No longer support missing NAR hash */
     assert(GET_PROTOCOL_MINOR(conn->remoteVersion) >= 4);
 
-    debug("querying remote host '%s' for info on '%s'", config->host, concatStringsSep(", ", printStorePathSet(paths)));
+    debug(
+        "querying remote host '%s' for info on '%s'",
+        config->authority.host,
+        concatStringsSep(", ", printStorePathSet(paths)));
 
     auto infos = conn->queryPathInfos(*this, paths);
 
@@ -136,7 +140,7 @@ void LegacySSHStore::queryPathInfoUncached(
 
 void LegacySSHStore::addToStore(const ValidPathInfo & info, Source & source, RepairFlag repair, CheckSigsFlag checkSigs)
 {
-    debug("adding path '%s' to remote host '%s'", printStorePath(info.path), config->host);
+    debug("adding path '%s' to remote host '%s'", printStorePath(info.path), config->authority.host);
 
     auto conn(connections->get());
 
@@ -157,7 +161,8 @@ void LegacySSHStore::addToStore(const ValidPathInfo & info, Source & source, Rep
         conn->to.flush();
 
         if (readInt(conn->from) != 1)
-            throw Error("failed to add path '%s' to remote host '%s'", printStorePath(info.path), config->host);
+            throw Error(
+                "failed to add path '%s' to remote host '%s'", printStorePath(info.path), config->authority.host);
 
     } else {
 

src/libstore/legacy-ssh-store.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 R"(
 
-**Store URL format**: `ssh://[username@]hostname`
+**Store URL format**: `ssh://[username@]hostname[:port]`
 
 This store type allows limited access to a remote store on another
 machine via SSH.

src/libstore/ssh-store.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 R"(
 
-**Store URL format**: `ssh-ng://[username@]hostname`
+**Store URL format**: `ssh-ng://[username@]hostname[:port]`
 
 Experimental store type that allows full access to a Nix store on a
 remote machine.

src/libstore/ssh.cc

@@ -18,24 +18,62 @@ static std::string parsePublicHostKey(std::string_view host, std::string_view ss
     }
 }
 
+class InvalidSSHAuthority : public Error
+{
+public:
+    InvalidSSHAuthority(const ParsedURL::Authority & authority, std::string_view reason)
+        : Error("invalid SSH authority: '%s': %s", authority.to_string(), reason)
+    {
+    }
+};
+
+/**
+ * Checks if the hostname/username are valid for use with ssh.
+ *
+ * @todo Enforce this better. Probably this needs to reimplement the same logic as in
+ * https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/blob/6ebd472c391a73574abe02771712d407c48e130d/ssh.c#L648-L681
+ */
+static void checkValidAuthority(const ParsedURL::Authority & authority)
+{
+    if (const auto & user = authority.user) {
+        if (user->empty())
+            throw InvalidSSHAuthority(authority, "user name must not be empty");
+        if (user->starts_with("-"))
+            throw InvalidSSHAuthority(authority, fmt("user name '%s' must not start with '-'", *user));
+    }
+
+    {
+        std::string_view host = authority.host;
+        if (host.empty())
+            throw InvalidSSHAuthority(authority, "host name must not be empty");
+        if (host.starts_with("-"))
+            throw InvalidSSHAuthority(authority, fmt("host name '%s' must not start with '-'", host));
+    }
+}
+
 SSHMaster::SSHMaster(
-    std::string_view host,
+    const ParsedURL::Authority & authority,
     std::string_view keyFile,
     std::string_view sshPublicHostKey,
     bool useMaster,
     bool compress,
     Descriptor logFD)
-    : host(host)
+    : authority(authority)
-    , fakeSSH(host == "localhost")
+    , hostnameAndUser([authority]() {
+        std::ostringstream oss;
+        if (authority.user)
+            oss << *authority.user << "@";
+        oss << authority.host;
+        return std::move(oss).str();
+    }())
+    , fakeSSH(authority.host == "localhost")
     , keyFile(keyFile)
-    , sshPublicHostKey(parsePublicHostKey(host, sshPublicHostKey))
+    , sshPublicHostKey(parsePublicHostKey(authority.host, sshPublicHostKey))
     , useMaster(useMaster && !fakeSSH)
     , compress(compress)
     , logFD(logFD)
 {
-    if (host == "" || hasPrefix(host, "-"))
+    checkValidAuthority(authority);
-        throw Error("invalid SSH host name '%s'", host);
-
     auto state(state_.lock());
     state->tmpDir = std::make_unique<AutoDelete>(createTempDir("", "nix", 0700));
 }
@@ -59,14 +97,15 @@ void SSHMaster::addCommonSSHOpts(Strings & args)
         args.insert(args.end(), {"-i", keyFile});
     if (!sshPublicHostKey.empty()) {
         std::filesystem::path fileName = state->tmpDir->path() / "host-key";
-        auto p = host.rfind("@");
+        writeFile(fileName.string(), authority.host + " " + sshPublicHostKey + "\n");
-        std::string thost = p != std::string::npos ? std::string(host, p + 1) : host;
-        writeFile(fileName.string(), thost + " " + sshPublicHostKey + "\n");
         args.insert(args.end(), {"-oUserKnownHostsFile=" + fileName.string()});
     }
     if (compress)
         args.push_back("-C");
 
+    if (authority.port)
+        args.push_back(fmt("-p%d", *authority.port));
+
     // We use this to make ssh signal back to us that the connection is established.
     // It really does run locally; see createSSHEnv which sets up SHELL to make
     // it launch more reliably. The local command runs synchronously, so presumably
@@ -77,7 +116,7 @@ void SSHMaster::addCommonSSHOpts(Strings & args)
 
 bool SSHMaster::isMasterRunning()
 {
-    Strings args = {"-O", "check", host};
+    Strings args = {"-O", "check", hostnameAndUser};
     addCommonSSHOpts(args);
 
     auto res = runProgram(RunOptions{.program = "ssh", .args = args, .mergeStderrToStdout = true});
@@ -142,7 +181,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<SSHMaster::Connection> SSHMaster::startCommand(Strings && comman
             Strings args;
 
             if (!fakeSSH) {
-                args = {"ssh", host.c_str(), "-x"};
+                args = {"ssh", hostnameAndUser.c_str(), "-x"};
                 addCommonSSHOpts(args);
                 if (socketPath != "")
                     args.insert(args.end(), {"-S", socketPath});
@@ -175,7 +214,7 @@ std::unique_ptr<SSHMaster::Connection> SSHMaster::startCommand(Strings && comman
 
         if (reply != "started") {
             printTalkative("SSH stdout first line: %s", reply);
-            throw Error("failed to start SSH connection to '%s'", host);
+            throw Error("failed to start SSH connection to '%s'", authority.host);
         }
     }
 
@@ -220,7 +259,7 @@ Path SSHMaster::startMaster()
             if (dup2(out.writeSide.get(), STDOUT_FILENO) == -1)
                 throw SysError("duping over stdout");
 
-            Strings args = {"ssh", host.c_str(), "-M", "-N", "-S", state->socketPath};
+            Strings args = {"ssh", hostnameAndUser.c_str(), "-M", "-N", "-S", state->socketPath};
             if (verbosity >= lvlChatty)
                 args.push_back("-v");
             addCommonSSHOpts(args);
@@ -241,7 +280,7 @@ Path SSHMaster::startMaster()
 
     if (reply != "started") {
         printTalkative("SSH master stdout first line: %s", reply);
-        throw Error("failed to start SSH master connection to '%s'", host);
+        throw Error("failed to start SSH master connection to '%s'", authority.host);
     }
 
     return state->socketPath;

src/libstore/store-reference.cc

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ StoreReference StoreReference::parse(const std::string & uri, const StoreReferen
         auto parsedUri = parseURL(uri);
         params.insert(parsedUri.query.begin(), parsedUri.query.end());
 
-        auto baseURI = parsedUri.authority.value_or("") + parsedUri.path;
+        auto baseURI = parsedUri.authority.value_or(ParsedURL::Authority{}).to_string() + parsedUri.path;
 
         return {
             .variant =

src/libutil-tests/url.cc

@@ -7,20 +7,8 @@ namespace nix {
 
 /* ----------- tests for url.hh --------------------------------------------------*/
 
-std::string print_map(StringMap m)
+using Authority = ParsedURL::Authority;
-{
+using HostType = Authority::HostType;
-    StringMap::iterator it;
-    std::string s = "{ ";
-    for (it = m.begin(); it != m.end(); ++it) {
-        s += "{ ";
-        s += it->first;
-        s += " = ";
-        s += it->second;
-        s += " } ";
-    }
-    s += "}";
-    return s;
-}
 
 TEST(parseURL, parsesSimpleHttpUrl)
 {
@@ -29,13 +17,14 @@ TEST(parseURL, parsesSimpleHttpUrl)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "http",
-        .authority = "www.example.org",
+        .authority = Authority{.hostType = HostType::Name, .host = "www.example.org"},
         .path = "/file.tar.gz",
         .query = (StringMap) {},
         .fragment = "",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parsesSimpleHttpsUrl)
@@ -45,13 +34,14 @@ TEST(parseURL, parsesSimpleHttpsUrl)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "https",
-        .authority = "www.example.org",
+        .authority = Authority{.hostType = HostType::Name, .host = "www.example.org"},
         .path = "/file.tar.gz",
         .query = (StringMap) {},
         .fragment = "",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parsesSimpleHttpUrlWithQueryAndFragment)
@@ -61,13 +51,14 @@ TEST(parseURL, parsesSimpleHttpUrlWithQueryAndFragment)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "https",
-        .authority = "www.example.org",
+        .authority = Authority{.hostType = HostType::Name, .host = "www.example.org"},
         .path = "/file.tar.gz",
         .query = (StringMap) {{"download", "fast"}, {"when", "now"}},
         .fragment = "hello",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parsesSimpleHttpUrlWithComplexFragment)
@@ -77,7 +68,7 @@ TEST(parseURL, parsesSimpleHttpUrlWithComplexFragment)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "http",
-        .authority = "www.example.org",
+        .authority = Authority{.hostType = HostType::Name, .host = "www.example.org"},
         .path = "/file.tar.gz",
         .query = (StringMap) {{"field", "value"}},
         .fragment = "?foo=bar#",
@@ -93,13 +84,14 @@ TEST(parseURL, parsesFilePlusHttpsUrl)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "file+https",
-        .authority = "www.example.org",
+        .authority = Authority{.hostType = HostType::Name, .host = "www.example.org"},
         .path = "/video.mp4",
         .query = (StringMap) {},
         .fragment = "",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, rejectsAuthorityInUrlsWithFileTransportation)
@@ -115,13 +107,14 @@ TEST(parseURL, parseIPv4Address)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "http",
-        .authority = "127.0.0.1:8080",
+        .authority = Authority{.hostType = HostType::IPv4, .host = "127.0.0.1", .port = 8080},
         .path = "/file.tar.gz",
         .query = (StringMap) {{"download", "fast"}, {"when", "now"}},
         .fragment = "hello",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parseScopedRFC6874IPv6Address)
@@ -131,13 +124,14 @@ TEST(parseURL, parseScopedRFC6874IPv6Address)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "http",
-        .authority = "[fe80::818c:da4d:8975:415c\%enp0s25]:8080",
+        .authority = Authority{.hostType = HostType::IPv6, .host = "fe80::818c:da4d:8975:415c\%enp0s25", .port = 8080},
         .path = "",
         .query = (StringMap) {},
         .fragment = "",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parseIPv6Address)
@@ -147,13 +141,19 @@ TEST(parseURL, parseIPv6Address)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "http",
-        .authority = "[2a02:8071:8192:c100:311d:192d:81ac:11ea]:8080",
+        .authority =
+            Authority{
+                .hostType = HostType::IPv6,
+                .host = "2a02:8071:8192:c100:311d:192d:81ac:11ea",
+                .port = 8080,
+            },
         .path = "",
         .query = (StringMap) {},
         .fragment = "",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parseEmptyQueryParams)
@@ -170,13 +170,21 @@ TEST(parseURL, parseUserPassword)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "http",
-        .authority = "user:pass@www.example.org:8080",
+        .authority =
+            Authority{
+                .hostType = HostType::Name,
+                .host = "www.example.org",
+                .user = "user",
+                .password = "pass",
+                .port = 8080,
+            },
         .path = "/file.tar.gz",
         .query = (StringMap) {},
         .fragment = "",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parseFileURLWithQueryAndFragment)
@@ -186,13 +194,14 @@ TEST(parseURL, parseFileURLWithQueryAndFragment)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "file",
-        .authority = "",
+        .authority = Authority{},
         .path = "/none/of//your/business",
         .query = (StringMap) {},
         .fragment = "",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parsedUrlsIsEqualToItself)
@@ -210,25 +219,28 @@ TEST(parseURL, parseFTPUrl)
 
     ParsedURL expected{
         .scheme = "ftp",
-        .authority = "ftp.nixos.org",
+        .authority = Authority{.hostType = HostType::Name, .host = "ftp.nixos.org"},
         .path = "/downloads/nixos.iso",
         .query = (StringMap) {},
         .fragment = "",
     };
 
     ASSERT_EQ(parsed, expected);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parsesAnythingInUriFormat)
 {
     auto s = "whatever://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs.git";
     auto parsed = parseURL(s);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, parsesAnythingInUriFormatWithoutDoubleSlash)
 {
     auto s = "whatever:github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs.git";
     auto parsed = parseURL(s);
+    ASSERT_EQ(s, parsed.to_string());
 }
 
 TEST(parseURL, emptyStringIsInvalidURL)

src/libutil/include/nix/util/url.hh

@@ -5,10 +5,76 @@
 
 namespace nix {
 
+/**
+ * Represents a parsed RFC3986 URL.
+ *
+ * @note All fields are already percent decoded.
+ */
 struct ParsedURL
 {
+    /**
+     * Parsed representation of a URL authority.
+     *
+     * It consists of user information, hostname and an optional port number.
+     * Note that passwords in the userinfo are not yet supported and are ignored.
+     *
+     * @todo Maybe support passwords in userinfo part of the url for auth.
+     */
+    struct Authority
+    {
+        enum class HostType {
+            Name, //< Registered name (can be empty)
+            IPv4,
+            IPv6,
+            IPvFuture
+        };
+
+        static Authority parse(std::string_view encodedAuthority);
+        bool operator==(const Authority & other) const = default;
+        std::string to_string() const;
+        friend std::ostream & operator<<(std::ostream & os, const Authority & self);
+
+        /**
+         * Type of the host subcomponent, as specified by rfc3986 3.2.2. Host.
+         */
+        HostType hostType = HostType::Name;
+
+        /**
+         * Host subcomponent. Either a registered name or IPv{4,6,Future} literal addresses.
+         *
+         * IPv6 enclosing brackets are already stripped. Percent encoded characters
+         * in the hostname are decoded.
+         */
+        std::string host;
+
+        /** Percent-decoded user part of the userinfo. */
+        std::optional<std::string> user;
+
+        /**
+         * Password subcomponent of the authority (if specified).
+         *
+         * @warning As per the rfc3986, the password syntax is deprecated,
+         * but it's necessary to make the parse -> to_string roundtrip.
+         * We don't use it anywhere (at least intentionally).
+         * @todo Warn about unused password subcomponent.
+         */
+        std::optional<std::string> password;
+
+        /** Port subcomponent (if specified). Default value is determined by the scheme. */
+        std::optional<uint16_t> port;
+    };
+
     std::string scheme;
-    std::optional<std::string> authority;
+    /**
+     * Optional parsed authority component of the URL.
+     *
+     * IMPORTANT: An empty authority (i.e. one with an empty host string) and
+     * a missing authority (std::nullopt) are drastically different cases. This
+     * is especially important for "file:///path/to/file" URLs defined by RFC8089.
+     * The presence of the authority is indicated by `//` following the <scheme>:
+     * part of the URL.
+     */
+    std::optional<Authority> authority;
     std::string path;
     StringMap query;
     std::string fragment;

src/libutil/url.cc

@@ -34,6 +34,81 @@ static std::string percentEncodeSpaces(std::string_view url)
     return replaceStrings(std::string(url), " ", percentEncode(" "));
 }
 
+ParsedURL::Authority ParsedURL::Authority::parse(std::string_view encodedAuthority)
+{
+    auto parsed = boost::urls::parse_authority(encodedAuthority);
+    if (!parsed)
+        throw BadURL("invalid URL authority: '%s': %s", encodedAuthority, parsed.error().message());
+
+    auto hostType = [&]() {
+        switch (parsed->host_type()) {
+        case boost::urls::host_type::ipv4:
+            return HostType::IPv4;
+        case boost::urls::host_type::ipv6:
+            return HostType::IPv6;
+        case boost::urls::host_type::ipvfuture:
+            return HostType::IPvFuture;
+        case boost::urls::host_type::none:
+        case boost::urls::host_type::name:
+            return HostType::Name;
+        }
+        unreachable();
+    }();
+
+    auto port = [&]() -> std::optional<uint16_t> {
+        if (!parsed->has_port())
+            return std::nullopt;
+        /* If the port number is non-zero and representable. */
+        if (auto portNumber = parsed->port_number())
+            return portNumber;
+        throw BadURL("port '%s' is invalid", parsed->port());
+    }();
+
+    return {
+        .hostType = hostType,
+        .host = parsed->host_address(),
+        .user = parsed->has_userinfo() ? parsed->user() : std::optional<std::string>{},
+        .password = parsed->has_password() ? parsed->password() : std::optional<std::string>{},
+        .port = port,
+    };
+}
+
+std::ostream & operator<<(std::ostream & os, const ParsedURL::Authority & self)
+{
+    if (self.user) {
+        os << percentEncode(*self.user);
+        if (self.password)
+            os << ":" << percentEncode(*self.password);
+        os << "@";
+    }
+
+    using HostType = ParsedURL::Authority::HostType;
+    switch (self.hostType) {
+    case HostType::Name:
+        os << percentEncode(self.host);
+        break;
+    case HostType::IPv4:
+        os << self.host;
+        break;
+    case HostType::IPv6:
+    case HostType::IPvFuture:
+        /* Reencode percent sign for RFC4007 ScopeId literals. */
+        os << "[" << percentEncode(self.host, ":") << "]";
+    }
+
+    if (self.port)
+        os << ":" << *self.port;
+
+    return os;
+}
+
+std::string ParsedURL::Authority::to_string() const
+{
+    std::ostringstream oss;
+    oss << *this;
+    return std::move(oss).str();
+}
+
 ParsedURL parseURL(const std::string & url)
 try {
     /* Drop the shevron suffix used for the flakerefs. Shevron character is reserved and
@@ -47,14 +122,21 @@ try {
         throw BadURL("'%s' doesn't have a scheme", url);
 
     auto scheme = urlView.scheme();
-    auto authority = [&]() -> std::optional<std::string> {
+    auto authority = [&]() -> std::optional<ParsedURL::Authority> {
         if (urlView.has_authority())
-            return percentDecode(urlView.authority().buffer());
+            return ParsedURL::Authority::parse(urlView.authority().buffer());
         return std::nullopt;
     }();
 
+    /* 3.2.2. Host (RFC3986):
+     * If the URI scheme defines a default for host, then that default
+     * applies when the host subcomponent is undefined or when the
+     * registered name is empty (zero length).  For example, the "file" URI
+     * scheme is defined so that no authority, an empty host, and
+     * "localhost" all mean the end-user's machine, whereas the "http"
+     * scheme considers a missing authority or empty host invalid. */
     auto transportIsFile = parseUrlScheme(scheme).transport == "file";
-    if (authority && *authority != "" && transportIsFile)
+    if (authority && authority->host.size() && transportIsFile)
         throw BadURL("file:// URL '%s' has unexpected authority '%s'", url, *authority);
 
     auto path = urlView.path();         /* Does pct-decoding */
@@ -135,7 +217,7 @@ std::string encodeQuery(const StringMap & ss)
 
 std::string ParsedURL::to_string() const
 {
-    return scheme + ":" + (authority ? "//" + *authority : "") + percentEncode(path, allowedInPath)
+    return scheme + ":" + (authority ? "//" + authority->to_string() : "") + percentEncode(path, allowedInPath)
            + (query.empty() ? "" : "?" + encodeQuery(query)) + (fragment.empty() ? "" : "#" + percentEncode(fragment));
 }
 
@@ -177,7 +259,7 @@ std::string fixGitURL(const std::string & url)
     if (hasPrefix(url, "file:"))
         return url;
     if (url.find("://") == std::string::npos) {
-        return (ParsedURL{.scheme = "file", .authority = "", .path = url}).to_string();
+        return (ParsedURL{.scheme = "file", .authority = ParsedURL::Authority{}, .path = url}).to_string();
     }
     return url;
 }

tests/nixos/remote-builds.nix

@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ let
       services.openssh.enable = true;
       virtualisation.writableStore = true;
       nix.settings.sandbox = true;
+      services.openssh.ports = [
+        22
+      ] ++ lib.optional supportsCustomPort 2222;
 
       # Regression test for use of PID namespaces when /proc has
       # filesystems mounted on top of it
@@ -42,6 +45,7 @@ let
 
   supportsBadShell = lib.versionAtLeast config.nodes.client.nix.package.version "2.25pre";
 
+  supportsCustomPort = lib.versionAtLeast config.nodes.client.nix.package.version "2.31.0pre20250806";
 in
 
 {
@@ -74,7 +78,7 @@ in
           nix.distributedBuilds = true;
           nix.buildMachines = [
             {
-              hostName = "builder1";
+              hostName = "builder1" + (lib.optionalString supportsCustomPort ":2222");
               sshUser = "root";
               sshKey = "/root/.ssh/id_ed25519";
               system = "i686-linux";