156 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
156 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
# Ngino
|
|
|
|
Ngino is a small outbound HTTP tunnel for running Ollama (or vLLM, etc.) on GPU workstations while exposing the API from a server that cannot reach those workstations directly.
|
|
|
|
The client opens and maintains a WebSocket connection to the server. The server accepts normal HTTP requests and forwards them through that WebSocket to the client. The client then calls a local upstream such as `http://localhost:11434` and streams the response back.
|
|
|
|
<table>
|
|
<tr>
|
|
<td><img src="docs/images/README_architecture.png" width="1400" alt="client-server architecture visualized using arrows"></td>
|
|
<td>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The server provides
|
|
- An API with
|
|
- Authentication via user keys
|
|
- Authorization (planned)
|
|
- Load balancing (Scale your AI strategy horizontally!)
|
|
- (Ollama-only) Model management (install, remove, load, unload models)
|
|
- Client monitoring
|
|
- Who is active
|
|
- What models are running
|
|
- How many requests is each client processing
|
|
- How many requests has each client processed
|
|
- Group management (planned)
|
|
- Who can access which models
|
|
- What clients are mapped to which groups
|
|
- Billing (planned)
|
|
- (planned) Price per model per thousand tokens
|
|
- (planned) Usage per user key
|
|
- (planned) Rate limiting
|
|
|
|
The client provides a persistent outbound connection to the server and forwards requests to the local Ollama (or vLLM, etc.) instance. Responses stream back through the tunnel with minimal overhead.
|
|
|
|
</td>
|
|
</tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
[Screenshots of the app can be seen here](docs/Screenshots.md)
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Projects
|
|
|
|
- `src/Ngino.Server`: ASP.NET Core server. Exposes the public proxy endpoint and accepts the outbound client tunnel.
|
|
- `src/Ngino.Client`: Console client. Runs on the GPU machine and forwards requests to local Ollama.
|
|
- `src/Ngino.Protocol`: Shared tunnel message types.
|
|
|
|
## Run
|
|
|
|
Start the server:
|
|
|
|
```powershell
|
|
dotnet run --project src/Ngino.Server --urls http://0.0.0.0:5050 -- --token "change-me"
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Start the client on the GPU workstation:
|
|
|
|
```powershell
|
|
dotnet run --project src/Ngino.Client -- --server http://your-server:5050 --upstream http://localhost:11434 --token "change-me"
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Call Ollama through the server. Model-bearing requests on the root path are routed to a connected client that reports that model, preferring the client with the fewest in-flight requests. You can still address one client explicitly by id:
|
|
|
|
```powershell
|
|
curl.exe -H "X-Ngino-Token: change-me" http://your-server:5050/api/tags
|
|
curl.exe -H "X-Ngino-Token: change-me" http://your-server:5050/clients/gpu-01/api/tags
|
|
curl.exe http://your-server:5050/token/change-me/api/tags
|
|
curl.exe http://your-server:5050/token/change-me/clients/gpu-01/api/tags
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
```powershell
|
|
curl.exe -H "X-Ngino-Token: change-me" `
|
|
-H "Content-Type: application/json" `
|
|
-d '{"model":"llama3.1","prompt":"hello"}' `
|
|
http://your-server:5050/api/generate
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
## Configuration
|
|
|
|
Server options:
|
|
|
|
- `--token <value>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_TOKEN`: optional shared token. If set, proxy calls must authenticate with `X-Ngino-Token`, `Authorization: Bearer <token>`, or the `/token/<token>/...` path prefix.
|
|
- `--tunnel-path <path>`: defaults to `/_ngino/tunnel`.
|
|
- `--status-path <path>`: defaults to `/_ngino/status`.
|
|
- `--chunk-size <bytes>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_CHUNK_SIZE`: defaults to `65536`.
|
|
- `--embedding-cache-path <path>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_EMBEDDING_CACHE_PATH`: SQLite cache file for embedding vectors. Defaults to `App_Data\embedding-cache.sqlite` under the server app directory.
|
|
- `--management-database-path <path>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_MANAGEMENT_DATABASE_PATH`: SQLite database for admin user keys, client keys, client disable state, and request/model metrics. Defaults to `App_Data\management.sqlite` under the server app directory.
|
|
- `--secure-cookies` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_SECURE_COOKIES`: set to `false` to allow admin auth cookies over plain HTTP (for local development). Defaults to `true`.
|
|
|
|
Admin UI:
|
|
|
|
- `GET /admin` opens the Keycloak-protected management UI.
|
|
- The temporary Keycloak settings live under `Authentication:Keycloak` in `appsettings.json`.
|
|
- User keys created in the UI are accepted anywhere the shared token is accepted: `X-Ngino-Token`, `Authorization: Bearer <key>`, `?token=...`, and `/token/<key>/...`.
|
|
- Model add/remove/load/unload commands are sent through the connected tunnel client to Ollama (`/api/pull`, `/api/delete`, `/api/generate`, and `/api/show`).
|
|
|
|
Client options:
|
|
|
|
- `--server <url>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_SERVER`: server base URL, for example `http://your-server:5050`.
|
|
- `--upstream <url>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_UPSTREAM`: local Ollama URL, defaults to `http://localhost:11434`.
|
|
- `--token <value>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_TOKEN`: optional shared token.
|
|
- `--client-id <name>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_CLIENT_ID`: identifies this machine on the server; defaults to the machine name.
|
|
- `--tunnel-path <path>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_TUNNEL_PATH`: defaults to `/_ngino/tunnel`.
|
|
- `--reconnect-delay <seconds>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_RECONNECT_DELAY_SECONDS`: defaults to `5`.
|
|
- `--chunk-size <bytes>` or `REVERSE_LLAMA_CHUNK_SIZE`: defaults to `65536`.
|
|
|
|
The token is accepted as `X-Ngino-Token`, as `Authorization: Bearer <token>`, or as a path prefix like `/token/<token>/api/tags` or `/token/<token>/clients/{id}/v1`. The Bearer form lets OpenAI-compatible clients (e.g. n8n's OpenAI nodes pointed at `/clients/{id}/v1`) authenticate with their API-key field. The path-token form is useful for clients that cannot send custom headers. The server strips its own token header/Bearer value and removes the path prefix before forwarding; any other `Authorization` value is forwarded untouched.
|
|
|
|
## Multiple clients
|
|
|
|
Any number of machines can connect at the same time; each registers under its client id (machine name by default).
|
|
|
|
- `GET/POST /clients/{client-id}/...` forwards to that specific machine.
|
|
- The client reports its local Ollama model list from `/api/tags` when it connects and refreshes it every minute.
|
|
- The plain root path (`/api/...`, `/v1/...`) routes model-bearing requests to a client that reports the requested model, preferring the lowest in-flight request count. Requests without a model are sent to the connected client with the fewest in-flight requests.
|
|
- The status endpoint lists all connected clients, their in-flight request counts, and their last reported model lists.
|
|
- If a client connects with an id that is already in use, the old connection is replaced and the replaced client exits instead of reconnecting.
|
|
|
|
## Embedding cache
|
|
|
|
The server keeps an in-memory KV cache for embedding vectors and persists it to SQLite. The cache key is the requested `model` plus the exact input text. It applies to `POST /api/embed`, `POST /api/embeddings`, and `POST /v1/embeddings`; cache hits return JSON in the same endpoint family shape and include `X-Ngino-Embedding-Cache: hit`.
|
|
|
|
The authenticated status endpoint reports whether the cache is available, plus the cache count and database path. If SQLite cannot be initialized, proxy traffic continues without embedding-cache writes.
|
|
|
|
## Client installer
|
|
|
|
Linux:
|
|
|
|
```bash
|
|
sudo bash deploy/install-client.sh --server http://your-server:5050 --token "change-me"
|
|
```
|
|
|
|
Options: `--server`, `--token` (required); `--client-id`, `--upstream`, `--install-dir`, `--service-name`, `--no-ollama` (optional). Missing required values are prompted interactively.
|
|
|
|
The script ensures .NET 10 and Ollama are installed, builds the client self-contained, installs it to `/opt/Ngino-client`, and creates a systemd service (`Ngino-client`). Logs: `journalctl -u Ngino-client -f`.
|
|
|
|
## Notes
|
|
|
|
- Request and response bodies are streamed through the tunnel, which is important for Ollama streaming responses.
|
|
|
|
## Security notes
|
|
|
|
- Use HTTPS or a private network/VPN when exposing this outside a trusted network.
|
|
- **Tokens in URLs** (`/token/<token>/...` and `?token=...`) are logged by web servers (Apache, Nginx, Kestrel), reverse proxies, and browsers (history). Malicious MITM proxies can also read them. Prefer header-based auth (`X-Ngino-Token` or `Authorization: Bearer`) when your client supports it.
|
|
- The token is simple shared-secret protection, not a full access-control system.
|
|
|
|
## AI Disclosure
|
|
|
|
This project was architected by humans.
|
|
The code was mostly authored by multiple AI models:
|
|
|
|
- Claude Fable 5
|
|
- ChatGPT 5.5
|
|
- OpenCode Big Pickle
|
|
- Qwen3-coder-next:latest
|