This sample shows you how to a use stream (TCP) socket to send and receive data using the StreamSocket and related classes in the Windows.Networking.Sockets namespace in your Windows Runtime app.

Note  This sample was created using one of the universal app templates available in Visual Studio. It shows how its solution is structured so it can run on both Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1. For more info about how to build apps that target Windows and Windows Phone with Visual Studio, see Build apps that target Windows and Windows Phone 8.1 by using Visual Studio.

The client component of the sample creates a TCP socket to make a network connection, uses the socket to send data, and closes the socket. The server component sets up a TCP listener that provides a connected socket for every incoming network connection, uses the socket to receive data from the client, and closes the socket. This sample is provided in the JavaScript, C#, VB, and C++ programming languages.

The client component of the sample demonstrates the following features:

The server component of the sample demonstrates the following features:

Note  Use of this sample requires network access using the loopback interface.

For a sample that shows how to use a datagram (UDP) socket to send and receive data in a Windows Runtime app, download the DatagramSocket sample.

For a sample that shows how to use a StreamSocket so that the app is always connected and always reachable using background network notifications in a Windows Store app, download the ControlChannelTrigger TCP socket sample.

Network capabilities

This sample requires that network capabilities be set in the Package.appxmanifest file to allow the app to access the network at runtime. These capabilities can be set in the app manifest using Microsoft Visual Studio.

To build the Windows version of the sample, set the following network capabilities:

To build the Windows Phone version of the sample, set the following network capabilities:

For more information on network capabilities, see How to set network capabilities.

Note  Network communications using an IP loopback address cannot normally be used for interprocess communication between a Windows Runtime app and a different process (a different Windows Runtime app or a desktop app) because this is restricted by network isolation. Network communication using an IP loopback address is allowed within the same process for communication purposes in a Windows Runtime app. For more information, see How to set network capabilities.

To obtain an evaluation copy of Windows 8.1, go to Windows 8.1.

To obtain an evaluation copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 Update 2, go to Microsoft Visual Studio 2013.

Note  For Windows 8 app samples, download the Windows 8 app samples pack. The samples in the Windows 8 app samples pack will build and run only on Microsoft Visual Studio 2012.

Related topics

Other - C#/VB/C++ and XAML
Adding support for networking (XAML)
Connecting to network services (XAML)
How to secure socket connections with TLS/SSL (XAML)
How to send and receive network data with a stream socket (XAML)
How to set network capabilities (XAML)
How to use advanced socket controls (XAML)
Proximity and tapping (XAML)
Staying connected in the background (XAML)
Troubleshooting and debugging network connections
Other - JavaScript and HTML
Adding support for networking (HTML)
Connecting to network services (HTML)
How to secure socket connections with TLS/SSL (HTML)
How to send and receive network data with a stream socket (HTML)
How to set background connectivity options (HTML)
How to set network capabilities (HTML)
How to use advanced socket controls (HTML)
Supporting proximity and tapping (HTML)
Troubleshooting and debugging network connections
Reference
StreamSocket
StreamSocketListener
Windows.Networking
Windows.Networking.Sockets
Windows.Storage.Streams.DataReader
Windows.Storage.Streams.DataWriter
Samples
DatagramSocket sample
ControlChannelTrigger TCP socket sample
Windows 8 app samples

Operating system requirements

Client
Windows 8.1
Server
Windows Server 2012 R2
Phone
Windows Phone 8.1

Build the sample

  1. Start Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 and select File > Open > Project/Solution.
  2. Go to the directory to which you unzipped the sample. Go to the directory named for the sample, and double-click the Visual Studio 2013 Update 2 Solution (.sln) file.
  3. Follow the steps for the version of the sample you want:
    • To build the Windows version of the sample:

      1. Select StreamSocket.Windows in Solution Explorer.
      2. Press Ctrl+Shift+B, or use Build > Build Solution, or use Build > Build StreamSocket.Windows.
    • To build the Windows Phone version of the sample:

      1. Select StreamSocket.WindowsPhone in Solution Explorer.
      2. Press Ctrl+Shift+B or use Build > Build Solution or use Build > Build StreamSocket.WindowsPhone.

Run the sample

The next steps depend on whether you just want to deploy the sample or you want to both deploy and run it.

Deploying the sample

Deploying and running the Windows version of the sample

For the app to attempt a socket connection using SSL to a web server at port 443 (HTTPS) and view the server certificate, this sample requires that a web server is available that supports HTTPS. The web server must be started before the app is run. The sample includes a PowerShell script that will install and enable IIS on a local computer, generate a self-signed, untrusted certificate, and enable HTTPS connections. The easiest way to run the sample is to use the provided web server scripts.

Browse to the Server folder in your sample folder to setup and start the web server. There are two options possible.

When the web server is not needed anymore, please browse to the Server folder in you sample folder and run one of the following:

The sample can run using any web server, not only the one provided with the sample. If IIS is used on a different computer, then the previous scripts can be used with minor changes.

The sample must also be updated when run against a non-localhost web server. To configure the sample for use with IIS on a different device:

Note  IIS is not available on ARM builds. Instead, set up the web server on a separate 64-bit or 32-bit computer and follow the steps for using the sample against non-localhost web server.

However if a server different than IIS is used, then this requires some special configuration of the server.

To configure the sample for use with a web server different than IIS not using localhost:

Deploying and running the Windows Phone version of the sample

IIS is not available on Windows Phone. For the app to attempt a socket connection using SSL to a web server, there are two options: