On the origin of wsdump.py

[rjpadilla]

Background

@dogi wanted a replacement of the wscat tool (a tool that connects to a gateway with WebSockets) to be used for the new Discord feature implementation #2155 . Since wscat requires a npm install, a luxury we can't afford, a replacement universally built-in is needed. Websocat, socat, and netcat were recommended but I found a better solution: wsdump.py.

wsdump.py module is located in the /usr/local/bin directory.

But the question is how did it get there.

Investigation

In order to use wsdump.py for the Discord feature, we have to be 100% certain that it is accessible from the start and does not require any superfluous installation. We've looked into debian/pip package manager and github history but found no success on the origin of wsdump.py

Solution

I figured that wsdump.py came from a package as a dependency but wasn't sure how until through my research, discoverd docker-compose has a connection to websockets.

I tried to install docker-compose on my vanilla raspberry pi with pip but no success since it required the use of Python 3.....

I then successfully installed docker-compose with the use of pip3:

Saw that it installed the websocket-client dependency package...

And I found wsdump.py

Lesson learned

• wsdump.py comes pre-installed with docker-compose
• When working with Python, make sure to know which version your using (@dogi and I were looking in Python2.7 not Python3).