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TON Sites are web services that support an HTTP interface. They use RLDP datagrams over the ADNL protocol to transfer HTTP queries and responses, residing entirely within the TON Network. A TON Site is identified by its ADNL address rather than an IP address, so no IP address appears in the URL or at the HTTP layer.

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How TON Sites work

When a user visits a TON Site:
  1. The TON Proxy client accepts an HTTP request from an ordinary web browser.
  2. The proxy resolves the target address, either through TON DNS (for human-readable .ton domains) or directly from a known ADNL address.
  3. The HTTP request is encapsulated in RLDP datagrams and sent through the ADNL network to the TON Site’s abstract address.
  4. The TON Site processes the request and returns an HTTP response.

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ADNL address as identity

Every TON Site is identified by a 256-bit ADNL abstract address derived from its public key. Because the ADNL address is independent of the server’s IP address, a site is not tied to any particular server location.

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Host a TON Site

A TON Site requires a reverse proxy that accepts inbound ADNL connections and forwards them to a local web server. Two implementations are available.

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Use rldp-http-proxy

rldp-http-proxy is the reverse proxy from the official TON monorepo. Key generation is manual. Step 1. Generate a persistent ADNL address: 
mkdir keyring
utils/generate-random-id -m adnlid
The command prints two values to stdout: the hex address and its user-friendly form: 
45061C1D4EC44A937D0318589E13C73D151D1CEF5D3C0E53AFBCF56A6C2FE2BD vcqmha5j3ceve35ammfrhqty46rkhi455otydstv66pk2tmf7rl25f3
It also writes the private key to a file named after the hex address. Move it into the keyring directory: 
mv 45061C1D* keyring/
Step 2. Start the reverse proxy, using the user-friendly ADNL address from step 1: 
rldp-http-proxy -a <ip>:3333 -L '*' -C global.config.json -A <adnl-address> -d -l tonsite.log
FlagDescription
-a <ip>:<port>Public IP and UDP port for inbound ADNL connections (published to the TON DHT)
-A <adnl-address>ADNL address generated in step 1
-L <hostname>[:<ports>]Forward requests for <hostname> to 127.0.0.1 (default ports: 80, 443)
-R <hostname>[:<ports>]@<ip>:<port>Forward requests for <hostname> to a remote HTTP server at <ip>:<port>
-C <file>Path to the TON global network configuration file
-D <path>Database root path
-dDaemonize the process
-l <file>Log file path

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Use tonutils-reverse-proxy

tonutils-reverse-proxy is a Go implementation that handles key generation and domain linking automatically. Install on Linux: 
wget https://github.com/tonutils/reverse-proxy/releases/latest/download/tonutils-reverse-proxy-linux-amd64
chmod +x tonutils-reverse-proxy-linux-amd64
To build from source: 
git clone https://github.com/tonutils/reverse-proxy
cd reverse-proxy && make build
Run with the target .ton domain: 
./tonutils-reverse-proxy --domain <domain>.ton
On first run, the proxy generates a persistent ADNL key pair and displays a QR code. Scan it with a compatible TON wallet (such as Tonkeeper) to confirm domain ownership and link the ADNL address to the domain. The web server must listen on http://127.0.0.1:80. The proxy adds two headers to each forwarded request:
  • X-Adnl-Ip: the IP address of the connecting client as seen by the ADNL network.
  • X-Adnl-Id: the ADNL node ID of the connecting client.

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Domain assignment

To assign the ADNL address to a .ton domain, open the domain in the TON DNS management interface, paste the ADNL address into the “Site” field, and confirm the transaction with the domain owner’s wallet. For record types and resolution details, see TON DNS.

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Domain name resolution

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TON DNS

A dns_adnl_address record in TON DNS maps a .ton domain name to the ADNL address of the TON Site. The proxy client resolves this record and connects to the correct ADNL address. See TON DNS for the full record type specification.

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Direct access via ADNL address

TON Sites can also be accessed directly by their ADNL address, without DNS resolution.
  • ADNL: the abstract datagram network layer providing transport for TON Sites.
  • RLDP: the reliable large datagram protocol over ADNL for HTTP transfer.
  • TON Proxy: bridges HTTP requests from a conventional browser to the ADNL network.
  • TON DNS: maps .ton domains to ADNL addresses.