--- a/docs/nc6.1.in
+++ b/docs/nc6.1.in
@@ -160,6 +160,10 @@
 With this option set, netcat6 will use UDP as the transport protocol (TCP is
 the default).
 .TP 13
+.I \-U, --unix
+With this option set, netcat6 will connect to a unix domain socket.
+The listen mode has not been implemented yet.
+.TP 13
 .I \-v
 Enable verbose mode.  This gives some basic information about what netcat6
 is doing.  Use it twice for extra verbosity.

--- a/src/Makefile.am
+++ b/src/Makefile.am
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   network.h \
   afindep.h \
   bluez.h \
+  unixsocket.h \
   netsupport.h \
   parser.h \
   readwrite.h \
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@
   afindep.c \
   netsupport.c \
   parser.c \
+  unixsocket.c \
   readwrite.c \
   io_stream.c \
   connection.c

--- a/src/connection.c
+++ b/src/connection.c
@@ -109,6 +109,9 @@
 		fatal_internal("unavailable bluez support required");
 #endif
 		break;
+	case PROTO_UNIX:
+		ainfo->ai_family = PF_UNIX;
+		break;
 	default:
 		fatal_internal("unknown socket domain");
 	}
@@ -144,6 +147,10 @@
 		fatal_internal("unavailable bluez support required");
 #endif
 		break;
+	case UNIX_PROTOCOL:
+		ainfo->ai_protocol = 0;
+		ainfo->ai_socktype = SOCK_STREAM;
+		break;
 	default:
 		fatal_internal("unknown socket type");
 	}

--- a/src/connection.h
+++ b/src/connection.h	2008-10-25 14:17:09 +0000
@@ -31,12 +31,14 @@
 	PROTO_UNSPECIFIED,
 	PROTO_IPv6,
 	PROTO_IPv4,
+	PROTO_UNIX,
 	PROTO_BLUEZ
 } sock_family_t;
 
 typedef enum sock_protocol {
 	TCP_PROTOCOL,
 	UDP_PROTOCOL,
+	UNIX_PROTOCOL,
 	SCO_PROTOCOL,
 	L2CAP_PROTOCOL
 } sock_protocol_t;

--- a/src/network.c
+++ b/src/network.c
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 #include "network.h"
 #include "connection.h"
 #include "afindep.h"
+#include "unixsocket.h"
 #ifdef ENABLE_BLUEZ
 #include "bluez.h"
 #endif/*ENABLE_BLUEZ*/
@@ -113,6 +114,11 @@
 
 	/* invoke the appropriate connector for the protocol family */
 	switch (ca_family(attrs)) {
+	case PROTO_UNIX:
+		fd = unixsocket_connect(&hints,
+				remote->address,
+				timeout, &socktype);
+		break;
 #ifdef ENABLE_BLUEZ
 	case PROTO_BLUEZ:
 		fd = bluez_connect(&hints,

--- a/src/parser.c
+++ b/src/parser.c
@@ -109,7 +109,9 @@
 	{"bluetooth",           no_argument,        NULL, 'b'},
 #define OPT_SCO			24
 	{"sco",			no_argument,        NULL,  0 },
-#define OPT_MAX			25
+#define OPT_UNIX_SOCKET		25
+	{"unix",		no_argument,        NULL, 'U'},
+#define OPT_MAX			26
 	{0, 0, 0, 0}
 };
 
@@ -160,7 +162,7 @@
 	_verbosity_level = 0;
 
 	/* option recognition loop */
-	while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "46be:hlnp:q:s:uvw:xX",
+	while ((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "46be:hlnp:q:s:uUvw:xX",
 	                        long_options, &option_index)) >= 0)
 	{
  		switch (c) {
@@ -231,6 +233,9 @@
 			family = PROTO_IPv6;
 			ca_set_flag(attrs, CA_STRICT_IPV6);
 			break;
+		case 'U':
+			family = PROTO_UNIX;
+			break;
 		case 'b':
 			family = PROTO_BLUEZ;
 			break;
@@ -330,6 +335,9 @@
 	/* set default protocols */
 	if (protocol == PROTO_UNSPECIFIED) {
 		switch (family) {
+		case PROTO_UNIX:
+			protocol = UNIX_PROTOCOL;
+			break;
 		case PROTO_BLUEZ:
 			protocol = L2CAP_PROTOCOL;
 			break;
@@ -344,6 +352,11 @@
 		fatal(_("cannot specify UDP protocol and bluetooth"));
 	if (protocol == SCO_PROTOCOL && family != PROTO_BLUEZ)
 		fatal(_("--sco requires --bluetooth (-b)"));
+	if (protocol == UNIX_PROTOCOL && family != PROTO_UNIX)
+		fatal(_("--unix does not need protocol specifications"));
+
+	if (family == PROTO_UNIX && listen_mode)
+		fatal(_("--unix cannot --listen yet"));
 
 	/* check compiled options */
 #ifndef ENABLE_BLUEZ
@@ -380,6 +393,10 @@
 			fatal_internal("unknown/unsupported bluetooth "
 			               "protocol %d", protocol);
 		break;
+	case PROTO_UNIX:
+		if (protocol != UNIX_PROTOCOL)
+			fatal_internal("unknown/unsupported UNIX protocol %d", protocol);
+		break;
 	default:
 		fatal_internal("invalid protocol family %d", family);
 	}
@@ -425,18 +442,18 @@
 		fatal(_("cannot set both --recv-only and --send-only"));
 	}
 
-	/* check ports have not been specified with --sco */
-	if (protocol == SCO_PROTOCOL) {
+	/* check ports have not been specified with --sco and --unix */
+	if (protocol == SCO_PROTOCOL || protocol == UNIX_PROTOCOL) {
 		if (remote_address.service != NULL)
-			fatal(_("--sco does not support remote port"));
+			fatal(_("--sco and --unix do not support remote port"));
 		if (local_address.service != NULL)
-			fatal(_("--sco does not support local port (-p)"));
+			fatal(_("--sco and --unix do not support local port (-p)"));
 	}
 
 	/* check mode specific option availability and interactions */
 	if (listen_mode == true) {
 		/* check port has been specified (except with sco) */
-		if (local_address.service == NULL && protocol != SCO_PROTOCOL) {
+		if (local_address.service == NULL && protocol != SCO_PROTOCOL && protocol != UNIX_PROTOCOL) {
 			fatal(_("in listen mode you must specify a port "
 			      "with the -p switch"));
 		}
@@ -450,6 +467,7 @@
 		/* check port has been specified (except with sco) */
 		if (remote_address.address == NULL || 
 		    (remote_address.service == NULL &&
+		    protocol != UNIX_PROTOCOL &&
 		    protocol != SCO_PROTOCOL))
 		{
 			fatal(_("you must specify the address/port couple "
@@ -553,6 +571,8 @@
 	fprintf(fp, " -6                     %s\n", _("Use only IPv6"));
 	fprintf(fp, " -b, --bluetooth        %s\n",
 	              _("Use Bluetooth (defaults to L2CAP protocol)"));
+	fprintf(fp, " -U, --unix             %s\n",
+	              _("Connect to unix domain sockets"));
 	fprintf(fp, " --buffer-size=BYTES    %s\n", _("Set buffer size"));
 	fprintf(fp, " --continuous           %s\n",
 	              _("Continuously accept connections\n"

--- a/src/unixsocket.c
+++ b/src/unixsocket.c
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+/*
+ *  unixsocket.c - address family independant networking functions
+ */  
+#include "system.h"
+#include "unixsocket.h"
+#include "misc.h"
+#include "netsupport.h"
+#include "parser.h"
+
+#include <assert.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+#include <sys/socket.h>
+#include <sys/un.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
+#include <limits.h>
+
+RCSID("@(#) $Id$");
+
+
+int unixsocket_connect(const struct addrinfo *hints,
+		const char *remote_address,
+		time_t timeout, int *rt_socktype)
+{
+	int err, fd = -1;
+	struct sockaddr_un sa;
+	const struct addrinfo *ptr = hints;
+
+	/* make sure arguments are valid and preconditions are respected */
+	assert(hints != NULL);
+	assert(remote_address != NULL && strlen(remote_address) > 0);
+	assert(sizeof(sa.sun_path) >= strlen(remote_address));
+
+	sa.sun_family = ptr->ai_family;
+	strncpy(sa.sun_path, remote_address, sizeof(sa.sun_path));
+
+
+	/* create the socket */
+	fd = socket(ptr->ai_family, ptr->ai_socktype, ptr->ai_protocol);
+	if (fd < 0) {
+		warning("cannot create the socket: %s", strerror(errno));
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	/* attempt the connection */
+	err = connect_with_timeout(fd, (struct sockaddr *)&sa, sizeof(sa), timeout);
+	
+	if (err != 0)
+	{
+		/* check error code */
+		if (verbose_mode()) {
+			/* use different error message for timeout */
+			if (errno == ETIMEDOUT) {
+				/* connection timed out */
+				warning(_("timeout while connecting to %s"), remote_address);
+			}
+			else {
+				/* connection failed */
+				warning(_("cannot connect to %s: %s"), remote_address, strerror(errno));
+			}
+		}
+		close(fd);
+		return -1;
+	}
+
+	assert(ptr == NULL || fd >= 0);
+
+	/* let the user know the connection has been established */
+	if (verbose_mode()) warning(_("%s open"), remote_address);
+
+	/* return the socktype */
+	if (rt_socktype != NULL) *rt_socktype = ptr->ai_socktype;
+
+	return fd;
+}
+

--- a/src/unixsocket.h
+++ b/src/unixsocket.h
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#ifndef UNIXSOCKET_H
+#define UNIXSOCKET_H
+
+#include <netdb.h>
+#include <sys/types.h>
+
+/* establish a connection and return a new fd and socktype */
+int unixsocket_connect(const struct addrinfo *hints,
+		const char *remote_address,
+		time_t timeout, int *socktype);
+
+#endif