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http file upload

09 Jun 2024

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http-file-upload

install

npm global installation

node-x

uninstall

npm global installation

operation

network interface / port

user interface

command line parameters

download url

download files list

upload url

quit

launch

example useage

upload/download files the current directory

upload/download files in the current directory using port 4000

download a txt file in node.js

download a large binary file in node.js

download all files in a directory in node.js

upload a file in node.js

upload a large binary file in node.js

upload a file from the browser

download a file with curl

serving files from an alternate directory

single file http-file-upload.js

update https certificate

using http

alternate installation methods

npm local install

install from github

system path environment variable

feedback

stackoverflow chat

links

other interesting works

http-file-upload

http-file-upload is a http server whose only function is to upload and download files ( of any size )

the http server has been designed as a single, no dependency, file for ease of use and portability

files can be uploaded and downloaded

using the built browser interface
by a http request, such as those made through node.js, php, curl, python, c++, c#, java

install

npm global installation

recommended way to install


npm install http-file-upload -g

http-file-upload can then be run from anywhere on the file system by entering on the command line


http-file-upload -version

note : windows powershell users

running powershell scripts are disabled by default

to get the script to run normally in powershell users will have to delete http-file-upload.ps1 file from the default npm script installation directory this is usually


c:/users/<user>/AppData/Roaming/npm/

or launch the program using


http-file-upload.cmd -version

node-x

i also have another utility for running node.js scripts : node-x

npm : node-x

install locally with npm


npm install http-file-upload

if the directory is not already accessible to node-x, add the current directory


node-x -add

then run from anywhere on the command line with


node-x http-file-upload.js -version

see also alternative installation methods below

uninstall

npm global installation


npm uninstall http-file-upload -g

operation

network interface / port

the server listens on all network interfaces

the default port is 3000

user interface

the built in user interface is accessible, on all network interfaces

https://127.0.0.1:3000/ https://127.0.0.1:3000/hello

command line parameters

http-file-upload supports the following command line parameters

the parameters can be specified in any order, with or without the dash or with a double dash

-p \| -port	<port>	sets the port the server listens on
-d \| -dir	<dir>	sets a directory to put new uploads or where to find files for download, its relative to the serving directory, if the directory does not exist it is created
-cwd	<directory>	sets the current working directory for the script
-https \| -http		set whether the server uses https ( default ) or http
-cert	<cert-file> <key-file>	specify a public certificate to use, pem format, the current certificate and key will be replaced and written to the file generate https certificates
-v \| -version		prints the current version of the program
-h \| -help		command line quick help

download url

download a file using a http request at url


https://127.0.0.1:3000/download?<filename>

download files list

a list of all files available to download is available from the following url, data in JSON format is returned


https://127.0.0.1:3000/download-list

{files:["a.txt","b.txt"]}

upload url

upload a file to this url using a http request, the upload body must be a binary file


https://127.0.0.1:3000/upload?<filename>

quit

http-file-upload can be quit from the command line by pressing


escape / q / ctrl-c

or by using the quit icon in the built in user interface

launch

if http-file-upload is accessible globally, and you have some files you want to access over http in a directory /work/tmp/

change to directory /work/tmp/
type http-file-upload press enter

open a web browser at https://localhost:3000/
perform a http request

example useage

upload/download files in the current directory


http-file-upload

upload/download files in the current directory using port 4000


http-file-upload -p 4000

download a txt file in node.js


var url     = 'https://localhost:3000/download?myfile.js';
var opts    = {rejectUnauthorized:false};

require('https').get(url,opts,async res=>{

  // node >v20
  
      var body    = '';
      for await(data of res)body   += data;
      console.log(body);   

  
  // not using for await ...
  
      var body  = '';
      res.on('data',data=>body+=data);
      res.on('end',()=>console.log(body));
      
});

download a large binary file in node.js


var url     = 'https://localhost:3000/download?video.mp4';
var opts    = {rejectUnauthorized:false};

require('https').get(url,opts,async res=>{

      var fd    = require('fs').createWriteStream('/tmp/video.mp4');
      res.pipe(fd);
  
});

download all files in a directory in node.js


var url     = 'https://localhost:3000/';
var opts    = {rejectUnauthorized:false};
var https   = require('https');

https.get(`${url}download-list`,opts,async res=>{

      var body    = '';
      res.on('data',data=>body+=data);
      res.on('end',()=>{
      
            var json    = JSON.parse(body);
            json.files.forEach(file=>{
            
                  https.get(`${url}download?${file}`,opts,res=>{
                  
                        var fd    = fs.createWriteStream(file);
                        res.pipe(fd);
                    
                  });
              
            });
            
      });
  
});

upload a file in node.js


var url     = 'https://localhost:3000/upload?my-file.txt';
var body    = require('fs').readFileSync('my-file.txt');

var req     = require('https').request(url,{method:'post',rejectUnauthorized:false},rec);
req.write(body);
req.end();

req.on('error', function(err){
      console.log(err);
});

async function rec(res){

      var body = '';
      res.on('data',data=>body+=data);
      res.on('end',()=>console.log(body));
      
}//rec

upload a large binary file in node.js


var fd      = require('fs').createReadStream('video.mp4');

var url     = 'https://localhost:3000/upload?video.mp4';
var opts    = {method:'post',rejectUnauthorized:false};

var req     = require('https').request(url,opts,rec);
req.on('error',err=>console.log(err));
fd.pipe(req);


async function rec(res){

      var body = '';
      res.on('data',data=>body+=data);
      res.on('end',()=>console.log(body));
      
}//rec

upload a file from the browser

remember to accept the server cert in the browser


var input         = document.createElement('input');
input.type        = 'file';
input.onchange    = onchange;
input.click();

async function onchange(e){

      var file    = input.files[0];
      var url     = `https://localhost:3000/upload?${file.name}`;
      var res     = await fetch(url,{method:'post',body:file});
      var txt     = await res.text();
      console.log(txt);
      
}//onchange

download a file with curl


curl --insecure https://localhost:3000/download?my-file.txt

serving files from an alternate directory

if you installed http-file-upload locally with npm at /work/http-file-upload/ and wish to access files at /work/tmp/


npx http-file-upload -cwd /work/tmp/

single file http-file-upload.js

/work/http-file-upload/ and wish to access files at /work/tmp/


node http-file-upload -cwd /work/tmp/

update https certificate

you can download certificates from generate https certificates

the files can be given in either order and the key and cert must be pem encoded


http-file-upload -cert server-cert.pem private-key.pem

using http


http-file-upload -http

alternate installation methods

npm local install


npm install http-file-upload

this will download http-file-upload to ./node_modules/http-file-upload

http-file-upload can then be run using the command, from the directory which you issued the npm install command


npx http-file-upload -version

install from github

download the project files as a zip file from github

http-file-upload.zip

unzip the file, then either run locally or add the launch script to the system path

download the single file

http-file-upload.js

http-file-upload can then be run by


node http-file-upload -version

system path environment variable

if you would like http-file-upload to be accessible from anywhere on the file system, the directory


http-file-upload/ext/

should be added to the system path, http-file-upload comes with the following shell scripts to launch the process :


windows ............ http-file-upload/ext/http-file-upload.bat
mac ................ http-file-upload/ext/http-file-upload.sh
linux .............. http-file-upload/ext/http-file-upload.sh

feedback

stackoverflow chat

im usually available in the stackoverflow javascript chat room user matt, come and say hi, id love to hear from you

email

or by email javascript.12.03.2024@gmail.com

links

https://github.com/javascript-2020/code-projects/tree/main/http-file-upload/

other interesting works

https://github.com/javascript-2020/code-projects/tree/main