Node.js quick file server (static files over HTTP)

Question

Is there Node.js ready-to-use tool (installed with npm), that would help me expose folder content as file server over HTTP.

Example, if I have

D:\Folder\file.zip
D:\Folder\file2.html
D:\Folder\folder\file-in-folder.jpg

Then starting in D:\Folder\ node node-file-server.js I could access file via

http://hostname/file.zip
http://hostname/file2.html
http://hostname/folder/file-in-folder.jpg

Why is my node static file server dropping requests? reference some mystical

standard node.js static file server

If there's no such tool, what framework should I use?

Related: Basic static file server in NodeJS

Answer 1

A simple Static-Server using connect

var connect = require('connect'),
  directory = __dirname,
  port = 3000;

connect()
  .use(connect.logger('dev'))
  .use(connect.static(directory))
  .listen(port);

console.log('Listening on port ' + port);

See also Using node.js as a simple web server

Answer 2

You also asked why requests are dropping - not sure what's the specific reason on your case, but in overall you better server static content using dedicated middleware (nginx, S3, CDN) because Node is really not optimized for this networking pattern. See further explanation here (bullet 13): http://goldbergyoni.com/checklist-best-practice-of-node-js-in-production/

Answer 3

A good "ready-to-use tool" option could be http-server:

npm install http-server -g

To use it:

cd D:\Folder
http-server

Or, like this:

http-server D:\Folder

Check it out: https://github.com/nodeapps/http-server

Answer 4

If you do not want to use ready tool, you can use the code below, as demonstrated by me at https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Node_server_without_framework:

var http = require('http');
var fs = require('fs');
var path = require('path');

http.createServer(function (request, response) {
    console.log('request starting...');

    var filePath = '.' + request.url;
    if (filePath == './')
        filePath = './index.html';

    var extname = path.extname(filePath);
    var contentType = 'text/html';
    switch (extname) {
        case '.js':
            contentType = 'text/javascript';
            break;
        case '.css':
            contentType = 'text/css';
            break;
        case '.json':
            contentType = 'application/json';
            break;
        case '.png':
            contentType = 'image/png';
            break;      
        case '.jpg':
            contentType = 'image/jpg';
            break;
        case '.wav':
            contentType = 'audio/wav';
            break;
    }

    fs.readFile(filePath, function(error, content) {
        if (error) {
            if(error.code == 'ENOENT'){
                fs.readFile('./404.html', function(error, content) {
                    response.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': contentType });
                    response.end(content, 'utf-8');
                });
            }
            else {
                response.writeHead(500);
                response.end('Sorry, check with the site admin for error: '+error.code+' ..\n');
                response.end(); 
            }
        }
        else {
            response.writeHead(200, { 'Content-Type': contentType });
            response.end(content, 'utf-8');
        }
    });

}).listen(8125);
console.log('Server running at http://127.0.0.1:8125/');

UPDATE If you need to access your server from external demand/file, you need to overcome the CORS, in your node.js file by writing the below, as I mentioned in a previous answer here

// Website you wish to allow to connect
response.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*');

// Request methods you wish to allow
response.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Methods', 'GET, POST, OPTIONS, PUT, PATCH, DELETE');

// Request headers you wish to allow
response.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', 'X-Requested-With,content-type');

// Set to true if you need the website to include cookies in the requests sent
// to the API (e.g. in case you use sessions)
response.setHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Credentials', true);

UPDATE

As Adrian mentioned, in the comments, he wrote an ES6 code with full explanation here, I just re-posting his code below, in case the code gone from the original site for any reason:

const http = require('http');
const url = require('url');
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');
const port = process.argv[2] || 9000;

http.createServer(function (req, res) {
  console.log(`${req.method} ${req.url}`);

  // parse URL
  const parsedUrl = url.parse(req.url);
  // extract URL path
  let pathname = `.${parsedUrl.pathname}`;
  // based on the URL path, extract the file extention. e.g. .js, .doc, ...
  const ext = path.parse(pathname).ext;
  // maps file extention to MIME typere
  const map = {
    '.ico': 'image/x-icon',
    '.html': 'text/html',
    '.js': 'text/javascript',
    '.json': 'application/json',
    '.css': 'text/css',
    '.png': 'image/png',
    '.jpg': 'image/jpeg',
    '.wav': 'audio/wav',
    '.mp3': 'audio/mpeg',
    '.svg': 'image/svg+xml',
    '.pdf': 'application/pdf',
    '.doc': 'application/msword'
  };

  fs.exists(pathname, function (exist) {
    if(!exist) {
      // if the file is not found, return 404
      res.statusCode = 404;
      res.end(`File ${pathname} not found!`);
      return;
    }

    // if is a directory search for index file matching the extention
    if (fs.statSync(pathname).isDirectory()) pathname += '/index' + ext;

    // read file from file system
    fs.readFile(pathname, function(err, data){
      if(err){
        res.statusCode = 500;
        res.end(`Error getting the file: ${err}.`);
      } else {
        // if the file is found, set Content-type and send data
        res.setHeader('Content-type', map[ext] || 'text/plain' );
        res.end(data);
      }
    });
  });


}).listen(parseInt(port));

console.log(`Server listening on port ${port}`);

Answer 5

Install express using npm: https://expressjs.com/en/starter/installing.html

Create a file named server.js at the same level of your index.html with this content:

var express = require('express');
var server = express();
server.use('/', express.static(__dirname + '/'));
server.listen(8080);

If you wish to put it in a different location, set the path on the third line:

server.use('/', express.static(__dirname + '/public'));

CD to the folder containing your file and run node from the console with this command:

node server.js

Browse to localhost:8080

Answer 6

If you use the Express framework, this functionality comes ready to go.

To setup a simple file serving app just do this:

mkdir yourapp
cd yourapp
npm install express
node_modules/express/bin/express