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

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 extension. e.g. .js, .doc, ...   const ext = path.parse(pathname).ext;   // maps file extension 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 extension     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 2

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