serve-zip

Simple HTTP server that streams directories as a ZIP

Introduction

This server is a dependency for setting up a dead simple, modern file browser using nginx. There are two parts:

1. autoindex.xslt, which renders HTML pages to navigate, preview, and download individual files
2. This server, which allows you to download entire directories as a ZIP file

Usage

⚠️ There is no form of authentication built into this project. It is left for you to set up!

1. Run this server using the binary in releases or Docker image. Run with --help to see all available options:

   Usage: serve-zip <root>
   
   Simple HTTP server that streams directories as a ZIP.
   
   Arguments:
     <root>    Path from which to serve files.
   
   Flags:
     -h, --help          Show context-sensitive help.
         --symlinks      Follow symlinks. WARNING: Allows escaping the root path!
         --hidden        Serve files and directories that start with dot.
         --level=0       ZIP compression level (0/store - 9/highest).
         --prefix="/"    URL prefix to be removed before serving.
         --host=""       Host on which to listen, empty for all.
         --port=8080     Port on which to listen.
         --json          Log in JSON instead of pretty printing.

2. In your /etc/nginx/nginx.conf, add the following line at the top:

   load_module modules/ngx_http_xslt_filter_module.so;

3. Drop autoindex.xslt in a path like: /etc/nginx/static/autoindex.xslt

4. Set up your file browser conf file, adjusting the server url, autoindex path, and root directory if necessary:

   location @zip {
     proxy_pass http://serve-zip:8080;
   }
   error_page 418 = @zip;
   
   location / {
     if ($arg_zip) {
       return 418;
     }
     autoindex on;
     autoindex_format xml;
     autoindex_exact_size off;
     autoindex_localtime off;
     xslt_stylesheet /etc/nginx/static/autoindex.xslt;
     root /my-data/;
   }

Credits

autoindex.xslt is a modified version of Nginx-Autoindex.

This server borrows some code from gosses.