Simple Static File Server in Go

serve.go

/*
Serve is a very simple static file server in go
Usage:
	-p="8100": port to serve on
	-d=".":    the directory of static files to host

Navigating to http://localhost:8100 will display the index.html or directory
listing file.
*/
package main

import (
	"flag"
	"log"
	"net/http"
)

func main() {
	port := flag.String("p", "8100", "port to serve on")
	directory := flag.String("d", ".", "the directory of static file to host")
	flag.Parse()

	http.Handle("/", http.FileServer(http.Dir(*directory)))

	log.Printf("Serving %s on HTTP port: %s\n", *directory, *port)
	log.Fatal(http.ListenAndServe(":"+*port, nil))
}

thanks

Super helpful!

My code is not working if i try to serve static files from a specific directory and a specific path.

The files structure is:

- serve.go
- images
- - example.jpg

The server handle is:

http.Handle("/images/", http.FileServer(http.Dir("./images")))

With this code the server return always a 404 error when i send a request to: http://localhost:8080/images/example.jpg

What's the problem?

Update

Solved with the usage of http.StripPrefix:

http.Handle("/images/", http.StripPrefix("/images/", http.FileServer(http.Dir("./images"))))

Hi @paulmach,

I got inspired by this Gist, added printing a table of local network interfaces and a suggested URL for sharing, added flags, as well as created packages for Scoop (Windows package manager), Homebrew (macOS package manager) and Snap (Linux package manager).

See: https://github.com/philippgille/serve

I didn't add a license yet, because I wanted to ask you first about your consent regarding me creating that full-blown repository based on your Gist.

So: Is it okay for you if I add an Open Source license (haven't decided on one yet - eigher AGPL, MPL or Apache, see https://choosealicense.com/licenses/) to my project and continue working on it?

Kind regards,
Philipp

@philippgille Yes it is okay to use this GIST for whatever you want, Open Source or otherwise.

@paulmach Thanks a lot!

Awesome example of a simplest go web service. thanks for sharing

👍

Thanks for sharing, this is neat.

an interesting docker image:
https://github.com/patrickdappollonio/http-server

It's weird that this exists. I was tired of using python3 -m http.server and decided to create my own. After, I googled to see what's out there, and alas!!

package main

import (
	"flag"
	"log"
	"net/http"
	"path/filepath"
)

var (
	path = flag.String("path", ".", "path to the folder to serve. Defaults to the current folder")
	port = flag.String("port", "8080", "port to serve on. Defaults to 8080")
)

func main() {
	flag.Parse()

	dirname, err := filepath.Abs(*path)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Could not get absolute path to directory: %s: %s", dirname, err.Error())
	}

	log.Printf("Serving %s on port %s", dirname, *port)

	err = Serve(dirname, *port)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("Could not serve directory: %s: %s", dirname, err.Error())
	}

}

func Serve(dirname string, port string) error {
	fs := http.FileServer(http.Dir(dirname))
	http.Handle("/", fs)

	return http.ListenAndServe(":"+port, nil)
}

Thanks!