Recommended File Sharing Software: Dufs

File sharing is a common need, such as downloading files from a computer via a home router, accessing a directory on a computer via a mobile phone, or sharing a large file with colleagues on the design team within a local area network. In these situations, starting a file sharing service with a single command is a simple solution. dufs is a small and beautiful software that does just that.

There are many similar software programs, but I like this one the most. Python 2's python -m SimpleHTTPServer and Python 3's python3 -m http.server also have their advantages. After all, most Linux systems come with them, making them very useful in terminal emergencies. However, their disadvantages are limited functionality, low performance, and support for file uploads. dufs provides static file services, supporting file uploads, searching, permission control, directory package downloads, and even WebDAV support.

If you've ever used Nginx to set up a static file server, you'll understand how crucial these features are. I have to say, the author understands users. If uploads aren't supported, file content sources are limited; search isn't available, making file retrieval a hassle when the file count increases; and without permission control, bad actors can secretly download sensitive files from your disk. Downloading directories automatically creates a zip archive when saving as a file—a thoughtful touch. WebDAV and Joplin also work well together. If the default web UI isn't pretty, you can customize it. The author is a real expert!

Back to the topic: Installation and usage steps are as follows:

1. Installation

Install directly with cargo from Rust:

1cargo install dufs

For other operating systems, you can download the installation package directly from the official release page.

2. Example

• Read-only mode

1dufs

• Full-featured mode

1dufs -A

• Upload only

1dufs --allow-upload

• Specify a directory

1dufs Downloads

• Single-file mode

1dufs linux-distro.iso

• Single-page application mode, similar to react/vue

1dufs --render-spa

• Static site, index file is index.html

1dufs --render-index

• Enable permissions

1dufs -a /@admin:123

• Specify an IP and port

1dufs -b 127.0.0.1 -p 80

• Listen on a Unix socket. This feature is available.

1dufs -b /tmp/dufs.socket

• Enable HTTPS

1dufs --tls-cert my.crt --tls-key my.key

For more advanced examples, see the official documentation.

You can also view the help directly

 1➜ ~dufs --help
 2Dufs is a distinctive utility file server - https://github.com/sigoden/dufs
 3
 4Usage: dufs [OPTIONS] [serve_path]
 5
 6Arguments: 
 7[serve_path] Specific path to serve [default: .]
 8
 9Options: 
10-b, --bind <addrs> Specify bind address or unix socket 
11-p, --port <port> Specify port to listen on [default: 5000] 
12--path-prefix <path> Specify a path prefix 
13--hidden <value> Hide paths from directory listings, separated by `,` 
14-a, --auth <rules> Add auth role 
15--auth-method <value> Select auth method [default: digest] [possible values: basic, digest] 
16-A, --allow-all Allow all operations 
17--allow-upload Allow upload files/folders 
18--allow-delete Allow delete files/folders 
19--allow-search Allow search files/folders 
20--allow-symlink Allow symlink to files/folders outside root directory 
21--allow-archive Allow zip archive generation 
22--enable-cors Enable CORS, sets `Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *` 
23--render-index Serve index.html when requesting a directory, returns 404 if not found index.html 
24--render-try-index Serve index.html when requesting a directory, returns directory listing if not found index.html 
25--render-spa Serve SPA(Single Page Application) 
26--assets <path> Use custom assets to override builtin assets 
27--tls-cert <path> Path to an SSL/TLS certificate to serve with HTTPS 
28--tls-key <path> Path to the SSL/TLS certificate's private key 
29--log-format <format> Customize http log format 
30--completions <shell> Print shell completion script for <shell> [possible values: bash, elvish, fish, PowerShell, zsh]
31-h, --help Print help
32-V, --version Print version

3. Screenshots

First, start:

1➜ alacritty git:(master) dufs -b 127.0.0.1 -A
2Listening on http://127.0.0.1:5000/

Screenshots with simple captions

Overall, dufs is compact and powerful, simple and concise. The author's speed in fixing issues is also amazing. A suggestion I made that day was immediately addressed and resolved. Just like the Flask author, he's a highly efficient person!