🔐 Auth File Server

A lightweight, password-protected HTTP file server written in Python.
It serves directory listings, supports a public folder with redirect behavior, hides hidden files, and is fully configurable via a .env file.

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🚀 Features

• 🔒 Basic authentication with SHA256 password hashing
• 📁 Directory listing (excluding hidden files)
• 🌐 Public folder that does not show directory index
• 🔁 Public folder can optionally redirect to a URL
• 🔄 Configurable file transfer method: copyfile or sendfile
• ⚙️ .env support for clean configuration
• 🧵 Threaded server for concurrent downloads
• 📦 Docker and systemd compatible
• 🧪 Interactive setup with --set-user and --set-pass

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📦 Requirements

• Python 3.7+
• python-dotenv

Install with:

pip3 install python-dotenv

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⚙️ Configuration

Create a .env file in the same directory as auth_server.py:

AUTH_USERNAME=peoriait
AUTH_PASSWORD_HASH=<your_sha256_hash>
AUTH_PORT=8080
AUTH_PUBLIC_DIR=public
AUTH_SERVE_DIR=.
AUTH_PUBLIC_REDIRECT=https://www.peoriait.com
TRANSFER_METHOD=copyfile

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🔐 Password Hashing

To create a password hash:

python3 auth_server.py --set-user

Or to just update the password:

python3 auth_server.py --set-pass

This safely hashes the password and updates your .env.

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🏃 Usage

Start the server:

python3 auth_server.py

Serve from a different port or public directory:

python3 auth_server.py --port 9090 --public-dir media

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🚧 Public Folder Behavior

• Files inside the public folder do not require authentication
• Directories inside it are not listed
• Accessing the folder root (e.g. /public/) redirects to AUTH_PUBLIC_REDIRECT

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⚡ Transfer Method

You can choose between two file transfer methods:

Method	Description	Recommended when…
copyfile	Buffered transfer (safe, default)	✅ Portable and stable everywhere
sendfile	Zero-copy OS syscall (faster)	⚠️ High-performance, but may fail in LXC

Set in .env:

TRANSFER_METHOD=copyfile

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🧪 Testing Speed

To test raw performance of the server, try curl or wget:

curl -O http://<host>:<port>/<filename>

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🐳 Docker (Optional)

If you'd like to run this with Docker Compose:

version: '3.8'
services:
  auth-server:
    image: python:3
    working_dir: /app
    volumes:
      - ./auth_server.py:/app/auth_server.py
      - ./files:/app/files
      - ./public:/app/files/public
      - ./auth.env:/app/.env
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    command: python3 auth_server.py

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🖥 systemd Service (Linux)

You can also run this as a service. Create a systemd file like:

[Unit]
Description=Python Auth File Server
After=network.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/python3 /opt/auth-server/auth_server.py
WorkingDirectory=/opt/auth-server
EnvironmentFile=/opt/auth-server/.env
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable with:

sudo systemctl daemon-reexec
sudo systemctl enable --now auth-server

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🛡 Security Notes

• All credentials are stored in .env — protect it like a password
• SHA256 is used for password hashing, not bcrypt (for simplicity)
• No HTTPS built-in — use a reverse proxy (like Nginx) for encryption

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🙌 Credits

Built with ❤️ by PeoriaIT.

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📜 License

MIT