nate-gehringer / static-server

A fine HTTP(S) development server for static content

Backwater Systems ◦ static-server.js

❝A fine HTTP(S) development server for static content❞

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About

Powered by Koa.

Usage

NODE_ENV=development ./static-server.js \
	. `# [root_folder]` \
	localhost `# [host_name]` \
	8020 `# [port_number]` \
	localhost `# [certificate_name]`

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Settings

Details

• certificate_name

  Default value: localhost

  Given, for example – localhost, the following certificate files are expected …

  • ./localhost.key: Private key
  • ./localhost.csr: Certificate signing request
  • ./localhost.crt: Certificate

  Note: If the certificate files cannot be read, the server uses HTTP instead of HTTPS.

• file_name_extension_media_type_map

  Default value: new Map()

  Custom specifications of file name extensions mapped to Content-Type HTTP header values. Values for file name extensions not included in the map are determined via Koa’s internal file name extension–lookup mechanism.

  For example, the following data results in files with the file name extension .mustache being served with the HTTP header Content-Type: text/plain …

   [
   	[ "mustache", "text/plain" ]
   ]

  Note: Files without a file name extension default to Content-Type: text/plain.

• host_name

  Default value: localhost

  The host name to which the server is bound.

• port_number

  Default value: 8020

  The port number to which the server is bound. Must be 80, 443, or in the range 1024 – 65535.

• root_folder

  Default value: .

  The relative path of the root folder served.

Environment variables

• The NODE_ENV environment variable is respected and used for the Koa.env property if its value is …

  • development (default)
  • production

Command-line arguments

#	Name
1	Root folder
2	Host name
3	Port number
4	Certificate name

Note: Command-line arguments override settings in the configuration file.

Configuration file

Settings can be specified in a JSON file (static-server.configuration.json) located in the same folder as the server script.

The file should contain an object with any of the following (optional) properties …

{
	"certificate_name": "",
	"file_name_extension_media_type_map": [
		[ "`${file_name_extension}`", "`${media_type}`" ]
	],
	"host_name": "",
	"port_number": "",
	"root_folder": ""
}

Note: Settings in the configuration file are overriden by command-line arguments, if specified.

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HTTPS

Self-signed certificate generation example

1. Execute the following commands …

   openssl genrsa -out localhost.key 4096 && \
   openssl req -new -sha256 -key localhost.key -out localhost.csr && \
   openssl x509 -req -signkey localhost.key -in localhost.csr -out localhost.crt -days 365

2. Respond to the Distinguished Name information prompts as appropriate.

Adapted from https://nodejs.org/api/tls.html#tls_tls_ssl_concepts.

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© 2020 – 2023 Nate Gehringer ◦ Backwater Systems