Alfred

Your very own file server.

Alfred is simple file server, useful for serving directory over a network. It is an extension of python's SimpleHTTPServer and allows multiple connections simultaneously. It also support multiple command line arguments for increased flexibility.

Usage

(NOTE: You'll be required to install python before you can use alfred. Get it here)

To run using the script, clone this repository (or just download the python script), and place it wherever convenient.

To make Alfred serve the current directory, simple run the following command in your terminal:

$ python alfred.py serve

If you have set up aliases for alfred (see how), you can simply run:

$ alfred serve

To test this, open your broswer and go this url: http://localhost:8021

Alfred supports the following parameters:

-p, --port : Set the port to run the server on. Defaults to 8021
-d, --directory : Specify directory to be served. Defaults to current working directory
-c, --count-max : Specify maximum number of times directory can be served
-f, --force-port : Force the server to run on the specified port.
                   If this option is used, server won't be started if the port specified is unavailable.

So, say you want to serve your downloads directory on port 11155 and only allow it to be served twice, you would run:

$ python alfred.py serve -p 11155 -c 2 -d ~/Downloads -f

Again, having aliases, this can be simplified as:

$ alfred serve -p 11155 -c 2 -d ~/Downloads -f

To test this, open your broswer and go this url: http://localhost:11155

Setting up aliases

Typing the path to alfred's python script everytime you need to serve a directory can be tedious. So, as a shortcut, you can set a terminal alias.

UNIX Systems

To create an executable for alfred, download the bash script in this repo. Alternatively, create a new bash file alfred.sh and add the following lines to it:

#!/bin/sh

python /opt/alfred/alfred.py "$@"

2. Place the alfred.py in the /opt/alfred/ folder, and then place the alfred script in your /usr/bin/ folder.

You may place alfred.py wherever convenient, just make sure to change the path in the alfred script

To test, you can simply run in your terminal:

$ alfred serve

Windows

To set up a command line shortcut for Alfred on Windows, the following steps need to be taken.

1. Download the bat file in the repo. Alternatively, you can create a batch script by creating a file (say alfred.bat) and add the following lines to it:

@echo off

python "C:\Program Files\alfred\alfred".py %*

2. Place the .bat in C:\Program Files\alfred\, along with the python file (alfred.py).

To make cmd recognize alfred as a command, we need to set a permanent alias for it. For this, do the following:

1. Download the aliases file from this repo. Alternatively, create a new file cmd_aliases.cmd. In this file, add the following lines:

@echo off

DOSKEY alfred="C:\Program Files\alfred\alfred".bat $*

The quotes ensure path is interpreted correctly by the command line, and the $* simple passes all the arguments following the macro to the actual command.

NOTE: To use the --path option of alfred, you would be required to run alfred in an elevated command line. This is required since single fiels are served using symlinks, and Administrator priviledges are required in Windows to create them.

You can also add other aliases you may want to set up to this file. See this for more on doskey macros

2. Place this .cmd file in your AppData folder (reach it by typing %AppData in the Windows address bar)

3. To make this .cmd file run automatically, open the Run prompt (Windows key + R) and type regedit and hit enter.

4. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Command Processor.

5. Create a new entry here by Right Click -> New -> Expandable String Value. Set the name as AutoRun and the data as the path to your .cmd file (if you're following the steps as they are, it should be %AppData%/cmd_aliases.cmd).

6. That's it. Close the Registry Editor window, close any other terminals you opened, for the changes to take effect.