Node.js public/private download server

npm install --save download-server

This is a small library and app to implement a file download server that is capable of serving public and private files.

Private files cannot be downloaded unless requested via a URL that contains a valid temporary download key. Temporary download keys are generated via an API call.

This download server can run as a standalone app or be included as a library in any Node.js app.

The following options are available:

Option	Default value (standalone only)	Description
apiKey		Shared secret key for requesting new download links to be generated
publicDir		The local directory containing publicly downloadable files
publicPath	"/public"	The base path of publicly downloadable file URLs
privateDir		The local directory containing privately downloadable files
privatePath	"/private"	The base path of privately downloadable file URLs
port	3000	The port on which the server runs
ttl	300	The number of seconds from creation after which links expire

If publicDir is not specified, this server will not serve public files. If privateDir and/or apiKey are not specified, this server will not serve private files, nor will it take requests to generate temporary download keys.

Here's an example of running this as a standalone app:

node main \
    --apiKey secret123
    --publicDir /path/to/public
    --privateDir /path/to/private

This starts an instance that serves public and private files on port 3000 with a temporary download key expiry of 300 seconds.

Here's an example of embedding this in a Node.js app:

var downloadServer = require('download-server');

var _server = null;

downloadServer.start({
    apiKey: 'secret123',
    publicDir: '/path/to/public',
    publicPath: '/public',
    privateDir: '/path/to/private',
    privatePath: '/private',
    port: 3000,
    ttl: 300
}, function(server) {
    _server = server;
    console.log('Download server started on port 3000');
});

// ...

// Stop the download server
downloadServer.stop(_server);

More documentation to follow...