[v4] Default public directory can't be overwritten

[h00x]

Bug report

I'm unable to change the directory of the public path.

Describe the bug

According to this documentation you're able to overwrite the default path of the public directory. Changing it in config/middlewares.js to:

{
  name: 'strapi::public',
  config: {
    path: env('PUBLIC_DIRECTORY', '/data/public'),
  },
},

does nothing to the public path.

Steps to reproduce the behavior

1. Change the public path in config/middlewares.js by changing strapi::public to an object with a config and a path property
2. Restart the server
3. Upload something
4. Can't find the uploaded file in the test directory but you are able to find it in public/uploads

Expected behavior

I expect the public directory and the content that I upload to be set to the path value I specify in config/middlewares.js.

Code snippets

Example of the change to strapi::public in config/middlewares.js.

{
  name: 'strapi::public',
  config: {
    path: './test',
  },
},

System

• Node.js version: 14.18.2
• NPM version: 6.14.15
• Strapi version: 4.0
• Database: SQLite
• Operating system: Debian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)

Additional context

Trying to get Strapi v4 working on Render.com. Changing the public path is the only thing holding me back using Strapi v4 on an ephemeral environment.

[TasosBak]

Hey @h00x did you have any luck with this?

[h00x]

Nope not yet, thinking about moving the images to something like Cloudinary while waiting for this to get fixed.

[TasosBak]

I did this:

1. Add a middleware.js file in your config folder if you do not have one
2. Your middleware.js file should be like this
   module.exports = ({ env }) => ({ settings: { public: { path: '../test' }, } })
3. Rebuild

Notes

• the path I gave is one level up from the project folder because this is my use case. With ./test you point to a folder in the project root.
• if you want to use the path somewhere else in the project you can access it like this: strapi.config.get('middleware.settings.public.path')
• you have to replicate the public folder's structure in your new folder or else it won't work.

[h00x]

Thanks for your answer @TasosBak. Are you sure this is for Strapi v4? Because this does nothing in v4. I checked the docs for v3 and it seems like the answer you gave is for v3.

[derrickmehaffy]

This issue has been mentioned on Strapi Community Forum. There might be relevant details there:

https://forum.strapi.io/t/trying-to-get-strapi-v4-to-work-on-render-com/13201/3

[leoliuasia]

I looked the source code for this configuration, founded that this path is hard coded. Something like 'strapi.dirs.public'. You can change this to your path, or change the code to get your own config from middlewares.js. Or change "public: join(root, 'public')" to your path from file 'get-dirs.js'. Or wait the developer fix this problem which change hard coded path to get user configed path. For now configuration only maxAge and defaultIndex enabled.

[balmacefa]

Please update the doc. There is no reference on how to override the internals middleware...
add {name, config} to the docs

[derrickmehaffy]

Please update the doc. There is no reference on how to override the internals middleware... add {name, config} to the docs

You shouldn't need to overwrite the core middleware for this, it's a bug that we need to fix.

In the meantime you could use patch-package to fix it if you know where the problem is

[derrickmehaffy]

Problem code is here:

strapi/packages/core/strapi/lib/utils/get-dirs.js

Line 14 in 0f9b692

public: join(root, 'public'),