Home Command line utilities How To Instantly Share Files And Folders In Arch Linux

How To Instantly Share Files And Folders In Arch Linux

By sk
Published: Last Updated on 12.3K views

There are so many ways to share files or folders in Arch Linux. You could setup a samba share, nfs share, or use USB drive to share or transfer files. But wait, there is an alternative way to instantly share files and folders in Arch Linux. Quickserve allows you to share files quickly between Arch Linux systems. It is a simple http server, so you don't need to install any additional applications on any systems. Just install it and share files in no time. All you need is a web browser in the client systems to access the files/folders. Quickserve can serve either a single file or an entire directory by simply passing their paths on the command line. It can also accept a list of files to share with the "--filelist" option. It is even possible to enable uploads using the "--upload" option, which accepts a directory path as its argument.

Features

Concerning about the features, we can list the following:

  • Very simple to install and use.
  • Support for file and filter lists.
  • Upload support.
  • HTTP Digest Authentication.
  • HTTPS with client certificates for secure connections.
  • Multicast support for automatic detection of other Quickserve servers.

Install Quickserve

Qucikserve is not available in the official repositories. You can install it from AUR using any AUR helpers.

Using Yay:

$ yay -S quickserve

Please note that Quickserve in AUR is very old and not updated for a long time. So, you may not able to install it.

Luckily, there is also an unofficial repository that provides latest Quickserve.

A word of caution: The official Arch Linux Developers and the Trusted Users do not perform tests of any sort to verify the contents of unofficial repositories. You must decide whether to trust their maintainers and you take full responsibility for any consequences of using any unofficial repository.

Edit pacman.conf file:

$ sudo nano /etc/pacman.conf

Add the following lines at the end:

[xyne-any]
Server = http://xyne.archlinux.ca/repos/xyne

Save and close the pacman.conf file.

Now, install quickserve using pacman as shown below.

$ sudo pacman -S quickserve

Instantly Share Files And Folders in Arch Linux using Quickserve

Let us say your friend come over to your desk and asks a file or folder. You don't need to setup any file sharing applications, just install Quickserve and share the files and folders instantly like below.

$ quickserve <path_to_file_or_folder>

It's simple as that. Now, your friend can access the shares via web browser by visiting to URL - http://IP_Address:8000.

You might need to allow the port via firewall/router. It's no big deal either. The following commands will do the trick if you use firewalld.

$ sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8000/tcp
$ sudo firewall-cmd --reload

On Debian, Ubuntu, you can allow port 800 as shown below.

$ sudo ufw allow 8000

Now, let us see how to use Quickserve to quickly serve files and folders over network. Say for example, let us share a directory named test. To do so, run:

$ quickserve test/

Sample output:

MulticastQuickserveServer
 PID 535
 Addresses 
 lo: 127.0.0.1
 enp0s3: 192.168.1.105
 Port 8000
 Multicast False
 Filelist None
 Filterlist None
 MOTD None
 Upload Directory None
 Tar Disabled
 Paths 
 test
 /home/sk/test
 Static Peers None

Press ctrl+C to exit.

The command will start up a http server on all interfaces listening on port 8000. Now, your friends can access this shared folder by navigating to http://IP_address_of_your_system:8000/ from their web browser.

Here is the sample screenshot of the above share.

Alternatively, he/she can use wget or anything to access or download the shares. Quite handy, isn't? Yes, it is! You can share any folder or file as I described above in your Arch Linux systems. To exit Quickserve, simply press CTRL+C.


Also read:


For more details, refer the quickserve help section.

$ quickserve -h

That's it. Now, you know how to share files and folders quickly between Arch Linux systems. I will be soon here with another interesting guide. If you find this article useful, share it on your social networks and support OSTechNix.

Cheers!

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2 comments

Jane Doe March 1, 2017 - 5:00 pm

Hi there!
I’ve recently discovered your blog, and have to admit that your work is awesome!
I run Arch Linux, and many of your guides and tricks are extremely helpful.
Thank you so much for all the effort you put into all this.
Please know, that it MAKES a difference!
Keep on the excellent work!
Thank you again! 🙂

Reply
SK March 2, 2017 - 7:06 am

Your kind words encourages me to work hard. Keep visiting and recommend our blog to your friends and colleagues. Thank you very much Jane Doe.

Reply

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