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bashttpd is a simple, configurable web server written in bash

Requirements

  1. bash, any recent version should work
  2. socat or netcat to handle the underlying sockets.
  3. A healthy dose of insanity

Examples

  socat TCP4-LISTEN:8080 EXEC:/usr/local/bin/bashttpd

Or

  netcat -lp 8080 -e ./bashttpd

Note that in the socat example above, the web server will immediately exit once the first connection closes. If you wish to serve to more than one client - like most servers do, then use the variant:

 socat TCP4-LISTEN:8080,fork EXEC:/usr/local/bin/bashttpd

This way, a new process is spawned for each incoming connection.

Getting started

  1. Running bashttpd for the first time will generate a default configuration file, bashttpd.conf
  2. Review bashttpd.conf and configure it as you want.
  3. Run bashttpd using netcat or socat, as listed above.

Features

  1. Serves text and HTML files
  2. Shows directory listings
  3. Allows for configuration based on the client-specified URI

Limitations

  1. Does not support authentication
  2. Doesn't strictly adhere to the HTTP spec.

Security

  1. Only rudimentary input handling. We would not running this on a public machine.

HTTP protocol support

403: Returned when a directory is not listable, or a file is not readable 400: Returned when the first word of the first line is not GET 200: Returned with valid content Content-type: Bashttpd uses /usr/bin/file to determine the MIME type to sent to the browser 1.0: The server doesn't support Host: headers or other HTTP/1.1 features - it barely supports HTTP/1.0!

As always, your patches/pull requests are welcome!

Testimonials

"If anyone installs that anywhere, they might meet a gruesome end with a rusty fork" --- BasHTTPd creator, maintainer