mayfly¶ ↑

mayfly is a tiny HTTP server with a very short lifespan, existing only to serve a single file for a predefined number of times, it then quietly shuffles off this mortal coil.

• HTTPS transfers

• Basic Auth

• Growl support for Mac users

Mayfly lives at github.com/matth/mayfly/

Run the following if you haven’t already:

gem sources -a gemcutter.org

Install the gem:

sudo gem install mayfly

Basic usage:

mayfly /path/to/your/file Your file will now be available at:

http://localhost:7887/mayfly/

Server the file 10 times:

mayfly –lives 10 /path/to/your/file

On a different port:

mayfly –port 3333 /path/to/your/file

Over HTTPS with Basic Auth:

mayfly –secure –auth /path/to/your/file To list the full set of options:

mayfly –help Usage: mayfly [options] file -h, –help Show this message -v, –verbose Run verbosely -p, –port number Port number, default 7887 -l, –lives number How long mayfly should live for, how many requests it serves, default 1 –[no-]secure Turn https on or off, off by default –[no-]auth Turn authentication on or off, off by default –passwd password If using auth then provide your password as an argument –version Show version

sudo gem uninstall mayfly -a

Some nice to haves

• A nice icon, especially for Growl notifications

• A –quiet option

• More extensive tests

• Seems to crash with large files over HTTPS

• Concurrency? Probably not

This project was inspired by a very similar application I once read about online. I’d like to have used that app but can’t for the life of me remember what it was called. Oh well, it’s more fun to roll your own.

(GPLv3)

Copyright © 2009 Matt Haynes

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see <www.gnu.org/licenses/>