Tip of the Day: Quickly Share Files with Python and ngrok

Sometimes I just need to transfer a file across computers without the fuss of ssh, Google Drive, Firefox Send, etc. Examples include:

• Sharing a large video file with a colleague
• Transferring eBooks to a Kobo using the beta web browser
• Making a local share for a team to access data

Setting Up the Web Server

In your terminal, run the following:

# start a webserver that serves the current directory
# e.g., Serving HTTP on 0.0.0.0 port 8000 (http://0.0.0.0:8000/)
python3 -m http.server

In a browser, check to make sure everything is working (e.g., navigate to http://0.0.0.0:8000/). Example of serving project directory:

Creating a Public URL

If your PC is exposed to your internal network, you can simply share its local IP (order better yet, its hostname) and the port number that’s being served (e.g., 192.168.0.123:8000). In your terminal, run the following:

# get your current IP address to share with others
# e.g., 192.168.0.123
ip a

# get your current hostname
hostname

This would be good enough to share with friends/colleagues/yourself in an office or home network.

What about if you want to share your files externally and publicly? That’s where ngrok comes in. In a new terminal, run the following:

# expose a local web server to the internet
# assumes default port of python web server (i.e., 8000)
ngrok http 8000

And that’s it! Copy and share the public URLs provided and anyone with the (obfuscated) URL can access your exposed directory. This exposure will last as long as the ngrok tunnel or Python web server is running.

Here’s an example of ngrok’s output while testing this hugo website when I run hugo serve and ngrok http 1313 to expose my local web server (http://localhost:1313):

ngrok by @inconshreveable                                                                (Ctrl+C to quit)

Session Status                online
Account                       Nicholas Nadeau (Plan: Free)
Version                       2.3.35
Region                        United States (us)
Web Interface                 http://127.0.0.1:4040
Forwarding                    http://825420f6.ngrok.io -> http://localhost:1313
Forwarding                    https://825420f6.ngrok.io -> http://localhost:1313