Running a Python web server

By Bjarni R. Einarsson 2011-01-16, 13:26

Note!

The following, although still valid, is largely pointless now that pagekite.py 0.4.x comes with its own built-in web server. If you want to put the contents of a folder temporarily on the web, this command will do the job:

$ pagekite.py /path/to/folder YOURNAME.pagekite.me

Much easier!

Original content ...

Since you already have Python installed in order to run pagekite.py, you can try the built-in Python HTTP server for sharing files or just testing PageKite. At the command prompt, enter the folder you would like to make visible and run the following:

python -m SimpleHTTPServer 8000

This will create a web-server serving only the files in the current working directory, on port 8000.

Note that this server is very simple, slow and probably a security risk. It probably isn't wise to leave it running for long, but it can be quite useful for testing.

The HowTo contains links to other, more powerful servers.