Member Avatar for group256

I have an apache server running on Ubuntu server and I've plugged all my external hard disks to it and mounted them so I can access my files using apache file and folder listing.

It's good enough for browsing through files and folders, but it's not efficient because I can't modify files, move them, remove them or more importantly search for specific files.

Is there something like dropbox file manager that's an open source package that can provide efficient, yet stable file manager for my apache server?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by tzakuk

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mounted external drives and is using Apache directory listings for browsing but needs full file operations (edit/move/delete) and search. pointed to dirList and tried eXtplorer (reported that links force download), while suggested FTP. Two practical paths exist: add a full web file-manager, or expose an authoring protocol (WebDAV/SFTP) and use a client.

For a web UI: elFinder is a mature JS+PHP file manager with drag/drop, inline editing and search. File Browser is a lightweight single-binary server that can serve a directory with upload/edit/preview. For heavier needs (indexing, desktop sync, external-storage mounting) Nextcloud/ownCloud or Pydio give a Dropbox-like experience but need more setup and resources. (studio-42.github.io)

About the eXtplorer download behavior: whether a file opens in the browser or is downloaded is controlled by the response headers (Content-Disposition and Content-Type). Check the exact response with curl or the browser Network tab, for example:

curl -I 'http://server.example/path/to/file.pdf'

If the response contains Content-Disposition: attachment the browser will prompt to save. If the PHP connector (eXtplorer) is sending that header, change its config or connector code; otherwise Apache can remove it with mod_headers, for example in a vhost or .htaccess:

<IfModule mod_headers.c>
    Header unset Content-Disposition
</IfModule>

Also ensure correct MIME mappings with AddType if necessary. (developer.mozilla.org)

Security and workflow notes: do not expose a write-capable file manager to the public without HTTPS and strong auth. For direct file editing/moving consider WebDAV (Apache mod_dav), SFTP or mounting the drives into a Nextcloud/ Pydio instance so the web UI and search index operate on the same storage. WebDAV can be enabled in Apache if a lightweight authoring protocol is preferred. (httpd.apache.org)

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Member Avatar for pritaeas

I find dirList 0.3.0 very useful. I don't know if it has search capability, but the code is pretty straightforward, perhaps you can add the search to it.

Member Avatar for group256

Thank you so much.

It looks great. Let me take a look at it and will see it fits into what I need.

Thanks so much.

dirList 0.3.0

Member Avatar for group256

I looked at some other options and only one I found was this one.

http://extplorer.sourceforge.net/

But still is not what I'm looking for since each time I click on a link, it tries to download it instead of using the browser's default program to open it. I'm going to have to dig deeper in it to see if I can somehow modify it to act as I want.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks a lot.

Member Avatar for tzakuk

Is there a reason you cannot use FTP?

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