HFS HTTP File Server on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

HFS (HTTP File Server) is a popular open source, self hosted file server. It lets you share files and folders straight from a web browser, with drag and drop uploads, downloads, folder archives, a modern responsive interface and a full admin panel for managing accounts, virtual folders and granular per folder permissions. It is an ideal private alternative to third party file sharing services, kept on infrastructure you control. This image delivers HFS fully installed and secured so a working file server is operational within minutes of launch.

Secure by default

Out of the box HFS ships with no account and grants admin access to anyone connecting from localhost, which behind a reverse proxy would expose the admin panel to every visitor. This image disables that behaviour so an administrator login is always required, gates the shared folder to logged in accounts only so there is no anonymous access, and generates a unique administrator credential on each virtual machine's first boot. HFS stores only a one way SRP hash of the password, while the plain password is placed in a root only file for the administrator to read. There are no shared or default credentials and nothing usable is baked into the image, so no two deployments are ever the same.

Hardened and ready on first boot

• The server is served over HTTPS on port 443 by nginx, which terminates TLS with a self signed certificate regenerated per VM on first boot, and reverse proxies to HFS bound to the loopback interface only. Port 80 redirects to HTTPS.
• An unauthenticated health endpoint is provided for load balancer probes; every other path requires an account login.
• The service runs as an unprivileged system user under systemd for automatic restarts and clean logging.
• A starter shared folder is preloaded so the file browser is populated the moment you sign in.

Why cloudimg

cloudimg delivers HFS installed from the official prebuilt binary and fully patched on a hardened Ubuntu 24.04 LTS base, serving on first boot, with no shared credentials. Every image passes an automated verification gate and is backed by 24/7 support with a guaranteed 24 hour response SLA.

Licensing

HFS is open source software distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0, and is free. The cloudimg charge covers packaging, hardening, security patching, image maintenance and 24/7 support. A step by step deployment guide is provided.