FileDepot is a self-managed object storage API service.

Goals:

• To provide an easy to set up self-managed service for managing file uploads over the internet.
• To reduce load on web server by directly performing file from client's web browser to FileDepot's server.
• To provide a simple RESTful API that uses concepts similar to S3.

Operations include:

• Creation of one-time tokens for protected access to server storage directly from the browser
• Upload / delete files on the server with tokens
• Retrieving uploaded files via HTTP(S)
• Ensures token are issued for and used by the same client (through client fingerprinting)

Coming Soon

• CLI Tool to manage buckets and access keys to buckets
• HEAD method to provide information about a given file in a bucket
• Large file (in parts) support

Usage

To start the FileDepot server:

npm start

By default the server runs listening to port 3000. If you wish to use a different port, set environment variable PORT to the port number you want FileDepot to listen to.

To run tests on NODE_ENV=development:

npm test

Running tests will also run the lint process and show all lint errors.

In Production

When used in production, ensure that a process manager such as pm2 is used to monitor and restart the server NodeJS process. The server should also be serving public / wild web requests behind a reverse proxy, preferably communicating with others over HTTPS.

Use Cases

Managing Upload Trust via One-Time Access Tokens

When Bob wants to upload a PDF document to your website, Bob opens your website's file uploader. (1) Before the file uploader page was served to Bob, your web server uses its access key to request FileDepot to create an one-time-use access token. (2) The token is then given to Bob's web browser when the file uploader page is served. (3) When Bob chooses the PDF file and clicks on the "Upload" button, the file - along with the access token - is sent from Bob's computer directly to FileDepot. If the access token checks out fine, the file is placed in the Bucket's path on the server's file system.

Serving Files

In most use cases, objects are retrievable through FileDepot's GET /buckets/:bucketId/objects/:objectName API. However throughput on file uploading and authentication can be improved when object retrieval is delegated to a secondary static web server as shown in the example below.

Using a secondary web server may also provide greater controls over caching parameters. You may even decide to serve the files through a CDN.

Requirements

• NodeJS >= v6.3.0
• A DBMS supported by Sequelize
• Storage location that can be read from or written to by FileDepot when deployed

API References

All API endpoints are prefixed with /v1 to impose versioning on the API.

Authorizations

There are two kinds of authorizations: Access Key and Access Token.

• Access Key: They are used by applications to grant clients access tokens or perform direct operations on the file system.
• Access Token: They are created using an access key to be issued to the clients (e.g. web browser) to submit a request directly to the FileDepot server, such as uploading files. Access Tokens are one-time use only.

Creating an Access Token

Method/URI: POST /tokens

Headers:

• Authorization: The access key ID and access key secret must be supplied in this field by concatenating both the key ID and secret with a full stop. (e.g. If access key ID is 'ABC' and secret is '123', then the field should be set to 'ABC.123') Note that each access key is granted access to one single bucket.

Parameters (Body):

• userAgent (string): The client's user agent property who will make the actual request.
• ipAddress (string): The client's IP address (can be either IPv4 or IPv6) that the actual request will come from.
• method: Comma-separated methods that the client is able to access using this token. (e.g. PUT or PUT,DELETE with no spaces)
• filename: The filename that the token can access. If this is meant for a file upload, this field may be left empty.

Response (JSON):

• status: Can be either "ok" or "error".
• result: If successful, a JsonWebToken access token is returned in this field.
• msg: If an error occurred, this field contains more information about the error.

Retrieving an Object from a Bucket

Method/URI: GET /buckets/:bucketId/objects/:objectName

Note: Get request does not require authorization.

Parameters (URL):

• bucketId (string): The ID of the bucket that the object resides in. Note that the access token granted must have access to the bucket.
• objectName (string): The path of the object in the bucket. e.g. path/to/file.jpg

Response: The file is returned. The Content-Type header depends on the type of file requested.

Deleting an Object from a Bucket

Method/URI: DELETE /buckets/:bucketId/objects/:objectName

Headers:

• Authorization: The access key ID and access key secret must be supplied in this field by concatenating both the key ID and secret with a full stop. (e.g. If access key ID is 'ABC' and secret is '123', then the field should be set to 'ABC.123') Note that each access key is granted access to one single bucket.

Parameters (URL):

• bucketId (string): The ID of the bucket that the object resides in. Note that the access token granted must have access to the bucket.
• objectName (string): The path of the object in the bucket. e.g. path/to/file.jpg

Response (JSON):

• status: Can be either "ok" or "error". The operation does not check if the file exists and hence would return "ok" even if file does not exist.
• msg: If an error occurred, this field contains more information about the error.

Adding or Updating an Object from a Bucket

Method/URI: PUT /buckets/:bucketId/objects/:objectName

Note: Method only supports uploading of one single file. If file already exists on file system, the existing file is removed and replaced with the newly uploaded file.

Headers:

• Authorization: The authorized one-time Access Token must be supplied in this field. Once used, the access token is invalidated. The token must be granted with the "PUT" method otherwise the request would be rejected.

Parameters (URL):

• bucketId (string): The ID of the bucket that the object resides in. Note that the access token granted must have access to the bucket.
• objectName (string): The path of the object in the bucket. e.g. path/to/file.jpg

Parameters (Body):

• file (multipart/form-data): The contents of the file

Response (JSON):

• status: Can be either "ok" or "error".
• msg: If an error occurred, this field contains more information about the error.

License

The project is open-sourced under MIT License. Media content are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.