Sharing Files

Ever need to copy some files between computers? Turns out that Python has a basic web server that can do the job.

First you need to know the IP address of your computer.  On Windows, open a DOS box and type ipconfig. On a Linux computer open a terminal window and type ifconfig or ip addr. Look for the line with “IPv4 Address” or “inet addr”.  It will be a a set of 4 numbers, somthing like this: 192.168.1.100

Then use the cd command to change directory to the folder that you want to share. Now type

python -m SimpleHTTPServer

If you’re using Windows XP or Vista you’ll be prompted for permission to allow inbound connections to port 8000.

If the IP address you got in the step above was 192.168.1.100, Other computers in the network can access the folder on your computer by typing this in a web browser: http://192.168.1.100:8000/

Not s lot of security here, so close the terminal window when you’re done.

If you don’t have Python, you can get a free copy from ActiveState (they also have a great free text editor and IDE).