1# Mongoose User Guide 2 3Mongoose is small and easy to use web server built on top of 4mongoose library. It is designed with maximum simplicity in mind. For example, 5to share any directory, just drop mongoose executable in that directory, 6double-click it (on UNIX, run it from shell) and launch a browser at 7[http://localhost:8080](http://localhost:8080) Note that 'localhost' should 8be changed to a machine's name if a folder is accessed from other computer. 9 10On Windows and Mac, Mongoose iconifies itself to the system tray when started. 11Right-click on the icon to pop up a menu, where it is possible to stop 12mongoose, or configure it. 13 14On UNIX, `mongoose` is a command line utility. Running `mongoose` in 15terminal, optionally followed by configuration parameters 16(`mongoose [OPTIONS]`) or configuration file name 17(`mongoose [config_file_name]`) starts the 18web server: 19 20 $ mongoose -document_root /var/www # Running mongoose with cmdline options 21 $ mongoose /etc/my_config.txt # Running mongoose with config file 22 $ mongoose # Running with no parameters. This will 23 # serve current directory on port 8080 24 25Mongoose does not detach from terminal. Pressing `Ctrl-C` keys 26stops the server. 27 28When started, mongoose first searches for the configuration file. 29If configuration file is specified explicitly in the command line, then 30specified configuration file is used. 31Otherwise, mongoose would search for file `mongoose.conf` in the same directory 32where binary is located, and use it. Configuration file can be absent. 33 34Configuration file is a sequence of lines, each line containing 35command line argument name and it's value. Empty lines and lines beginning 36with `#` are ignored. Here is the example of `mongoose.conf` file: 37 38 # This is a comment 39 document_root C:\www 40 listening_port 80 41 ssl_certificate C:\mongoose\ssl_cert.pem 42 43Command line arguments are highest priority and can override 44configuration file settings. For example, if `mongoose.conf` has line 45`document_root /var/www`, and mongoose has been started as 46`mongoose -document_root /etc`, then `/etc` directory will be used as 47document root. 48 49Note that configuration options on the command line must start with `-`, 50and their names are the same as in the config file. Exampli gratia, 51the following two setups are equivalent: 52 53 $ mongoose -listening_port 1234 -document_root /var/www 54 55 $ cat > mongoose.conf 56 listening_ports 1234 57 document_root /var/www 58 ^D 59 $ mongoose 60 61Mongoose can also be used to modify `.htpasswd` passwords file: 62 63 $ mongoose -A .htpasswd mydomain.com user_name user_password 64 65Unlike other web servers, mongoose does not require CGI scripts be located in 66a special directory. CGI scripts can be anywhere. CGI (and SSI) files are 67recognized by the file name pattern. Mongoose uses shell-like glob 68patterns. Pattern match starts at the beginning of the string, so essentially 69patterns are prefix patterns. Syntax is as follows: 70 71 ** Matches everything 72 * Matches everything but slash character, '/' 73 ? Matches any character 74 $ Matches the end of the string 75 | Matches if pattern on the left side or the right side matches. 76 77All other characters in the pattern match themselves. Examples: 78 79 # Pattern Meaning 80 **.cgi$ Any string that ends with .cgi 81 /foo Any string that begins with /foo 82 **a$|**b$ Any string that ends with a or b 83 84To restrict CGI files only to `/cgi-bin/` directory, use this setting: 85 86 $ mongoose -cgi_pattern /cgi-bin/*.cgi # Emulate /cgi-bin/ restriction 87