Deploy Copyparty

Deploy and Host

copyparty is a fast, minimal, self-contained web file server, cloud-client, and cloud-drive in a single pure-Python package. It serves files over HTTP, FTP, and Samba — with a modern web UI for browsing, uploading, and sharing — and needs no external database or object storage. Anonymous visitors get read-only access (open file sharing); the admin account gets write access (upload, delete, rename). Deploy it on Railway in minutes.

About Hosting

copyparty runs as a single Docker container on port 3923. Railway provides compute, TLS at the edge (the app serves plain HTTP inside the container), and a public URL. All user files and copyparty state live at /srv — mount a Railway Volume there so your files survive restarts and redeploys. No Postgres, Redis, or S3 required.

Why Deploy

• Open file sharing — anonymous read access: anyone with the link can browse and download, no login needed
• Authenticated writes — admin account (password = CP_PASS) uploads, deletes, renames, and manages
• One package, zero services — self-contained; serves HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, and Samba from the same process
• Small footprint — installs in seconds on slim Python; a few dozen MB of RAM at idle
• Fast — written for low latency, zero-copy file streaming
• Share links — per-file/per-folder access via the web control panel
• Web DA — modern control-panel UI with drag-and-drop upload
• Multi-protocol — browse in the browser, or connect with curl / scp-style tools / SMB clients

Common Use Cases

• Drop-style file sharing — publish a folder, get a public link to browse/download
• Lightweight personal drive — self-contained, no S3 bill; files live on a Railway volume
• Backup handoff — grab files from a running container via the web UI or FTP
• Temporary staging — expose a directory during dev/ops, then take the service down

Dependencies for copyparty

Deployment Dependencies

copyparty is a standalone service that requires no external dependencies on Railway. It uses its own on-disk state and the files you serve — both live on the single volume mounted at /srv. Add one Railway Volume there for persistence.

copyparty — self-contained web file server & cloud drive

A fast, minimal, pure-Python file server, cloud-client, and cloud-drive. Serve over HTTP/FTP/Samba with a modern web UI. No external services.

Features

• Anonymous read / admin write — out-of-the-box open sharing; uploads require the admin account
• Self-contained — single pip install copyparty, no external DB or object store
• Web control panel — modern UI with drag-and-drop upload and file manager
• Multi-protocol — HTTP, FTP, and Samba served from the same process (enable Samba when you mount it)
• Fast transfer — zero-copy streaming, low-latency listing
• Share links — per-folder / per-file public links from the control panel
• Small image — python:3.12-slim + one package
• Healthcheck built in — Docker HEALTHCHECK polls the served index

Architecture

┌──────────────────────────┐      ┌────────────────────┐
│      Client              │      │   copyparty        │
│  (browser / curl /       │─────►│   (on Railway)     │
│   FTP / SMB / rsync)     │ HTTP │   Port 3923        │
└──────────────────────────┘      │   /srv (volume)    │
                                  │   /srv/state       │
                                  └────────────────────┘

One container, one volume. Anonymous clients read; the admin account writes. TLS is terminated at the Railway edge — the app serves plain HTTP inside.

Environment Variables

Volumes

Add a Railway Volume at /srv to keep your files and session state across restarts and redeploys.

Default Admin Credentials

⚠️ SECURITY — the admin account's password is set from the deploy form variable CP_PASS. If you ever see the fallback wark in a log, that's the literal default in the entrypoint and must be overridden by the CP_PASS deploy variable (which is auto-generated per instance). Anonymous clients stay read-only regardless of the admin password.

How to Use

1. Click the Deploy to Railway button above
2. The deploy form auto-generates CP_PASS (a random 32-char secret) — keep it somewhere safe; you'll need it for uploads
3. Add a Railway Volume at /srv (the template pre-selects this)
4. Once deployed, open your Railway URL — you'll get a browsable web file manager
5. Read-only access works out of the box for any anonymous visitor
6. To upload, click "log in" in the control panel and use admin + your CP_PASS value (Service → Variables → CP_PASS)
7. Optional: open FTP or Samba from inside the container if you need those protocols (enable by mounting the corresponding services)