Help please! Linux server advice

ceptimus · 8th January 2007, 09:18 AM

I've been asked to create/install some kind of simple file hosting service by a company I'm doing some freelance work for. I'm pretty sure what I'm after is already out there, but I don't know what such a thing is called, so I don't know what to search for.

The company transfers documents, at the moment by FTP or even email, but they want something more user friendly - both for their customers, and their internal staff.

They'd like to access the server via a web browser, fill in a simple form and attach a few files (just a few MB normally). The software should then produce the text of an email to send to a customer similar to below:

Code:

You can download your files at this link: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 
You will have to log in using username: nnnnnn, password: pppppp
The files will only be available for a period of two weeks starting today.

The software then either sends the email directly, or the user can cut and paste it and email it to the customer (they don't care which). The passwords and user names should ideally be auto-generated, and not too complex, as security isn't a major issue.

The idea is that each customer will be able to download the documents intended for them (drawings, manuals etc.) but they won't be able to see any documents or folders intended for other customers.

The automatic deletion after a couple of weeks or so would be a nice feature, but they are prepared to do that manually, if necessary.

The system doesn't need to allow customers to transfer files back to the server, though I suppose that would be a useful feature for the future.

The server is a Suse linux box that already has LAMP and is accessible via the internet at a fixed IP. The usage will be very low. Probably just one person at the company making a few files available to customers each day, and not more than a handful of customers ever connecting at the same time.

I started to write an application in PHP to do this, but I can't help thinking I'm reinventing the wheel. Suggestions please.

kevin · 8th January 2007, 10:40 AM

we use sendthisfile.com with a customized form that sits on our web server. Not sure on costs.

http://www.sendthisfile.com/

skoob · 8th January 2007, 10:35 PM

What you're looking for is a DMS. (Don't you just love TLAs?)

There are several open-source DMSs based on PHP, you could try searching sourceforge.net. Here are a few of them:
http://owl.sourceforge.net
http://sourceforge.net/projects/opendocman/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/epiware/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/mydms/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/docmgr/
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pddms/

I don't know whether any of them have the exact set of features that you need, but it probably isn't too much work to add the missing features if you can hack PHP.

Quote:

The passwords and user names should ideally be auto-generated

Will you be generating a new user name for each notification, or once per customer? If it's the former, you could just as well skip user names entirely and just use a password, since the user name will just be simple a second password. If it's the latter, you might consider using their email address as username instead.

ceptimus · 9th January 2007, 03:50 AM

Thanks guys! Those suggestions are very helpful.

8th January 2007, 09:18 AM	#1
ceptimus puzzler Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,316	Help please! Linux server advice I've been asked to create/install some kind of simple file hosting service by a company I'm doing some freelance work for. I'm pretty sure what I'm after is already out there, but I don't know what such a thing is called, so I don't know what to search for. The company transfers documents, at the moment by FTP or even email, but they want something more user friendly - both for their customers, and their internal staff. They'd like to access the server via a web browser, fill in a simple form and attach a few files (just a few MB normally). The software should then produce the text of an email to send to a customer similar to below: Code: You can download your files at this link: http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx You will have to log in using username: nnnnnn, password: pppppp The files will only be available for a period of two weeks starting today. The software then either sends the email directly, or the user can cut and paste it and email it to the customer (they don't care which). The passwords and user names should ideally be auto-generated, and not too complex, as security isn't a major issue. The idea is that each customer will be able to download the documents intended for them (drawings, manuals etc.) but they won't be able to see any documents or folders intended for other customers. The automatic deletion after a couple of weeks or so would be a nice feature, but they are prepared to do that manually, if necessary. The system doesn't need to allow customers to transfer files back to the server, though I suppose that would be a useful feature for the future. The server is a Suse linux box that already has LAMP and is accessible via the internet at a fixed IP. The usage will be very low. Probably just one person at the company making a few files available to customers each day, and not more than a handful of customers ever connecting at the same time. I started to write an application in PHP to do this, but I can't help thinking I'm reinventing the wheel. Suggestions please.
ceptimus puzzler Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,316	__________________

8th January 2007, 10:40 AM	#2
kevin Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,666	we use sendthisfile.com with a customized form that sits on our web server. Not sure on costs. http://www.sendthisfile.com/
kevin Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,666	__________________ Long story short, if you wanna get famous, it helps if you're taking a dump. -- RealityBites

8th January 2007, 10:35 PM	#3
skoob Thinker Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 146	What you're looking for is a DMS. (Don't you just love TLAs?) There are several open-source DMSs based on PHP, you could try searching sourceforge.net. Here are a few of them: http://owl.sourceforge.net http://sourceforge.net/projects/opendocman/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/epiware/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/mydms/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/docmgr/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/pddms/ I don't know whether any of them have the exact set of features that you need, but it probably isn't too much work to add the missing features if you can hack PHP. Quote: The passwords and user names should ideally be auto-generated Will you be generating a new user name for each notification, or once per customer? If it's the former, you could just as well skip user names entirely and just use a password, since the user name will just be simple a second password. If it's the latter, you might consider using their email address as username instead.
skoob Thinker Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 146

9th January 2007, 03:50 AM	#4
ceptimus puzzler Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,316	Thanks guys! Those suggestions are very helpful.
ceptimus puzzler Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,316	__________________ Last edited by ceptimus; 9th January 2007 at 03:52 AM.