Ask HN: Simple HTTP server for local dev and testing?

[forgotmypw17]

I'm looking for a web server to use for local development and testing. My requirements are:

Simple to configure with one config file

Included as a package in most distributions

Supports CGI, access.log, HTTP Basic auth and htpasswd format, SSI, HTTP 1.1, setting expire headers, rewrite rules.

Stable configuration format

I've been using lighttpd for a while, but I am frustrated by its configuration churn. Every couple of version some option becomes "deprecated" with another one to replace it. This results in warnings when I launch it, extra work I have to do to get rid of them, and then managing these changes between all the different lighttpd versions I now have to support.

Does anyone know a good alternative?

[samwillis]

Nginx is super stable and does what you want, I’m not aware of any config options being depreciated.

Or maybe Caddy, keep hearing good things but not used it myself.

[arpa → samwillis]

Nginx only supports fastCGI.

[no_circuit]

Have you considered Apache HTTP Server v2.4.X? I'd expect that the configuration churn would be a lot less with it. It is available in most Unix-like OS distributions, and as well as Windows if that's what you need. The configuration can fit in one file if you inline any of the configuration `Include` directives. Plenty of documentation and tutorials on the Internet for it.

[gjvc]

as close as possible as to what's used in production

[Dystopian → gjvc]

I agree with this ↑

If you want to play with something fun though, Richard Hipp (of SQLite) has althttpd which sparked my interest when I first heard about it - https://sqlite.org/althttpd/doc/trunk/althttpd.md

[vs4vijay]

caddyserver

[cpach → vs4vijay]

Caddy is a joy to work with. I like it even more than Nginx. The configuration language is very succinct and clear. Automatic HTTPS is included out-of-the-box if you need it (no plugins required).

It’s easy to deploy since it’s a static binary written in Go.

[joshxyz → vs4vijay]

Great reverse proxy

Great configurations

Very nice i like it

[unbanned]

Apache.