keepcoolch/dropzonefilesharing repository overview

⁠📤 Dropzone File Sharing

Simple and secure file sharing via drag & drop – with temporary links or via email, password protection, and expiration settings.
Version 3.2 – developed by Kevin Tobler 🌐 www.kevintobler.ch⁠ – 🌐 github.com/KeepCoolCH/DropzoneFileSharing⁠ – 🌐 hub.docker.com/r/keepcoolch/dropzonefilesharing⁠

⁠🌍 Official Website

Use Dropzone File Sharing: 🔗 https://dropzonefilesharing.com⁠

⁠🔄 Changelog

⁠🆕 Version 3.x

• 3.2
  • 📤 More reliable resumable chunk uploads
    • Added server-side offset validation and per-file locking to prevent duplicate chunks during retries
    • Incomplete uploads are rejected before finalization instead of being moved or archived
    • Improved cleanup of .part, .meta, .lock and temporary .current files after successful, cancelled or expired uploads
  • 📦 Safer ZIP creation and finalization
    • Upload completion is only reported after the ZIP process has finished successfully
    • Added final checks to ensure the ZIP archive exists, is readable and is not empty before creating the download link
    • ZIP and filesystem errors now return proper HTTP error responses and clean up temporary data
    • Added free-space checks for both uploaded files and the final ZIP archive
  • 🔒 Upload security improvements
    • Added strict validation for upload IDs, relative paths, file sizes, file counts and upload modes
    • Prevented directory traversal and invalid control characters in uploaded paths
    • Added safer host and URL handling when generating download and verification links
    • Escaped uploaded filenames in the browser to prevent HTML injection
  • 💾 Safer metadata storage
    • Added locked, atomic JSON updates to prevent concurrent upload requests from overwriting metadata
    • Fixed an undefined cleanup-key issue when storing uploader and recipient addresses
    • Improved metadata validation and error handling for save and cleanup requests
  • 🖥️ Improved browser upload handling
    • HTTP and server errors are no longer hidden or displayed as successful uploads
    • Upload controls are restored after an error so the upload can be retried without reloading the page
    • Large drag-and-drop folders are now read completely, including directories containing more than 100 entries
    • Folder paths and file metadata are preserved more reliably during drag-and-drop uploads
• 3.1
  • 🖼️ Favicon added
  • 🛡️ Privacy Policy and Disclaimer added
    • Integrated a complete, multilingual Privacy Policy and Disclaimer (DE / EN / FR / IT)
    • Clarifies operator responsibility for self-hosted installations
    • Written in a neutral, instance-agnostic way
  • 📝 Legal text harmonization
    • Aligned wording and structure across all languages
    • Unified terminology and headings for consistency
• 3.0
  • 👤 New User Upload Mode (user_upload)
    • Introduces an optional multi-user upload workflow. Users can upload files but have no access to admin functions
    • When user_upload mode is enabled, the Admin Panel now displays which user uploaded each file in the upload list
    • Perfect for teams, client areas or project-based uploads
    • Password protection, expiration times, link creation and download continue to work as usual
  • 🧩 Admin Panel Extensions (User Management)
    • Added a complete User Management module (create and delete users, reset user passwords)
    • User accounts are stored in a dedicated JSON file inside the inc/ directory
    • The admin account’s username and password can also be changed
  • 🧩 helpers.php improvements and extensions
    • The default configuration is now automatically completed and merged with any missing keys when config.php is loaded
    • Ensures older installations or partially modified config files always remain compatible with new features
    • Prevents missing-key errors and keeps updates seamless

⁠🆕 Version 2.x

• 2.9
  • 👁️ Added a new “Show Download Page” toggle (show_dp) in the configuration
  • 🔗 Lets you choose whether users see a download page (file info and download-button) or a direct file download after clicking the link
  • 🛠️ Fully integrated into the Admin Panel configuration and stored in the main config.php file
• 2.8
  • 📧 Added support for a separate SMTP FROM address (SMTP_FROM_ADDRESS) so the visible sender can differ from the SMTP login (same domain required)
  • 🛠️ Reworked SMTP sending to be RFC-compliant (adds Date, Message-ID, MIME-Version, multipart text/plain + text/html, UTF-8 encoded subject) for better compatibility with spam filters
  • 🖥️ Admin Panel extended with a new field to configure the SMTP FROM address, which is stored in the .env file
  • 🗂️ Improved Docker support for persistent configuration: the entire inc directory (including .env, .admin.json, config.php, translation files) can now be mounted from the host
  • 💾 Upload directory can now also be mounted externally via DROPZONE_UPLOAD_DIR, making all uploaded files persistent and safe across container updates or reinstallation
  • 📦 When mounting an empty inc directory, Dropzone automatically initializes it with the default files from the image, ensuring a clean setup when the container is recreated
  • 🔄 This means both all settings (SMTP, admin login, configuration options) and all uploaded files are preserved even if the container is removed and recreated
• 2.7
  • 📧 Added optional Admin email notifications for new uploads
  • 📝 Admin email address configuration directly in the Admin Panel
  • ⚙️ Added new toggle Admin Notify in configuration settings
• 2.6
  • 📊 Download tracking added (download counter + last download timestamp)
  • 👁️ Display of “Downloads” and “Last Download” directly in the Admin Panel
• 2.5
  • ⚙️ Improved Admin Panel with configuration and email settings
  • 🧭 Clearer navigation and visual refinements in the Admin Panel
  • 📱 Fully responsive redesign of the Admin Panel for mobile devices
  • 🔍 Integrated search function for uploads
• 2.4
  • ⚙️ Added Admin Panel with password-protected setup
  • 📎 Manage Uploads (change expiration time, change password)
  • 📥 Download Uploads directly from the Admin Panel
  • 🧹 Delete Uploads directly from the Admin Panel
• 2.3
  • 🔒 Security improvements
  • 🗑️ When the user manually cancels the upload, reloads the page, or closes the browser, temporary files are cleaned up and the entry is removed from the JSON file
• 2.2
  • 🔒 Security improvements
  • 💾 Check for sufficient disk space before upload (error message if too little free space)
• 2.1
  • 📧 The time period for which the file is valid is included in the email to the recipient
• 2.0
  • 📘 Completely reworked chunk upload
  • ⚠️ No more errors when uploading very large files
  • 🐞 Other bug fixes

⁠✨ Version 1.x

• 1.9
  • 📘 New logo, colors and file list
  • 📱 Responsive design for phones
• 1.8
  • 📧 Option to send files via email or just copy the download link
• 1.7
  • 📧 Share a unique download link directly to the recipient’s email inbox (multiple recipients supported)

⁠🚀 Features

• 📂 Drag & drop upload for files or entire folders
• 🔐 Optional password protection for each upload
• ⏳ Set link expiration (1h, 3h, 6h, 12h, 1–30 days or keep forever)
• 🔁 One-time or reusable download links
• 📎 Automatically creates a ZIP archive for folder uploads
• 🗣️ Multilingual (German, English, French & Italian)
• ✨ No database required – pure PHP
• 🚫 No filesize limit using chunks
• ✅ Upload with Progress Bar
• ⚙️ Integrated Admin Panel with configuration and email settings
• 🔍 Search uploads with filename, filesize, date or email

⁠📸 Screenshot

⁠🐳 Docker Installation (Version 3.2)

Dropzone File Sharing V.3.2 is available as a Docker image:

docker pull keepcoolch/dropzonefilesharing:latest

Start the container:

docker run -d \
  --name dropzonefilesharing \
  --restart=unless-stopped \
  -p 8080:80 \
  --dns 1.1.1.1 \
  --dns 8.8.8.8 \
  keepcoolch/dropzonefilesharing:latest

Then open: 👉 http://localhost:8080⁠

Uploads, settings, JSON files etc. are stored inside the container.

⁠📁 Optional: Use a custom upload and the inc directory outside the container

You can store all uploads outside the container (persistent on your host system). This is useful for:

• keeping uploads and configuration when recreating/updating the container
• mounting external storage

1 Environment variable - Tell Dropzone where uploads should be stored inside the container:

-e DROPZONE_UPLOAD_DIR=/data/uploads

2 Volume mount - Map the directories to a folder on your host (Mac, Linux, NAS):

-v ~/dropzone/uploads:/data/uploads
-v ~/dropzone/inc:/var/www/html/inc

Full docker run example:

docker run -d \
  --name dropzonefilesharing \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 8080:80 \
  --dns 1.1.1.1 \
  --dns 8.8.8.8 \
  -e DROPZONE_UPLOAD_DIR=/data/uploads \
  -v ~/dropzone/uploads:/data/uploads \
  -v ~/dropzone/inc:/var/www/html/inc \
  keepcoolch/dropzonefilesharing:latest

Full docker-compose.yml example:

services:
  dropzonefilesharing:
    image: keepcoolch/dropzonefilesharing:latest
    container_name: dropzonefilesharing
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    environment:
      DROPZONE_UPLOAD_DIR: "/data/uploads"
    volumes:
      - ~/dropzone/uploads:/data/uploads
      - ~/dropzone/inc:/var/www/html/inc
    dns:
      - 1.1.1.1
      - 8.8.8.8

Run docker compose:

docker compose up -d

⁠🔧 Manual Installation (non-Docker)

1. Upload all files to your web server
2. Open the application in your browser
3. Access /admin.php to create your admin credentials
4. Choose your desired configuration values in the Admin Panel
5. When send_email or admin_notify is set to active, make shure to define the SMTP server, SMTP port, SMTP username, SMTP password and SMTP From Adress in the Admin Panel

⁠🧭 Admin Panel

The Admin Panel provides a secure management interface for your Dropzone File Sharing installation.

⁠🔐 Login & Setup Admin Panel

• First-time access via /admin.php triggers Admin Setup (username + password creation)
• Credentials are stored securely (hashed) in .admin.json and secured with .htaccess
• After setup, login via the Admin Login form in /admin.php
• Setup your desired configuration values and when send_email or admin_notify is set to active, make shure to define the SMTP server, SMTP port, SMTP username, SMTP password and SMTP From Adress

⁠🌍 Language Support

Default language is German ?lang=de. Use ?lang=en to switch to English, ?lang=fr to switch to French, ?lang=it to switch to Italian or click on the flag:

https://example.com/index.php?lang=de
https://example.com/index.php?lang=en
https://example.com/index.php?lang=fr
https://example.com/index.php?lang=it

⁠⚙️ Configuration

You can configure the following options in the Admin Panel:

• Choose default language (e.g. 'de', 'en', 'fr' or 'it')
• Set the timezone according to your preference
• Control link expiration options
• Enable/Disable only_upload mode without generating a link
• Enable/Disable user_upload mode so that only authenticated users are allowed to upload files, preventing anonymous uploads.
• Enable/Disable send_email mode (⚠️ make sure to define the SMTP server, SMTP port, SMTP username, SMTP password and SMTP From Adress).
• Enable/Disable admin_notify mode for upload notifications (⚠️ make sure to define the SMTP server, SMTP port, SMTP username, SMTP password and SMTP From Adress).
• Enable/Disable show_dp mode to control whether users see the download page. If deactivated, users are redirected to an instant direct download without viewing the download page.
• Enable/Disable pwzip mode for password protection of the zip file itself. If deactivated, only the download is password-protected, not the ZIP file (⚠️ ZIP password cannot be modified).

⁠🔒 Security

• Each upload can be protected with a custom password
• Option to allow only a single download or multiple downloads
• Files are automatically deleted after the expiration time
• Passwords are never stored in plain text

⁠📁 Folder Uploads & ZIP

When uploading a folder, the tool detects it and automatically creates a ZIP file from its contents to simplify sharing.

⁠🧑‍💻 Developer

Kevin Tobler
🌐 www.kevintobler.ch⁠

⁠📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License – feel free to use, modify, and distribute.