RemoteCabinet is a client-server architecture based command-line application that does a lot of things that Dropbox is known for. It allows clients to store files on the server, and allows synchronization between clients. This implementation of RemoteCabinet shows that a Dropbox-like application can be deployed with a TCP/IP protocol to completely work on devices that are readily available to users safely and securely without relying on outside services. This program was made mainly because I wanted to convert an old laptop laying around into a remote file server.
The requirements of RemoteCabinet are fairly simple and less demanding. The requirements are as follows:
- Both client and server scripts must be run on machines with a Unix operating system (macOS or Linux)
- Python 3.6 or higher must be installed on the machines running the scripts
RemoteCabinet was predominantly developed and tested on a MacBook Pro running macOS Monterey 12.6. It was also developed and tested on a machine running Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa). The scripts were executed with Python 3.9.5 and the code was written in Visual Studio Code with the Python extension.
Executing this program is fairly straightforward. Note that for this program to work, the server script must be started first on the server machine so that a client can connect to it. The directory that contains the server script will serve as the base directory for your storage system. There are 2 steps to starting the server script:
- On the server machine, change directory to the folder containing the server script RCServer.py. Alternatively, move RCServer.py to the folder you want to use as the base directory for your storage system.
- Start the server with:
python RCServer.py
The RemoteCabinet client or server scripts can be terminated through a regular command-line keyboard interrupt (CTRL + C / CMD + C). A server will only shut down once all client have disconnected to prevent potential issues, even after a keyboard interrupt is initiated in the server.
Contributions to this project are very welcome. There is definitely room for improvement, and I welcome anyone to share their ideas or improve upon this project. You can create a new issue if you notice a problem or see room for improvement, or solve one of the existing issues.