JWEBSERVER(1)

📦 version 25.0.5.0.3.u1, in arch rolling

✨ NAME ✨ — JWEBSERVER(1) from JDK Commands

Okay so welcome to JWEBSERVER(1), bestie! This is the manual for jwebserver — the little command that launches the Java Simple Web Server. Think minimal HTTP server, main character energy, literally made for prototyping, testing, and debugging. 💖

It serves a single directory hierarchy, and only serves static files. Only HTTP/1.1 is supported; HTTP/2 and HTTPS are not supported. No cap.

Only idempotent HEAD and GET requests are served. Any other requests receive a 501 - Not Implemented or a 405 - Not Allowed response. GET requests are mapped to the directory being served, as follows:

  • If the requested resource is a file, its content is served. 🎀
  • If the requested resource is a directory that contains an index file, the content of the index file is served. 🦋
  • Otherwise, the names of all files and subdirectories of the directory are listed. Symbolic links and hidden files are not listed or served. 🙈

MIME types are configured automatically, using the built-in table. For example, .html files are served as text/html and .java files are served as text/plain. Slay. 💅

jwebserver is located in the jdk.httpserver module, and can alternatively be started with java -m jdk.httpserver. It is based on the web server implementation in the com.sun.net.httpserver package. The com.sun.net.httpserver.SimpleFileServer class provides a programmatic way to retrieve the server and its components for reuse and extension. Iconic. 👑

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

jwebserver [options]

options
       Command-line options.  For a detailed description of the options,
       see Options.

💅 USAGE 💅

       jwebserver [-b bind address] [-p port] [-d directory]
                  [-o none|info|verbose] [-h to show options]
                  [-version to show version information]

🛠️ OPTIONS 🛠️

  • -h, -?, or --help — Prints the help message and exits. 🫶
  • -b addr or --bind-address addr — Specifies the address to bind to. Default: 127.0.0.1 or ::1 (loopback). For all interfaces use -b 0.0.0.0 or -b ::. 🌈
  • -d dir or --directory dir — Specifies the directory to serve. Default: current directory. 🍓
  • -o level or --output level — Specifies the output format. none | info | verbose. Default: info. 💬
  • -p port or --port port — Specifies the port to listen on. Default: 8000. 🔥
  • -version or --version — Prints the version information and exits. ⭐
To stop the server, press Ctrl + C. 🛑

🌸 STARTING THE SERVER 🌸

The following command starts the Simple Web Server:

$ jwebserver

If startup is successful, the server prints a message to System.out listing the local address and the absolute path of the directory being served. For example:

$ jwebserver
Binding to loopback by default. For all interfaces use "-b 0.0.0.0" or "-b ::".
Serving /cwd and subdirectories on 127.0.0.1 port 8000
URL http://127.0.0.1:8000/

🦋 CONFIGURATION 🦋

By default, the server runs in the foreground and binds to the loopback address and port 8000. This can be changed with the -b and -p options. For example, to bind the Simple Web Server to all interfaces, use:

$ jwebserver -b 0.0.0.0
Serving /cwd and subdirectories on 0.0.0.0 (all interfaces) port 8000
URL http://123.456.7.891:8000/
Note that this makes the web server accessible to all hosts on the network. Do not do this unless you are sure the server cannot leak any sensitive information. 🚨

As another example, use the following command to run on port 9000:

$ jwebserver -p 9000

By default, the files of the current directory are served. A different directory can be specified with the -d option. 🎀

By default, every request is logged on the console. The output looks like this:

127.0.0.1 - - [10/Feb/2021:14:34:11 +0000] "GET /some/subdirectory/ HTTP/1.1" 200 -

Logging output can be changed with the -o option. The default setting is info. The verbose setting additionally includes the request and response headers as well as the absolute path of the requested resource. 💅

🛑 STOPPING THE SERVER 🛑

Once started successfully, the server runs until it is stopped. On Unix platforms, the server can be stopped by sending it a SIGINT signal (Ctrl+C in a terminal window). Periodt. 💀

🙋 HELP OPTION 🙋

The -h option displays a help message describing the usage and the options of the jwebserver. 🫶

Catch you later, bestie! This page is from JDK 25.0.5.0.3, dated 2026, and it’s the JWEBSERVER(1) manual — mwah! 💖✨🎀

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