To upload file means to send data from your computer, smartphone, or tablet to a central server or cloud system. This is the opposite of downloading, where data is pulled from a server to your device.
For production apps, run an antivirus scan on uploaded files using tools like ClamAV before saving them permanently.
A standard file upload process involves three primary actors: the client (browser/mobile app), the server (web server/API gateway), and storage (database/file system/cloud bucket).
const express = require('express'); const multer = require('multer'); const path = require('path'); const fs = require('fs');const app = express(); const port = 3000; upload file
// 1. Configure Storage const storage = multer.diskStorage( destination: function (req, file, cb) // Ensure 'uploads' folder exists if (!fs.existsSync('uploads')) fs.mkdirSync('uploads'); cb(null, 'uploads/'); // Destination folder , filename: function (req, file, cb) // Create a unique filename to avoid overwriting const uniqueSuffix = Date.now() + '-' + Math.round(Math.random() * 1E9); cb(null, uniqueSuffix + path.extname(file.originalname)); // e.g., 169823-123.jpg );
// 2. Initialize Multer const upload = multer( storage: storage, limits: fileSize: 5000000 , // Limit to 5MB fileFilter: fileFilter // See security section below );
// 3. The Route // 'userFile' must match the name used in the frontend FormData.append() app.post('/upload', upload.single('userFile'), (req, res) => if (!req.file) return res.status(400).send('No file uploaded.'); To upload file means to send data from
// req.file contains information about the uploaded file console.log(req.file); res.status(200).json( message: 'File uploaded successfully!', file: req.file ););
app.listen(port, () => console.log(Server running on port $port); );
The upload file feature is one of the most frequently exploited attack vectors in web applications. A poorly secured upload form can lead to a complete server takeover.
npm install express multer
Example metadata table schema (fields)