Configuration Guide

WifiX can be configured through environment variables and configuration files.

Environment Variables

Backend Configuration

Create a .env file in the backend directory:

# Server Configuration
PORT=5000
HOST=0.0.0.0
FLASK_ENV=development

# Security
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-change-this
ACCESS_PIN=1234

# File Upload
MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=104857600  # 100 MB in bytes
UPLOAD_FOLDER=uploads
FILE_TTL_SECONDS=3600  # 1 hour

# CORS
CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:5173,http://localhost:5174

# Rate Limiting
RATELIMIT_ENABLED=true
RATELIMIT_STORAGE_URL=memory://

# mDNS/Bonjour
MDNS_ENABLED=true
SERVICE_NAME=WifiX

# Room Codes
ROOM_CODE_LENGTH=6
ROOM_CODE_TTL=86400  # 24 hours

Core Settings

PORT

Description: Port number for the Flask server

Default: 5000

Values: Any available port (1024-65535 recommended)

PORT=5000

Example: Use port 8080 instead:

PORT=8080

HOST

Description: Host address to bind the server

Default: 0.0.0.0 (all network interfaces)

Values: - 0.0.0.0 - Listen on all interfaces (LAN accessible) - 127.0.0.1 - Localhost only (not accessible from network) - Specific IP - Bind to specific interface

HOST=0.0.0.0

FLASK_ENV

Description: Flask environment mode

Default: development

Values: - development - Debug mode, auto-reload - production - Optimized, no debug info

FLASK_ENV=production

Security Settings

SECRET_KEY

Description: Flask session encryption key

Default: None (must be set!)

Values: Random string (32+ characters recommended)

SECRET_KEY=your-very-long-random-secret-key-here

Generate secure key:

python -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))"

Warning

Never commit the secret key to version control! Use .env file.

ACCESS_PIN

Description: Global PIN for room access

Default: 1234

Values: Any string (4-10 digits recommended)

ACCESS_PIN=secure123

Disable PIN (not recommended):

ACCESS_PIN=

File Upload Settings

MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH

Description: Maximum upload file size in bytes

Default: 104857600 (100 MB)

Values: Any positive integer

# 100 MB (default)
MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=104857600

# 500 MB
MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=524288000

# 1 GB
MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=1073741824

Conversion table:

Size	Bytes	Configuration
50 MB	52,428,800	`MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=52428800`
100 MB	104,857,600	`MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=104857600`
250 MB	262,144,000	`MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=262144000`
500 MB	524,288,000	`MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=524288000`
1 GB	1,073,741,824	`MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=1073741824`

UPLOAD_FOLDER

Description: Directory to store uploaded files

Default: uploads

Values: Relative or absolute path

UPLOAD_FOLDER=uploads

# Absolute path
UPLOAD_FOLDER=/var/wifix/uploads

# Windows
UPLOAD_FOLDER=C:\WifiX\uploads

FILE_TTL_SECONDS

Description: Time before files are automatically deleted

Default: 3600 (1 hour)

Values: Seconds (0 = never delete automatically)

# 1 hour
FILE_TTL_SECONDS=3600

# 24 hours
FILE_TTL_SECONDS=86400

# Disable auto-deletion
FILE_TTL_SECONDS=0

CORS Settings

CORS_ORIGINS

Description: Allowed origins for CORS requests

Default: http://localhost:5173

Values: Comma-separated list of URLs

CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:5173,http://localhost:5174

# Allow specific IP
CORS_ORIGINS=http://192.168.1.100:5173

# Multiple origins
CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:5173,http://192.168.1.100:5173,http://10.0.0.50:5173

Rate Limiting

RATELIMIT_ENABLED

Description: Enable/disable rate limiting

Default: true

Values: true or false

RATELIMIT_ENABLED=true

RATELIMIT_STORAGE_URL

Description: Storage backend for rate limit data

Default: memory://

Values: - memory:// - In-memory (simple, lost on restart) - redis://localhost:6379 - Redis (persistent, scalable)

# In-memory (development)
RATELIMIT_STORAGE_URL=memory://

# Redis (production)
RATELIMIT_STORAGE_URL=redis://localhost:6379

Rate Limit Rules:

# Default limits (in app.py)
- Upload: 10 per minute
- Delete: 20 per minute
- Global: 200 per day, 50 per hour

Network Discovery

MDNS_ENABLED

Description: Enable mDNS/Bonjour service discovery

Default: true

Values: true or false

MDNS_ENABLED=true

SERVICE_NAME

Description: Service name for mDNS advertising

Default: WifiX

Values: Any string (alphanumeric recommended)

SERVICE_NAME=WifiX

# Custom name
SERVICE_NAME=OfficeFileShare

Room Code Settings

ROOM_CODE_LENGTH

Description: Length of generated room codes

Default: 6

Values: 4-10 (6 recommended for balance)

ROOM_CODE_LENGTH=6

ROOM_CODE_TTL

Description: Room code expiration time in seconds

Default: 86400 (24 hours)

Values: Seconds

# 24 hours
ROOM_CODE_TTL=86400

# 1 week
ROOM_CODE_TTL=604800

Frontend Configuration

Vite Configuration

Edit frontend/vite.config.js:

import { defineConfig } from 'vite'
import react from '@vitejs/plugin-react'

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [react()],
  server: {
    port: 5173,
    host: '0.0.0.0',  // Listen on all interfaces
    proxy: {
      '/api': {
        target: 'http://localhost:5000',
        changeOrigin: true,
      },
      '/socket.io': {
        target: 'http://localhost:5000',
        changeOrigin: true,
        ws: true,
      }
    }
  }
})

Environment Variables

Create frontend/.env:

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5000
VITE_WS_URL=http://localhost:5000

Configuration Examples

Development Environment

backend/.env:

PORT=5000
HOST=0.0.0.0
FLASK_ENV=development
SECRET_KEY=dev-secret-key-not-for-production
ACCESS_PIN=1234
MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=104857600
CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:5173,http://localhost:5174
MDNS_ENABLED=true
FILE_TTL_SECONDS=3600

frontend/.env:

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5000
VITE_WS_URL=http://localhost:5000

Production Environment

backend/.env:

PORT=5000
HOST=0.0.0.0
FLASK_ENV=production
SECRET_KEY=<generate-with-secrets-token-hex>
ACCESS_PIN=<strong-pin-here>
MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=524288000  # 500 MB
CORS_ORIGINS=http://192.168.1.100:5173
MDNS_ENABLED=true
FILE_TTL_SECONDS=0  # Manual deletion only
RATELIMIT_ENABLED=true

Classroom/Educational

Optimized for teachers sharing with many students:

PORT=5000
HOST=0.0.0.0
FLASK_ENV=production
SECRET_KEY=<secret-key>
ACCESS_PIN=class2024
MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=262144000  # 250 MB for PDFs/videos
FILE_TTL_SECONDS=7200  # 2 hours (class duration)
ROOM_CODE_LENGTH=5  # Shorter codes for whiteboards
MDNS_ENABLED=true
SERVICE_NAME=ClassroomShare

Office/Corporate

Enterprise-focused with security:

PORT=5000
HOST=0.0.0.0
FLASK_ENV=production
SECRET_KEY=<strong-secret-key>
ACCESS_PIN=<company-pin>
MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH=1073741824  # 1 GB for large files
FILE_TTL_SECONDS=0  # Keep until manually deleted
RATELIMIT_ENABLED=true
RATELIMIT_STORAGE_URL=redis://localhost:6379
MDNS_ENABLED=false  # Explicit IP only for security
CORS_ORIGINS=http://192.168.10.50:5173

Security Best Practices

Production Checklist

✅ Change SECRET_KEY from default
✅ Set strong ACCESS_PIN (not 1234!)
✅ Use FLASK_ENV=production
✅ Enable HTTPS (see deployment guide)
✅ Configure firewall rules
✅ Enable rate limiting
✅ Restrict CORS_ORIGINS to known hosts
✅ Set reasonable MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH
✅ Configure FILE_TTL_SECONDS appropriately
✅ Regular security updates
✅ Monitor server logs

Strong Secret Key

Generate a cryptographically secure secret key:

# Python
python -c "import secrets; print(secrets.token_hex(32))"

# Output example:
# 8f7a9b2c1d3e4f5a6b7c8d9e0f1a2b3c4d5e6f7a8b9c0d1e2f3a4b5c6d7e8f9

# OpenSSL
openssl rand -hex 32

Strong PIN

# Good PINs:
ACCESS_PIN=secure789
ACCESS_PIN=team2024!
ACCESS_PIN=proj_alpha

# Bad PINs:
ACCESS_PIN=1234  # Too common
ACCESS_PIN=0000  # Too simple
ACCESS_PIN=admin  # Easily guessed

Troubleshooting

Configuration Not Loading

Issue: Environment variables not being used

Solutions:

# Verify .env file location
ls backend/.env

# Check file contents
cat backend/.env

# Ensure python-dotenv is installed
pip install python-dotenv

# Load environment variables explicitly
export $(cat backend/.env | xargs)  # Linux/macOS
Get-Content backend/.env | ForEach-Object { $args = $_.Split('='); [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable($args[0], $args[1]) }  # Windows PowerShell

Port Already in Use

Issue: Address already in use

Solutions:

# Find process using port
netstat -ano | findstr :5000  # Windows
lsof -i :5000  # macOS/Linux

# Kill the process or change port
PORT=5001 python app.py

CORS Errors

Issue: Access-Control-Allow-Origin errors in browser

Solutions:

# Add your frontend URL to CORS_ORIGINS
CORS_ORIGINS=http://localhost:5173,http://192.168.1.100:5173

# Check frontend is using correct API URL
# frontend/.env
VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5000

Configuration Guide

Environment Variables

Backend Configuration

Core Settings

PORT

HOST

FLASK_ENV

Security Settings

SECRET_KEY

ACCESS_PIN

File Upload Settings

MAX_CONTENT_LENGTH

UPLOAD_FOLDER

FILE_TTL_SECONDS

CORS Settings

CORS_ORIGINS

Rate Limiting

RATELIMIT_ENABLED

RATELIMIT_STORAGE_URL

Network Discovery

MDNS_ENABLED

SERVICE_NAME

Room Code Settings

ROOM_CODE_LENGTH

ROOM_CODE_TTL

Frontend Configuration

Vite Configuration

Environment Variables

Configuration Examples

Development Environment

Production Environment

Classroom/Educational

Office/Corporate

Security Best Practices

Production Checklist

Strong Secret Key

Strong PIN

Troubleshooting

Configuration Not Loading

Port Already in Use

CORS Errors

See Also