Building a Web File Manager on Microcontrollers

By embedding a simple web file manager, developers enable easy, reliable access to internal storage for diagnostics, logging, updates and more. This not only improves the developer’s workflow during development and testing, but also enhances the end-user and field engineer experience by providing a straightforward way to interact with the device’s files.

Web-based file managers have long been used on servers and networked storage to allow remote file access through a browser. In general, a web file manager is a web application that lets users manage files and folders via a browser interface, supporting operations like uploading, downloading, editing, and deleting files. 

Traditionally, such interfaces were found in enterprise servers or NAS devices as a user-friendly alternative to FTP or command-line access. As embedded devices gained network connectivity and more powerful microcontrollers, the concept of a web file manager extended into the embedded ...