One binary, several commands. Every output on this page was captured from a real run rather than written from memory, so what you see here is what you will see.

localdrive help

  Local Drive
  Your own file server, on your own hardware.
 
  Usage: localdrive <command>
 
    setup          set up and start a server on this machine
    init           write a working configuration without asking anything
    serve          run the server in the foreground, with no Docker
    start          start an already configured server
    stop           stop a running server
    restart        restart a running server
    status         show whether the server is up, and where to reach it
    logs           follow the server log
    reset-admin    reset the admin password on an existing install
    backup         write a backup of the database and the library
    update         check for a newer release and install it
    rollback       go back to the previous version
    version        print the version
 
  Run it with no command at all to set a server up.

Flags every command takes

Flag	What it does
`--dir <path>`, `-d <path>`	Use this install instead of the default one.

--dir matters when you keep more than one server on a machine. Without it, the install is LOCALDRIVE_HOME if set, otherwise the platform default listed in Where your data lives.

Setting up

`setup`

Interactive. Asks about five things, writes the configuration, starts the server, and creates the first admin account. This is what running localdrive with no command does.

Use it the first time, on a machine you are sitting at.

`init`

The same configuration, written without asking anything. Every answer takes its default.

localdrive init

  Local Drive
  Your own file server, on your own hardware.
  ------------------------------------------
 
 
  Preparing C:\LocalDrive
    Generated 3 secrets, unique to this machine
    Wrote C:\LocalDrive\.env
    Wrote C:\LocalDrive\Caddyfile
    Wrote C:\LocalDrive\docker-compose.yml
 
  Ready. Start it with either of these:
 
      localdrive start
      docker compose up -d
 
  Then open http://<this machine>:7443

The three secrets are generated per install and written beside the database. Nothing ships with a default credential.

init does not create an admin account. The first person to open the server in a browser does that.

Use init in a script, a Dockerfile, or anywhere nobody is present to answer a prompt. It will not overwrite files that already exist.

Running

`serve`

Runs in the foreground with no Docker and no proxy. Logs go to standard output as JSON.

localdrive serve

{"time":"...","level":"INFO","msg":"starting local drive","version":"0.0.1","config":{"addr":":7443","db_path":"...\\data\\db\\localdrive.sqlite","library_path":"...\\data\\library",...}}
{"time":"...","level":"INFO","msg":"migration applied","name":"0001_init.sql"}
{"time":"...","level":"INFO","msg":"migration applied","name":"0002_media_metadata.sql"}
{"time":"...","level":"INFO","msg":"using data directory","database":"...\data\db\localdrive.sqlite","library":"...\data\library"}
{"time":"...","level":"WARN","msg":"ffmpeg not found, so videos will have no preview. Install ffmpeg and put it on PATH, or drop ffmpeg.exe beside the Local Drive binary, then restart"}
{"time":"...","level":"INFO","msg":"pdftoppm not found, so pdf files will show a type badge instead of a preview"}
{"time":"...","level":"INFO","msg":"listening","addr":":7443"}

The first line prints the configuration it resolved, which is the fastest way to find out where it decided to put things.

The "using data directory" line answers the question everyone asks first, which is where the files actually live.

The two "not found" lines are informational. ffmpeg and pdftoppm are optional; without them those file types get a type badge instead of a thumbnail, and nothing else changes. Both are looked for on PATH and then in the directory holding the binary, so dropping ffmpeg.exe next to localdrive.exe is enough. See Thumbnails are missing.

serve stops when the terminal closes. To keep it alive, see Keeping it running.

`start`, `stop`, `restart`

For an install running under Docker Compose. start brings the containers up, stop takes them down, restart does both.

`logs`

Follows the log. Under Docker this is docker compose logs -f; the command exists so you do not have to remember which.

Checking on it

`status`

Where the install is, which port, how it is running, and whether anything is answering.

localdrive status

  Install     C:\LocalDrive
  Data        C:/LocalDrive/data
  Port        7443
  Mode        directly on this machine
 
  Running
 
  Open one of these:
    http://192.168.1.10:7443
    http://10.0.0.20:7443
    http://my-server.local:7443
 
  Plain http. Set LD_DOMAIN in .env to a domain pointing here
  and Caddy gets a real certificate on its own.

When nothing is up:

  Not answering (nothing on port 7443)
  Try: localdrive start

Running or not is decided by asking the port, not by identifying the process. If a different Local Drive install is using the same port, this will report Running for the one you asked about. That only comes up when you keep two installs on one machine, and --dir with different LD_PORT values avoids it.

Mode is read from Docker rather than guessed from the presence of a docker-compose.yml, which init writes whether or not you use it.

`version`

localdrive version

localdrive 0.0.1 (windows/amd64, go1.25.8)

The version is stamped at build time. A binary built from source with plain go build reports dev, and update treats that as older than any release.

Looking after it

`backup`

Copies the database and the library somewhere safe, with the server still running.

localdrive backup

    database
    library
 
  Backup written to C:\LocalDrive\20260807-233905
 
  To restore: stop the server, put db/ and library/ back where they
  came from under C:/LocalDrive/data, then start it again.

The database copy is taken through SQLite's own backup, so it is consistent even mid-write. A plain file copy of a live database is not, which is the reason this command exists at all. See Backups.

`reset-admin`

Sets a new admin password on an existing install, for the case where the only admin account is locked out. Needs access to the machine, which is the point: anyone who can run this already owns the server.

`update`

Checks GitHub for a newer stable release and installs it.

localdrive update --check

Looks and reports, changing nothing.

localdrive update

Backs up, downloads, verifies the download against the published SHA256SUMS, swaps the binary, restarts, and confirms the new version answers. If it does not, it rolls back on its own.

Flag	What it does
`--check`	Report whether an update exists, install nothing.
`--no-backup`	Skip the backup step.

Prereleases are ignored. Under Docker the command explains that the image is the unit of update and prints the two docker compose lines instead, because replacing the file on disk would change nothing while appearing to work.

The database and the library are never touched. Only the executable is replaced, and the previous one is kept beside it as .old.

`rollback`

Puts the previous binary back, with no download, for a release that installs and starts but misbehaves.

localdrive rollback

Exit codes

0 on success, 1 on failure. Every failure prints a sentence saying what went wrong before it exits, so a script can check the code and a person can read the line.

Flags every command takes

Setting up

setup

init

Running

serve

start, stop, restart

logs