unc-file-watcher/README.md

UNC File Watcher

This project is a Go-based local web console for watching files in UNC paths and copying or moving them to local directories.

After build, the program is a single exe. The target machine does not need Go installed.

Features

The program supports two rule types at the same time:

• Archive rule Watches .tar.gz Copies or moves files to a zip directory Skips when the zip directory already has a file with the same name Skips when the unzip directory already has an extracted folder with the same name

• Generic file rule Watches other file types by extension list Only needs UNC source path + local target path Does not use unzip Supports two dedupe modes

Generic File Dedupe

The generic file rule supports these dedupe modes:

• Same name and same size This is the default mode If the target directory already has a file with the same name and the same size, the file is skipped If the target directory already has a file with the same name but a different size, it is treated as a conflict and skipped without overwrite

• Same name and same hash When the target directory already has a file with the same name, the program computes SHA-256 for source and target If the hashes match, the file is skipped If the hashes do not match, it is treated as a conflict and skipped without overwrite

Stable File Detection

To avoid processing a file while another service is still writing it in the UNC path, the program checks both conditions:

• size + modified time stay unchanged across multiple scans
• the last modified time is older than stable_for

Suggested starting values:

scan interval: 15s
stable_for: 1m
stable_scans: 3

Build

go build -o unc-file-watcher.exe .

Run

.\unc-file-watcher.exe

Default listen address:

http://127.0.0.1:18080

To change the port:

.\unc-file-watcher.exe -listen 127.0.0.1:19090

Web UI Settings

Archive Rule

• Enable archive rule
• Archive UNC source path
• Zip path
• Unzip path

Generic File Rule

• Enable generic file rule
• Generic file UNC source path
• Local target path
• Extension list, for example .csv,.txt,.pdf
• Dedupe mode

Shared Settings

• Scan interval
• Stable duration
• Stable scan count
• Transfer mode: copy or move
• Recursive scan

Local Settings File

The web UI saves settings automatically next to the executable:

unc-file-watcher-settings.json

When you open the page again, the last saved settings are loaded automatically.

Runtime Notes

• In copy mode, source files remain in the UNC path
• In move mode, the program copies first and then removes the source file
• The generic file rule never overwrites an existing target file when a conflict is detected
• The archive rule only handles .tar.gz