---
name: "kiwix-serve"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "kiwix-tools"
version: "3.8.2-3"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/kiwix-serve"
---

# kiwix-serve(1)

Kiwix HTTP Server

## NAME

kiwix-serve - Kiwix HTTP Server

## SYNOPSIS

**kiwix-serve --library \[OPTIONS\] LIBRARY\_FILE\_PATH**\
 **kiwix-serve \[OPTIONS\] ZIM\_FILE\_PATH ...**

## DESCRIPTION

The **kiwix-serve** command is used to run a stand-alone HTTP server for serving ZIM contents over the network.

## ARGUMENTS

- **LIBRARY\_FILE\_PATH**

  Path of an XML library file listing ZIM files to serve. To be used only with the --library option. Multiple library files can be provided as a semicolon (;) separated list.

- **ZIM\_FILE\_PATH ...**

  ZIM file path(s). Multiple arguments are allowed.

## OPTIONS

- **--library**

  By default, kiwix-serve expects a list of ZIM files as command line arguments. Providing the --library option tells kiwix-serve that the command line argument is rather a library XML file.

- **-i ADDR, --address=ADDR**

  Listen only on this IP address. By default, the server listens on all available IP addresses. Alternatively, you can use special values to define which types of connections to accept:

  all : Listen for connections on all IP addresses (IPv4 and IPv6).\
   ipv4 : Listen for connections on all IPv4 addresses.\
   ipv6 : Listen for connections on all IPv6 addresses.

- **-p PORT, --port=PORT**

  TCP port on which to listen for HTTP requests (default: 80).

- **-r ROOT, --urlRootLocation=ROOT**

  URL prefix on which the content should be made available (default: empty).

- **-d, --daemon**

  Detach the HTTP server daemon from the main process.

- **-a PID, --attachToProcess=PID**

  Exit when the process with id PID stops running.

- **-M, --monitorLibrary**

  Monitor the XML library file and reload it automatically when it changes.

  Library reloading can be forced anytime by sending a SIGHUP signal to the “kiwix-serve” process (this works regardless of the presence of the “--monitorLibrary”/“-M” option).

- **-m, --nolibrarybutton**

  Disable the library home button in the ZIM viewer toolbar.

- **-n, --nosearchbar**

  Disable the search box in the ZIM viewer toolbar.

- **-b, --blockexternal**

  Prevent users from directly navigating to external resources via links in ZIM content.

- **-t N, --threads=N**

  Number of threads to run in parallel (default: 4).

- **-s N, --searchLimit=N**

  Maximum number of ZIM files in a fulltext multizim search (default: No limit).

- **-z, --nodatealiases**

  Create URL aliases for each content by removing the date embedded in the file name.

  The expected format of the date in the filename is “\_YYYY-MM”. For example, a ZIM file named “wikipedia\_en\_all\_2020-08.zim” will be accessible both as “wikipedia\_en\_all\_2020-08” and “wikipedia\_en\_all”.

- **-c PATH, --customIndex=PATH**

  Override the welcome page with a custom HTML file.

- **-L N, --ipConnectionLimit=N**

  Max number of (concurrent) connections per IP (default: infinite, recommended: \>= 6).

- **-k, --skipInvalid**

  Startup even when ZIM files are invalid (those will be skipped)

- **-v, --verbose**

  Print debug log to STDOUT.

- **-V, --version**

  Print the software version.

- **-h, --help**

  Print a help message.

## EXAMPLES

Serve a single ZIM file:

```
kiwix-serve myzim.zim
```

Serve multiple ZIM files:

```
kiwix-serve zim1.zim zim2.zim zim3.zim
```

Serve ZIM files from a library:

```
kiwix-serve --library library.xml
```

## DOCUMENTATION

Online documentation: https://kiwix-tools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/kiwix-serve.html\
 Source code: https://github.com/kiwix/kiwix-tools\
 More info: https://wiki.kiwix.org/wiki/Kiwix-serve

## AUTHORS

Emmanuel Engelhart \<kelson@kiwix.org\>\
 Vasudev Kamath \<kamathvasudev@gmail.com\>