diff --git a/apps/httpd/main.cc b/apps/httpd/main.cc
index 3100225dee..0523a1b897 100644
--- a/apps/httpd/main.cc
+++ b/apps/httpd/main.cc
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "http/httpd.hh"
 #include "http/handlers.hh"
 #include "http/function_handlers.hh"
+#include "http/file_handler.hh"
 
 namespace bpo = boost::program_options;
 
@@ -42,6 +43,8 @@ void set_routes(routes& r) {
         return "hello";
     });
     r.add(operation_type::GET, url("/"), h1);
+    r.add(operation_type::GET, url("/file").remainder("path"),
+            new directory_handler("/"));
 }
 
 int main(int ac, char** av) {
diff --git a/http/file_handler.cc b/http/file_handler.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e5a3b82253
--- /dev/null
+++ b/http/file_handler.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+/*
+ * This file is open source software, licensed to you under the terms
+ * of the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License").  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership.  You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Cloudius Systems
+ */
+
+#include "file_handler.hh"
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <iostream>
+#include "core/reactor.hh"
+#include "core/fstream.hh"
+#include "core/shared_ptr.hh"
+#include "core/app-template.hh"
+#include "exception.hh"
+
+namespace httpd {
+
+directory_handler::directory_handler(const sstring& doc_root,
+        file_transformer* transformer)
+        : file_interaction_handler(transformer), doc_root(doc_root) {
+}
+
+future<std::unique_ptr<reply>> directory_handler::handle(const sstring& path,
+        std::unique_ptr<request> req, std::unique_ptr<reply> rep) {
+    sstring full_path = doc_root + req->param["path"];
+    auto h = this;
+    return engine().file_type(full_path).then(
+            [h, full_path, req = std::move(req), rep = std::move(rep)](auto val) mutable {
+                if (val) {
+                    if (val.value() == directory_entry_type::directory) {
+                        if (h->redirect_if_needed(*req.get(), *rep.get())) {
+                            return make_ready_future<std::unique_ptr<reply>>(std::move(rep));
+                        }
+                        full_path += "/index.html";
+                    }
+                    return h->read(full_path, std::move(req), std::move(rep));
+                }
+                rep->set_status(reply::status_type::not_found).done();
+                return make_ready_future<std::unique_ptr<reply>>(std::move(rep));
+
+            });
+}
+
+file_interaction_handler::~file_interaction_handler() {
+    delete transformer;
+}
+
+sstring file_interaction_handler::get_extension(const sstring& file) {
+    size_t last_slash_pos = file.find_last_of('/');
+    size_t last_dot_pos = file.find_last_of('.');
+    sstring extension;
+    if (last_dot_pos != sstring::npos && last_dot_pos > last_slash_pos) {
+        extension = file.substr(last_dot_pos + 1);
+    }
+    return extension;
+}
+
+struct reader {
+    reader(file f, std::unique_ptr<reply> rep)
+            : is(
+                    make_file_input_stream(make_lw_shared<file>(std::move(f)),
+                            0, 4096)), _rep(std::move(rep)) {
+    }
+    input_stream<char> is;
+    std::unique_ptr<reply> _rep;
+
+    // for input_stream::consume():
+    template<typename Done>
+    void operator()(temporary_buffer<char> data, Done&& done) {
+        if (data.empty()) {
+            done(std::move(data));
+            _rep->done();
+        } else {
+            _rep->_content.append(data.get(), data.size());
+        }
+    }
+};
+
+future<std::unique_ptr<reply>> file_interaction_handler::read(
+        const sstring& file_name, std::unique_ptr<request> req,
+        std::unique_ptr<reply> rep) {
+    sstring extension = get_extension(file_name);
+    rep->set_content_type(extension);
+    return engine().open_file_dma(file_name, open_flags::ro).then(
+            [rep = std::move(rep)](file f) mutable {
+                std::shared_ptr<reader> r = std::make_shared<reader>(std::move(f), std::move(rep));
+
+                return r->is.consume(*r).then([r]() {
+                            r->_rep->done();
+                            return make_ready_future<std::unique_ptr<reply>>(std::move(r->_rep));
+                        });
+            });
+}
+
+bool file_interaction_handler::redirect_if_needed(const request& req,
+        reply& rep) const {
+    if (req._url.length() == 0 || req._url.back() != '/') {
+        rep.set_status(reply::status_type::moved_permanently);
+        rep._headers["Location"] = req.get_url() + "/";
+        rep.done();
+        return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+}
+
+future<std::unique_ptr<reply>> file_handler::handle(const sstring& path,
+        std::unique_ptr<request> req, std::unique_ptr<reply> rep) {
+    if (force_path && redirect_if_needed(*req.get(), *rep.get())) {
+        return make_ready_future<std::unique_ptr<reply>>(std::move(rep));
+    }
+    return read(file, std::move(req), std::move(rep));
+}
+
+}
diff --git a/http/file_handler.hh b/http/file_handler.hh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2c2bb66c93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/http/file_handler.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+/*
+ * This file is open source software, licensed to you under the terms
+ * of the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License").  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information regarding copyright
+ * ownership.  You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ *
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 Cloudius Systems
+ */
+
+#ifndef HTTP_FILE_HANDLER_HH_
+#define HTTP_FILE_HANDLER_HH_
+
+#include "handlers.hh"
+
+namespace httpd {
+/**
+ * This is a base class for file transformer.
+ *
+ * File transformer adds the ability to modify a file content before returning
+ * the results.
+ *
+ * The transformer decides according to the file extension if transforming is
+ * needed.
+ */
+class file_transformer {
+public:
+    /**
+     * Any file transformer should implement this method.
+     * @param content the content to transform
+     * @param req the request
+     * @param extension the file extension originating the content
+     */
+    virtual void transform(sstring& content, const request& req,
+            const sstring& extension) = 0;
+
+    virtual ~file_transformer() = default;
+};
+
+/**
+ * A base class for handlers that interact with files.
+ * directory and file handlers both share some common logic
+ * with regards to file handling.
+ * they both needs to read a file from the disk, optionally transform it,
+ * and return the result or page not found on error
+ */
+class file_interaction_handler : public handler_base {
+public:
+    file_interaction_handler(file_transformer* p = nullptr)
+            : transformer(p) {
+
+    }
+
+    ~file_interaction_handler();
+
+    /**
+     * Allows setting a transformer to be used with the files returned.
+     * @param t the file transformer to use
+     * @return this
+     */
+    file_interaction_handler* set_transformer(file_transformer* t) {
+        transformer = t;
+        return this;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * if the url ends without a slash redirect
+     * @param req the request
+     * @param rep the reply
+     * @return true on redirect
+     */
+    bool redirect_if_needed(const request& req, reply& rep) const;
+
+    /**
+     * A helper method that returns the file extension.
+     * @param file the file to check
+     * @return the file extension
+     */
+    static sstring get_extension(const sstring& file);
+
+protected:
+
+    /**
+     * read a file from the disk and return it in the replay.
+     * @param file the full path to a file on the disk
+     * @param req the reuest
+     * @param rep the reply
+     */
+    future<std::unique_ptr<reply> > read(const sstring& file,
+            std::unique_ptr<request> req, std::unique_ptr<reply> rep);
+    file_transformer* transformer;
+};
+
+/**
+ * The directory handler get a disk path in the
+ * constructor.
+ * and expect a path parameter in the handle method.
+ * it would concatenate the two and return the file
+ * e.g. if the path is /usr/mgmt/public in the path
+ * parameter is index.html
+ * handle will return the content of /usr/mgmt/public/index.html
+ */
+class directory_handler : public file_interaction_handler {
+public:
+
+    /**
+     * The directory handler map a base path and a path parameter to a file
+     * @param doc_root the root directory to search the file from.
+     * For example if the root is '/usr/mgmt/public' and the path parameter
+     * will be '/css/style.css' the file wil be /usr/mgmt/public/css/style.css'
+     */
+    explicit directory_handler(const sstring& doc_root,
+            file_transformer* transformer = nullptr);
+
+    future<std::unique_ptr<reply>> handle(const sstring& path,
+            std::unique_ptr<request> req, std::unique_ptr<reply> rep) override;
+
+private:
+    sstring doc_root;
+};
+
+/**
+ * The file handler get a path to a file on the disk
+ * in the constructor.
+ * it will always return the content of the file.
+ */
+class file_handler : public file_interaction_handler {
+public:
+
+    /**
+     * The file handler map a file to a url
+     * @param file the full path to the file on the disk
+     */
+    explicit file_handler(const sstring& file, file_transformer* transformer =
+            nullptr, bool force_path = true)
+            : file_interaction_handler(transformer), file(file), force_path(
+                    force_path) {
+    }
+
+    future<std::unique_ptr<reply>> handle(const sstring& path,
+            std::unique_ptr<request> req, std::unique_ptr<reply> rep) override;
+
+private:
+    sstring file;
+    bool force_path;
+};
+
+}
+
+#endif /* HTTP_FILE_HANDLER_HH_ */