I can't download the mongoose.exe

Question

The Story

So, I wanted to see what a small web server was like, and I discovered mongoose, a nice, small, simple web server for static sites. Then the horrors arose when I tried downloading it. I tried grabbing it from this site: http://cesanta.com/mongoose.shtml, and found that Chrome always complained about some network error. I then had a friend try downloading it, thinking it was a bad link, but he downloaded it just fine. So I thought, okay whatever, I'll have him transfer it to a flash drive and I can get it off there. I then discovered that I can't get the file off the flash drive. The Windows file copy dialogue would get hung up on 75%, and then suddenly jump to 100% and the file would flicker in the folder, and then disappear. So, I was like okay, maybe I don't need it on my computer, and I'll jut run it off my flash drive, so I ran it, and windows complained saying that the file didn't exist, and suddenly the file on the flash drive disappeared.

The Questions

Why does this file hate me?
Is there something wrong with my file system?
Is it an issue with the executable itself?

The Details

My friend and I are both running Windows 8.1
I can download other files just fine.

Answer 1

The file can be downloaded from the homepage at mongoose.ws

Answer 2

The Story

Great story, yo. Kudos to your friend for trying to help out.

The Questions

Obviously this file is possessed and is trying to kill you. Your file system is also out to kill you. Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink!

The Details

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, let's try in earnest to find a solution... Sadly, a downloadable binary is no longer available^‡. As stated in their issue tracker on GitHub:

The only option you have is to build the executable yourself.

In order to build the Windows binary from a Mac or Linux workstation, Docker must be installed. To build a binary called mongose.exe run:

git clone https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose
cd mongoose/examples/http-server
make mongoose.exe

From a windows workstation MinGW must be installed (see this Mongoose issue for further details on this or look around StackOverflow) The command would then be:

git clone https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose
cd mongoose/examples/http-server
make mingw

This should give you a executable and, hopefully, end the horrors you've been through.

^{‡ as of November 2021}