Arduino IDE 2: Install ESP8266 NodeMCU LittleFS Uploader (Upload Files to the Filesystem)

In this guide, you’ll learn how to install the ESP8266 LittleFS filesystem uploader plugin on Arduino IDE 2 (2.2.1 or higher) and how to upload files to the ESP8266 NodeMCU board filesystem.

If you want to use LittleFS for the ESP8266 with VS Code + PlatformIO, follow the next tutorial instead:

• ESP8266 NodeMCU with VS Code and PlatformIO: Upload Files to Filesystem (LittleFS)

Table of Contents

• Introducing LittleFS
• Installing LittleFS Filesystem Uploader Plugin
  • Windows Instructions
  • Mac OS X Instructions
• Uploading Files to ESP8266 using the Filesystem Uploader
• Testing the ESP8266 LittleFS Uploader

If you’re still using Arduino 1.8, you can follow this tutorial instead: Install ESP8266 NodeMCU LittleFS Filesystem Uploader in Arduino IDE.

Currently, there’s isn’t a similar solution for the ESP32 yet. Let us know if that’s not the case.

Introducing LittleFS

LittleFS is a lightweight filesystem created for microcontrollers that lets you access the flash memory like you would do in a standard file system on your computer, but it’s simpler and more limited. You can read, write, close, and delete files. Using LittleFS with the ESP8266 boards is useful to:

• Create configuration files with settings;
• Save data permanently;
• Create files to save small amounts of data instead of using a microSD card;
• Save HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files to build a web server;
• Save images, figures, and icons;
• And much more.

Installing the LittleFS Uploader Plugin on Arduino IDE 2

To upload files to the ESP8266 on Arduino IDE 2, we’ll use this LittleFS Uploader plugin that is compatible with Arduino 2.2.1 or higher and can be used for the ESP8266 and Raspberry Pi Pico boards.

Windows Instructions

Follow the next steps to install the filesystem uploader if you’re using Windows (click here for MacOS instructions):

1) Go to the releases page and click the .vsix file to download.

2) On your computer, go to the following path: C:\Users\<username>\.arduinoIDE\. Create a new folder called plugins if you haven’t already.

3) Move the .vsix file you downloaded previously to the plugins folder.

4) Restart or open the Arduino IDE 2. To check if the plugin was successfully installed, press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [P] to open the command palette. An instruction called ‘Upload Little FS to Pico/ESP8266‘ should be there.

That means the plugin was installed successfully. Proceed to this section to test the filesystem uploader plugin.

Mac OS X Instructions

Follow the next steps to install the filesystem uploader if you’re using Mac OS X:

1) Go to the releases page and click the .vsix file to download.

2) In Finder, type ~/.arduinoIDE/ and open that directory.

3) Create a new folder called plugins.

4) Move the .vsix file to the plugins folder.

5) Restart or open the Arduino IDE 2. To check if the plugin was successfully installed, press [⌘] + [Shift] + [P] to open the command palette. An instruction called ‘Upload LittleFS to Pico/ESP8266‘ should be there (just scroll down or search for the name of the instruction).

Uploading Files to ESP8266 NodeMCU using the Filesystem Uploader in Arduino IDE 2

To upload files to the ESP8266 NodeMCU filesystem, follow the next instructions.

1) Create an Arduino sketch and save it. For demonstration purposes, you can save an empty sketch.

2) Then, open the sketch folder. You can go to Sketch > Show Sketch Folder. The folder where your sketch is saved should open.

3) Inside that folder, create a new folder called data.

4) Inside the data folder is where you should put the files you want to upload to the ESP8266 filesystem. As an example, create a .txt file with some text called test_example.txt.

5) In the Arduino IDE, in the Tools menu, select the desired flash size (this will depend on the size of your files).

6) Make sure you have the right board (Tools > Board) and COM port selected (Tools > Port).

7) Then, upload the files to the ESP8266 board. Press [Ctrl] + [Shift] + [P] on Windows or [⌘] + [Shift] + [P] on MacOS to open the command palette. Search for the Upload LittleFS to Pico/ESP8266 and click on it.

Important: ensure the Serial Monitor is closed. Otherwise, the upload will fail.

After a few seconds, you should get the message “Completed upload. “. The files were successfully uploaded to the ESP8266 filesystem.

Troubleshooting

If you get the following error message “ERROR: No port specified, check IDE menus“, restart the Arduino IDE, and try again.

Testing the ESP8266 LittleFS Uploader

Now, let’s check if the file was saved into the ESP8266 filesystem. Upload the following code to your ESP8266 NodeMCU board.

#include "LittleFS.h"
 
void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  
  if(!LittleFS.begin()){
    Serial.println("An Error has occurred while mounting LittleFS");
    return;
  }
  
  File file = LittleFS.open("/test_example.txt", "r");
  if(!file){
    Serial.println("Failed to open file for reading");
    return;
  }
  
  Serial.println("File Content:");
  while(file.available()){
    Serial.write(file.read());
  }
  file.close();
}
 
void loop() {

}

View raw code

After uploading, open the Serial Monitor at a baud rate of 115200.

Press the ESP8266 on-board “RST” button. It should print the content of your .txt file in the Serial Monitor.

You’ve successfully uploaded files to the ESP8266 filesystem using the plugin.

Wrapping Up

In this tutorial, we’ve shown you how to upload files to the ESP8266 LittleFS filesystem on Arduino IDE 2 using an uploader plugin.

We’ve shown you how to upload a .txt file, but you can upload other file formats like HTML, CSS, and Javascript files to build a web server, images, or small icons, save configuration files, etc.

We have a project example in which we build a web server using HTML and CSS files saved on the filesystem (simply replace SPIFFS with LittleFS).

If you want to learn more about the ESP8266, check our resources:

• Home Automation using ESP8266
• SMART HOME with Raspberry Pi, ESP32, ESP8266
• Build Web Servers with ESP32 and ESP8266
• Firebase Web App with ESP32 and ESP8266
• More ESP8266 NodeMCU Projects and Guides…

Thanks for reading.