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Secure Network File Server
This page has moved to: http://barracudaserver.com/products/BarracudaDrive/tutorials/mapping_windows_drive.lsp
BarracudaDrive WebDAV plugin
WebDAV is a set of extensions to the HTTP(S) protocol that allows a server to appear as a standard network drive.
WebDAV clients are native to Windows XP, Mac OS X, Linux, etc.,. One simply mounts a drive from one of these operating systems to one or several remote computers.
The WebDAV plugin is included in BarracudaDrive 3.0 and is accessible from the "/dav/" URI.
As an example, using windows XP, one can mount say the drive letter 'r' to a remote BarracudaDrive server by typing the following in a DOS command window:
In the above example, we mounted the drive letter r: to the remote computer, with IP address: 192.168.1.100 using the Windows net use command. We then list the content on the r: drive, which is the content of 'c:\' of the remote Windows computer running BarracudaDrive.
BarraucdaDrive web file manager and WebDAV
The BarraucdaDrive web file manager from version 2.0 is still at the same URI, which is "/drive/". The "/drive/" and "/dav/" URIs point to the same physical location in your file system. The "/drive/" URI is intended for browsers, the Java File Manager, and the Client command line tools. The "/dav/" URI is intended for any client that can use the WebDAV HTTP extensions.
Barracuda WebDAV plugin Interoperability
The Barracuda DAV plugin is compatible with DAV 1, but it also includes some of the locking requirements for DAV 2 since some clients require locking in the server. What this means is that you can use the Barracuda DAV plugin as a remote drive. Please refer to the WebDAV article at Wikipedia for a more technical introduction to WebDAV.
Mounting a client to the BarracudaDrive server
You must be authenticated and authorized before you can use the DAV drive. The DAV drive is using the same constraints as the constraints for the BarracudaDrive web file manager. Please see configuring the server constraints for more information.
When you attempt to connect a client to the server, the server will send back information to the client that the user must be authenticated. The client will then show a dialog box, where you enter the name and password. The name and password is the same as for the BarracudaDrive web file manager. The default user and password is "admin" for a new BarracudaDrive installation.
Some clients, such as Microsoft products, have a problem with authentication. BarracudaDrive is very strict when it comes to allowing how many times a client is allowed attempting authentication. The client is banned after four unsuccessful login attempts. The client may give you a "403 permission denied" error if the client fails to login. You must then wait 10 minutes before you can retry the login.
Some clients, such as Microsoft WebDAV MiniRedir, are unable to use a secure connection. The "/dav/" URL is therefore designed such that it allows unsecured connections. It is not recommended to use an unsecured HTTP connection and you should first try to connect using a secure connection.
Secure connection:
Unsecured connection:
Mounting a Windows client
Windows XP provides two WebDAV clients: one that works similar to ftp and one that allows you to mount a drive letter. The former is called Web Folder and the latter is called Microsoft WebDAV MiniRedir.
Using Web Folders:
The easiest way to use Web Folders is to use Internet Explorer and open the BarracudaDrive web file manager at URI "/drive/". The web file manager shows an additional button "Web Folder" if you use Internet Explorer. Simply press the button and login. The Internet Explorer page will then be converted to a Web Folder page.
Please see the following instructions if you cannot get WebFolders to work: Repair/ Upgrade WebFolders.
Using MiniRedir:
The built in Microsoft Windows MiniRedir client may not work correctly or not work at all. We suggest that you use the WebDrive WebDAV client or the Xythos Drive WebDAV client instead of using the standard Windows client.
Open a DOS command window and type the following command:
You can test if MiniRedir works by using the name "localhost" if you run the client on the same computer as the server. You must substitute the name "localhost" with the IP address or domain name to your remote server. Please note that the authentication in MiniRedir is bogus and MiniRedir may give you a "403 permission denied" error message as explained in the introduction.
Mounting a Macinstosh OS X client
Please see the following articles: Mac OS X 10.3 Help, Mounting WebDAV.
The server address should be in a form similar to this:
Mac OS X 10.4:
Mac OS X 10.3:
BarracudaDrive is not compatible with the client built into OS X 10.3. It may be possible to get 10.3 to work if you execute the followeing in a terminal: defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
Mounting a Linux client
Please see the WebDAV Linux File System davfs2 for more information.
Configuring the server constraints
The DAV plugin and the BarracudaDrive web file manager are using the same user and constraints database. Please see Configuring the realm database for an introduction to the user and constraints editors.
WebDAV is disabled with the standard constraints settings used by the web file manager, which is using the HTTP method type GET to allow general read access and HTTP method type POST to allow general write access. The DAV plugin can be controlled with much finer constraints.
To give a user full access rights, the following HTTP method types must be added to the "Methods" input field in the constraints editor: GET PUT PROPFIND PROPPATCH MKCOL DELETE MOVE COPY. Please see the WebDAV Wikipedia article for an explanation of these HTTP method types. Please note that the Web File Manager also requires that you add POST for write access.
Read only access:
At a minimum, a user may have the following methods: GET PROPFIND. This will allow a user to use the DAV drive as a read-only file system.
You can give a user access to read files and upload files, but not delete, move, or copy files on the remote drive: GET PROPFIND PUT.
You can give a user rights to read files, upload files, and move files: GET PROPFIND PUT MOVE MKCOL. The HTTP method type MKCOL (make directory) is needed since some clients move directories by moving the files one by one. Other clients send "move directory" commands to the server.
You can give a user access rights to read files and set new properties. Properties are part of the WebDAV standard, and some clients store additional properties related to the file. This could for example be text related to photos in a photo album: GET PROPFIND PROPPATCH.
Calendar clients
The BarracudaDrive WebDAV plugin can also be used as a Calendar server. You can, for example, set up a private calendar application on your home computer that can be accessed from anywhere. You can also set up a shared calendar for a group of users and have the group subscribe to the calendar file on the server. The user and constraints editor can be used to give users read/write access or read only access to the calendar file on the server.
There are a number of WebDAV compliant calendar applications such as iCal in OS X, the KDE KOrganizer, and the Mozilla Calendar.
Links: