Accessing WebDAV

As an alternative, Web File Share can be also accessed with a standards-compliant WebDAV application. This can be useful for managing the remote files as they are folders on the local computer.

WebDAV client programs tested with Web File Share:

An example of the URL you need to use to access Web File Share's WebDAV would be: http://demo.webfileshare.com/dav.php/ (for our online demo)

Please note that the URL must contain the trailing slash character, after “dav.php”.

Assuming your Web File Share instance is installed at https://www.your-site.com/webfileshare

In the Finder, choose Go > Connect to Server, type the address of the server in the Server Address field, and click Connect. The server address should be in a form similar to this: ADDRESS/webfileshare/dav.php/.

For our example, that would be:

https://www.your-site.com/webfileshare/dav.php/

For details, check the respective vendor documentation at the Apple website: http://support.apple.com/kb/PH3857

Install the WebDAV support using the davfs package. On Debian/Ubuntu, you can use:

sudo apt-get install davfs2

Reconfigure davfs2 to allow access to normal users (select Yes when prompted):

sudo dpkg-reconfigure davfs2

Add the users you want to be able to mount the share to the davfs2 group:

sudo usermod -aG davfs2 <user>

Edit /etc/fstab and add the following line for each user who wants to mount the folder (with your details where appropriate):

your-site.com/webfileshare/dav.php/ /home/<username>/webfileshare davfs user,rw,noauto 0 0

Then, as each user who wants to mount the folder:

Create the folders webfileshare/ and .davfs2/ in your home directory

Create the file secrets inside .davfs2/, fill it with the following (with your credentials where appropriate):

your-site.com/webfileshare/dav.php/ <username> <password>

Ensure the file is only writable by you either through the file manager, or via:

chmod 600 ~/.davfs2/secrets

Run the command:

mount ~/webfileshare

To automatically mount the folder on login, add the command you used in step 4 to ./.coderc

Known Issues

Problem: Resource temporarily unavailable

Solution: If you experience trouble when you create a file in the directory, edit /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf and add:

use_locks 0

Problem: Certificate warnings

Solution: If you use a self-signed certificate, you will get a warning. If you are willing to take the risk of a man in the middle attack, run this command instead:

echo "y" | mount ~/webfileshare > /dev/null 2>&1