WebDAV Overview WebDAV integration provides access to the file system on the staging server similar to FTP/SFTP and can be used in lieu of FTP/SFTP. WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) is a communications protocol that honors settings in OU Campus. Unlike FTP/SFTP, when file management is performed using WebDAV, OU Campus treats the files as if they were being managed via the OU Campus interface. Advantages of WebDAV over FTP is that FTP does not connect to the OU Campus database. File management is not integrated with OU Campus when using FTP. WebDAV implementation allows the files to be tied into OU Campus functionality. This includes permissions/access control, checking files in and out, renaming, adding, deleting, etc. WebDAV functionality (aka verbs) such as rename, delete, get, and put work seamlessly with OU Campus. WebDAV capability provided by default for an account and must be enabled on a per-site basis and for each level 9 or level 10 administrator that should be provided access. Once enabled in OU Campus, a WebDAV client can be used to connect to the staging server. This view of the system provides restricted access to both the OMNI-RESOURCES and the OMNI-INF folders for a site. File Permissions and Management When using WebDAV, access settings for files inherit the access settings from their parent directories when uploading. When a nested folder structure is used in the upload, each directory maintains the correct directory access settings and the files being uploaded have the appropriate settings inherited from the parent. When using WebDAV with OU Campus the following file management actions honored include (but are not limited to): Permissions/access control Checking in and out files Updating files Editing and saving changes to files Uploading files and directories Moving files and directories Downloading files and directories Deleting files and directories Creating files and directories Renaming files and directories Dependency tag management Note: Asset files are not accessible for editing via WebDAV. Authentication Methods To log into an OU Campus site using WebDAV, users are able to log in using LDAP or OU Campus login credentials. CAS and Shibboleth authentication is not supported for WebDAV, as OU Campus WebDAV Page 1 of 5
the user's password must be stored inside OU Campus. CAS and Shibboleth both store passwords separately from OU Campus, which WebDAV cannot access during the authentication process. If you have LDAP configured for Single Sign On, you will need to set a password in your account settings to authenticate via WebDAV. If WebDAV is activated for a site but users in the site do not have passwords added into the system (i.e., if their passwords are not managed in OU Campus or through LDAP), OU Campus will prompt administrators to give a password to the user. Enabling WebDAV WebDAV can be enabled at the site level, and then Level 10 administrators can then configure access for level 9 and 10 users in the account. Enable WebDAV for Each Site 1. Navigate to Setup > Sites and click Edit > Site for the site. 2. From Optional Features, select the WebDAV checkbox. 3. Select Save. Allowing WebDAV Access for a User Level 10 administrators can give users access to WebDAV through the Setup > Users screen. 1. Navigate to Setup > Users. Hover over the desired user and click Edit. If adding a new user, the WebDAV URL will be visible after saving the user setup. 2. Select the Allow WebDAV Access checkbox. This allows for file access to the staging server. If using OU Campus authentication, the password is the same as what is used to login to OU Campus. If LDAP is used, the LDAP password is used with the WebDAV client. 3. Note the WebDAV URL. This is used when configuring settings for the WebDAV client. The WebDAV URL listed in this section is the path to the site. A specific folder can be appended to it and used for the WebDAV client configuration. OU Campus WebDAV Page 2 of 5
Supported Clients The integration of WebDAV into OU Campus supports a number of WebDAV clients. It is always recommended to use the most up-to-date version of the below clients, which have been tested to work with OU Campus: <oxygen/> XML Editor (both Windows and Mac) - version 14.2+ Cyberduck (FTP/SFTP/WebDAV client, both Windows and Mac) - version 4.3+ (Note: older versions of Cyberduck may also be supported depending on version and encryption settings) Adobe Dreamweaver(Web development, both Windows and Mac) - CS6 and CC BitKinex (FTP/SFTP/WebDAV client, Windows) - version 3.2+ Transmit (FTP/SFTP/WebDAV client, Mac) - version 4.0+ Coda (FTP/SFTP/WebDAV client, Mac) - version 2.0+ Interarchy (FTP/SFTP/WebDAV client, Mac) - version 10.0.6+ Mac OS X Finder (Mac) - for OS X 10.8+ Clients with File Locking Support The following clients have been tested and are known to support file locking (check in/check out): <oxygen/> XML Editor (both Windows and Mac) Dreamweaver (both Windows and Mac) BitKinex (Windows) Clients without File Locking Support The following clients have been tested and are known to not support file locking (check in/check out): Cyberduck (both Windows and Mac) Transmit 4 (Mac) Coda 2 (Mac) Interarchy 10 (Mac) Mac OS X 10.8 Finder (Mac) Example Setup (Using Cyberduck 4.7.2) 1. Click Open Connection. 2. Select WebDAV (Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning) from the drop-down. 3. For the Server field, enter the WebDAV URL noted previously. That is, the path found in the WebDAV URL field in Setup > Users > Restrictions panel. 4. Clear the Anonymous Login checkbox. 5. Enter Username and Password. OU Campus WebDAV Page 3 of 5
6. Click Connect. Notes When troubleshooting connection errors, note that WebDAV must be enabled for each site, as well as for the administrator. If not enabled at one of these levels, the WebDAV client will not be able to connect. Use extreme caution when granting staging server access as an administrator is able to delete the site files from the staging server. Users may need to refresh their browser windows in both OU Campus and the WebDAV client to see changes made by one or the other, if both are active at the same time. Moving Files and Folders Files and folders are able to be moved only within the WebDAV enabled site. Moving files across sites is not supported. (One alternative to be considered is copying files to a local computer and then to the desired site.) Naming and Renaming Naming and renaming a file will not conform to the site#s pre-defined regex settings. Special characters are permitted upon upload and renaming file or folders. Users need to be careful as some special characters can cause OU Campus to stop responding to the file. Error behavior in this case can include preview and rename not functioning. If a problem character is OU Campus WebDAV Page 4 of 5
present in a file that was uploaded or renamed via a WebDAV client into OU Campus, the user needs to use the WebDAV client to rename the file. Upload Uploading non-binary files (text) via WebDAV is permitted. Uploading binary files via WebDAV to the OU Campus staging server is permitted as long as Binary Management is enabled. Locking The WebDAV client (that supports locking) checks out the file to the user in OU Campus. If a file is checked out to another user in OU Campus, then the file is locked to the WebDAV client, the client will not be able to edit it but can view a read-only copy of the file. OU Campus can override locks that are initiated by a WebDAV client. When this occurs, the corresponding WebDAV client still holds the lock even though it is now invalid. However, OU Campus correctly denies access if the WebDAV client tries to act on the (now invalidly locked) file. An exception to this is that Dreamweaver allows a lock override. OU Campus WebDAV Page 5 of 5