Apache WebDAV Configuration

Server Side Apache 2.2 WebDAV Configuration on FreeBSD 7.2

Remove the comment from the following line in /usr/local/etc/apache22/httpd.conf:

Include etc/apache22/extra/httpd-dav.conf

The default WebDAV configuration in /usr/local/etc/apache22/extra/httpd-dav.conf is a well-functioning setup. Probably the following lines should be changed:

  Alias /uploads "/usr/local/uploads"   # mapping the directory in the URL to physical path
  AuthUserFile "/usr/local/user.passwd" # location of the password file
  <LimitExcept GET OPTIONS>             # writes are restricted to the admin user
      require user admin
  </LimitExcept>

You can use the htdigest program to create the password database:

htdigest -c "/usr/local/user.passwd" DAV-upload admin

Client Side Issues

Clients to be Used on Windows

Windows Explorer

Windows XP, Vista and 7 doesn't connect to WebDAV using basic authentication as default unless the connection is using SSL(https). If https is set-up for WebDAV, then 'assigning a network drive' to \\servername\directory (e.g. \\met.softxs.hu\prod\upload) works (but extremely slow).

If no https is used, than a workaround helps:

Set registry parameter for WebClient to allow connection to non-SSL WebDAV with basic authentication.

• Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters

• Value: BasicAuthLevel

• Data: 2

After setting value data to 2, restart WebClient service or restart computer.

Data mapping:

• 0 - Basic authentication disabled
• 1 - Basic authentication enabled for SSL shares only
• 2 or greater - Basic authentication enabled for SSL shares and for non-SSL shares

See also: http://online.covisp.net/WebDAV.html

BitKinex

The BitKinex free utility works perfectly an all Windows version.

Connection via HTTPS using wget and genMeta.pl

When connecting to HTTPS sites with wget use the command line option --no-check-certificate, e.g.:

• wget --no-check-certificate https://drawmgt-pswlimmern.axpo.ch/index.html

When using genMeta.pl on HTTPS sites, use the -n option:

• genMeta.pl -n https://host.domain/test/app/lib/meta

On FreeBSD (and Mac OSX), using wget to connect to server via HTTPS generates the following error:

• wget https://drawmgt-pswlimmern.axpo.ch/index.html
  --2010-03-08 10:56:09--  https://drawmgt-pswlimmern.axpo.ch/index.html
  Resolving drawmgt-pswlimmern.axpo.ch... 159.168.8.212
  Connecting to drawmgt-pswlimmern.axpo.ch|159.168.8.212|:443... connected.
  ERROR: cannot verify drawmgt-pswlimmern.axpo.ch's certificate, issued by `/C=ZA/ST=Western Cape/L=Cape Town/O=Thawte Consulting cc/OU=Certification Services Division/CN=Thawte Premium Server CA/emailAddress=premium-server@thawte.com':
    Unable to locally verify the issuer's authority.
  To connect to drawmgt-pswlimmern.axpo.ch insecurely, use `--no-check-certificate'.
  Unable to establish SSL connection.

This occurs for wget versions 1.10.2 (FreeBSD 5.4 on honir) and 1.11.4 (FreeBSD 8.0 and Mac OSX 10.6).