Using Web Disk as a network drive

[jpswade]

I've setup a WebDAV "Web Disk" as follows:

docs@example.com which maps to /public_html/docs

(Non SSL Port) Internet or Network Address: http://example.com:2077
(SSL Port) Internet or Network Address: https://example.com:2078

What I am trying to do is programmatically map this to a network drive at network logon using a batch script.

This is what I've tried:

net use i: "http://example.com:2077" /User:docs@example.com Password

This results in:

System error 67 has occurred.

The network name cannot be found.

I am running Windows Vista (yes I know), but the rest of the network is Windows XP for the time being.

Can anyone advise how this can be done?

[jpswade]

I created a folder called "main" and tried this:

C:\Users\User>net use * "https://255.255.255.255:2078/main"
System error 1790 has occurred.

The network logon failed.

It never prompted me for a user/password as I've seen here: Using the WebDAV Redirector : WebDAV for IIS 7.0 : Publishing Content to Web Sites : The Official Microsoft IIS Site

I tried again and then got this error:

C:\Users\User>net use * "https://255.255.255.255:2078/main"
System error 59 has occurred.

An unexpected network error occurred.

Where can I find the error logs on the server for this?

[Infopro]

...
I am running Windows Vista (yes I know), but the rest of the network is Windows XP for the time being.

...

Do you have this patch applied?
Download: Software Update for Web Folders (KB907306) - Microsoft Download Center

This is mentioned in the documentation as being needed:
Note for Windows® Vista Users - cPanel Documentation

[jpswade]

I'm sure I tried this. I've reinstalled it again just in case, and rebooted. Still no change.

It's annoying because KB907306 doesn't appear in the general "Programs and Features" nor in the "installed updates" section.

All this aside, I've tried it on an XP machine and Windows Server 2003, with no success.

Is this supposed to work or is this just a bug in windows or cPanel's configurations?

Thanks.

[Infopro]

I'm not able to assist you with your script, I was hoping that patch helped you. I do understand that there are problems with Windows 7 and WebDisk, and by this post by cPanelNick, it sounds like WebDisk is due for upgrades in the future.

[jpswade]

What is most odd is that before I could download and run the supplied "example.co.uk Secure WebDisk.vbs" file and it would add the webdisk as a Web Folder, but now I just get:

Internet Explorer could not open https://example.co.uk:2078/ as a web Folder. Would you like to see its default view instead?

When I hit yes, I get:

There was a problem connecting to the WebDisk service. Please make sure ports 2078 (SSL) and 2077 are not firewalled.

I know it's not a firewall issue because when I put Smartways Welcome Page or https://example.co.uk:2078/ into Google Chrome I get prompted for a login. Once I login I can view the files.

I don't understand the behaviour. I can't see anything client side in eventvwr and I can't find anything server side.

root@svr [~]# cat /usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpdavd_error_log
Starting PID 28358: cpdavd - accepting connections on 2077 and 2078
cphulkd rejected registration attempt for cpdavd with: 500 AUTH FAILED

cphulkd rejected registration attempt for cpdavd with: 500 AUTH FAILED

cphulkd rejected registration attempt for cpdavd with: 500 AUTH FAILED

Starting PID 17874: cpdavd - accepting connections on 2077 and 2078
Starting PID 11666: cpdavd - accepting connections on 2077 and 2078

As you can see this is pretty useless because there's no timestamps and even though I've tried to access it today, there's been no update or change to the file since the 8th:

-rw------- 1 root root 420 Jun 8 17:08 /usr/local/cpanel/logs/cpdavd_error_log

I feel like I'm overlooking something.

[cPanelKenneth]

I think the NET USE command should be more like:

net use \\example.com@2078 /User:me@example.com Password

[jpswade]

Kenneth, sure, if you're doing SSL, but let's try that out...

C:\Users\User>net use \\example.co.uk@2078 /User:user Password
System error 64 has occurred.

The specified network name is no longer available.

I tried it once more for good measure:

C:\Users\User>net use \\example.co.uk@2078 /User:user Password
System error 59 has occurred.

An unexpected network error occurred.

The third time was like the first error, forth and every time after that was the same and the second error, apart from the eighth time, that was like the first error again.

Is this a server side issue or a client side issue? I can't seem to find any logs that give any indication as to where the issue lies...

[Infopro]

I can't seem to find any logs that give any indication as to where the issue lies...

There is a Feature Request for access log support looking for some support:
access log support for cpanel webdav(webdisk)

[jpswade]

Interesting.

I've just tried it on a Windows XP Pro machine at another location and it worked, connected without a hitch, at least by using the supplied vbs anyway. I did not get around to trying the command line.

It's definitely not working on Vista at this location, so I'll try it on XP.

It's got to be either a problem in Vista or a cpHulk/firewall issue.

Side note, but also interesting:

"Want to see a preview of the upcoming WebDAV/Webdisk changes? Join @cPanel Developer Phil and CEO Nick http://ow.ly/byNO7"

- https://twitter.com/cPanel/status/213225534321197056

[jpswade]

I was able to connect to the WebDisk using the VBS from the XP machine here.

However I don't appear to be able to map the network drive.

I read some details here: Mapping WebDAV folder as a network drive letter | Network | Smallvoid.com

Note Windows XP can only connect to port 80 and can only map to a sub folder and not the root directly.

Note Windows XP only supports SSL / https connections when using My Network Places

Meanwhile on the Vista machine here I am still having problems.

As per the note here: Web Disk for Windows Vista Users

If you are running Windows Vista on your desktop, you will need to download a patch from Microsoft's website in order to use Web Disk. You can find the patch here.

I've downloaded and installed Webfldrs-KB907306-ENU.exe, then downloaded the "example.co.uk Secure WebDisk.vbs" for Windows Vista.

Which brings it back to here: #6.

[mtindor]

I don't think you'll ever get that commandline to work. WebDav is not windows file sharing. "net use" is expecting you to be trying to map a network drive of a windows machine [or a Samba share] over the normal windows network ports / channels. There are no such windows networking ports/services listening on a cPanel server unless you happen to have Samba installed and configured. And of course, thankfully that isn't something supported specifically by cPanel.

Mike

ADDENDUM: Apparently I'm wrong. I guess that as long as you have the webdav redirector installed [already is on Vista/7] or the WebFolders stuff installed on XP, then you can. That's what acts as the shim between the normal windows file sharing and access to a webdav server.

[jpswade]

On Vista: It won't work either way. Using command line nor downloading the VBS. The only way it would work was by following the instructions.

On XP: How do I know that the WebDAV mini-redirector is installed? I can access the Web Disk, but I can't seem to map it as a drive.

Unfortunately the WebDAV/Webdisk Webinar clashed with the England v Sweden Euro 2012 match, any highlights?

[jpswade]

I had a brainwave and remembered the "proxy subdomains" are enabled (ie: webdisk.example.co.uk).

Whatever I seem to do with this seems to result the same away:

c:\Program Files\Support Tools>net use i: "http://webdisk.example.co.uk/main"
Enter the user name for 'webdisk.example.co.uk': docs@example.co.uk
Enter the password for webdisk.example.co.uk:
System error 5 has occurred.

Access is denied.

Even like this:

net use i: "http://webdisk.example.co.uk/main" /User:example Password1
System error 5 has occurred.

Access is denied.

Note, as a side note, as we discovered earlier, if you exclude a subfolder on XP, you get the following error:

System error 67 has occurred.

The network name cannot be found.

Having server side logs would be useful at this point.

[cPanelKenneth]

Having server side logs would be useful at this point.

You can enable debug logging for cpdavd. It requires logging in as root via SSH.

edit /usr/local/cpanel/libexec/cpdavd
change "debug => 0" to "debug => 1"
save the file
restart cpdavd

These changes will be undone the next time cPanel & WHM updates.