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Dork. · Oct 14, 2007, 11:03 AM

I am helping someone use a WebDAV-based service to transfer files. It seems to be a Windows-oriented server, and she wants to use a Mac to put files in the account.

However, Mac OS X's "Connect to Server" feature doesn't work -- once I log into the WebDAV server, the volume mounts as read-only and I can't see anything. The same thing happens using the Transmit FTP application when connecting as a WebDAV client. Goliath won't let me see any of the files either and crashes regularly when connected, although I did manage to get a file uploaded via Goliath somehow.

Does anyone have a clue as to what is going on here? My hunch is that the WebDAV server is set up incorrectly, because why else would three different methods to access it fail in similar manners? I'd like to be able to figure out what might be wrong and provide some constructive ideas for the server owners (who are friends of mine and just might listen!), but I don't have clue 1 as to what might be wrong. If any of you could point me in the right direction in my research, I'd greatly appreciate it!

(might very well belong in a different forum, I'm not sure....)

besson3c · Oct 14, 2007, 02:48 PM

Is your WebDAV directory readable and writable by the web server? If not, does the server have the Apache mpm necessary for authenticated users to retain ownership over Apache processes (probably not, this is not a terribly common setup)? I take it you are not having problems with authentication?

Probably the best way to troubleshoot this problem would be to do a:

tail -f <apache error log>

in order to see exactly what is going on.

Happy to help, including over IM if this would benefit...

Dork. · Oct 14, 2007, 09:04 PM

They're not running the WebDAV server on Apache, they're a 100% Microsoft shop....

besson3c · Oct 14, 2007, 09:33 PM

That sucks... I guess I won't be much help

(you can get Apache for Windows though)

peeb · Oct 15, 2007, 01:10 PM

I don't think it should matter what their WebDav server is running on should it, isn't it a cross platform system?

besson3c · Oct 15, 2007, 01:15 PM

Originally Posted by peeb

I don't think it should matter what their WebDav server is running on should it, isn't it a cross platform system?

WebDAV is an open protocol, but I suspect that the problem here is not a protocol level issue, but a web server configuration issue.

WebDAV is simply a way of accessing files over port 80 via the web server. WebDAV configurations are handled by the web server, and all of the usual prerequisites apply (e.g. authentication is handled by the web server, permissions need to be handled just like any other folder served by the web server, etc.). In this case, in order to really get to the bottom of the problem, access to web server log files will be tremendously helpful, as requests should be logged there.

peeb · Oct 15, 2007, 02:17 PM

Thanks Besson - informative as ever!

Dork. · Oct 16, 2007, 06:38 AM

Thanks for the info. I'm going out of town this weekend, so I probably won't be able to work this with the people who own the server for a while (and that's only if they're not busy....)

I suspected it was a server-side configuration issue, probably one of those "features" that Microsoft adds to their server products that work flawlessly in Explorer but not quite flawlessly in other clients....