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| Ask the Experts |
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| iFolder Cool Solutions Q&A Collection |
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| · | Replacing home directory with iFolder directory 3/17/2003 |
| · | Creating new users 3/17/2003 |
| · | iFolder ports and security 3/17/2003 |
| · | Huge numbers of files in iFolder a problem? 3/17/2003 |
| · | Troubleshooting iFolder 3/17/2003 |
| · | Installing iFolder 2/13/2003 |
| · | Upload vs Download 2/13/2003 |
| · | Accessing server-stored files 2/13/2003 |
| · | Problems installing iFolder on Windows XP 2/13/2003 |
| · | Switching to a different volume 2/13/2003 |
| · | Mysterious files in conflict bin 2/13/2003 |
| · | iFolder APIs 2/13/2003 |
Replacing home directory with iFolder directory
Question: To avoid managing two different storage locations, is there any reason I couldn't eliminate the userdirectory (home directory) and just assign an iFolder directory? Then remap My Documents to \iFolder\user\ ?
Answer: No problem. That's the way a lot of people do it.
Question: I am in the Web Admin area for iFolder 1.0 and find that when I click on users there is no way to make new users. It just lets me look at user accounts. The only way I have found to add user is add them as a admin. What's wrong?
Answer: iFolder 1.0x doesn't require users to be created or activated. Anyone that has a NetWare ID can use it. It will put them into the users list after they have installed and run the client.
Question: If I login with the client on 52080 is the login secure? I am assuming that since I have SSL/TLS on then clear text password can't be accepted, thus my login is secure. I always thought the secure ports were 443 and 52443. Can this be a secure connection on 52080?
Answer: Here's the deal. iFolder uses two ports: one for the iFolder client to talk to the server, and one for web-based access to the iFolder server. The client always talks to the iFolder server over the unsecure port (80 or 52080, etc), BUT the password is always sent encrypted (via RSA) within the tunnel, and the data is encrypted (via Blowfish) if this is set within the client.
The iFolder "secure" port (443 or 52443, etc) is only used when accessing the iFolder account via a browser, so that SSL can be used to secure the data.
Huge numbers of files in iFolder a problem?
Question: Does anybody have experience with a single user having 12,000 files and 5GB of data to sync on the iFolder installed w/nw6sp2? I don't want to bring my server to its knees or cause problems for either server or workstation but I have one user that desperately needs good backups of her laptop and she is a very busy person. iFolder seems like a good solution if it can handle the load, initially and continually.
Answer: We heard from one expert whose personal iFolder contains 23,991 files coming to 3.07GB. He syncs this in the office (100MB) and at home (512k ADSL) and has been running it for many months, with no problem. He reports that it can take a minute for the client to load and do its checks, however after that it's transparent. He has three machines all syncing to the same iFolder account (work PC, home PC and laptop).
Question: I keep getting 'Your previous login failed! Please enter your username and password' when I try to log in to any part of iFolder. Where do I start to troubleshoot this problem?
Answer: Start here with these simple troubleshooting tips from Anders Gustafsson:
1. iFolder 2.x needs eDirectory 8.6.2 or better for LDAP. It will not work with NW 5.1 DS 8.82 for example.
2. Check that the admin name in the iFolder server config file is correct.
3. Use the clear-text LDAP port for troubleshooting.
4. Turn on LDAP tracing on the LDAP Server/Group Object.
5. LOAD DSTRACE. Turn off everything and turn on LDAP, then try to log in.
Question: I have 5 Novell NW5.1 Servers. There are a couple of users who want to be able to use their laptop both at work and at home. I have an Apache webserver hosting my company's web pages already. What is involved in using iFolder? Is it just a simple server install with some web server configuration? Do I need eDirectory?
Answer: It's a pretty simply install, but most problems occur because LDAP is not properly configured on the server. Assuming LDAP is up and running, you just install it, grant access to users, and let them run the client.
1.x could run with Active Directory, but it took a lot of extra effort. 2.0 is eDir only.
Question: One of the reports iFolder can generate is an overview of the user accounts. Can anyone tell me what exactly the figures in the columns 'upload' and 'download' represent?
Answer: These figures show the amount of data that the client has sent to, or received from the iFolder server.
Question: I'm starting to experiment with iFolder. I can connect with the client to the iFolder server and send a file from my notebook pc to the server. Synchronization says that it works OK but I can't locate the server copy of the file. I can see it using a web browser but can't find it with Windows Explorer. Is this correct? How do I put working files in my office into my iFolder on the server so that I can access them out of the office with my notebook?
Answer: You can only access the files on the server thru the iFolder client or a web browser. iFolder is used to synchronize *local* storage of files, not server storage. If you want to access your server-stored files (say, in a home directory) from outside the LAN, look into using NetWare 6's NetStorage utility.
Problems installing iFolder on Windows XP
Question: I have been trying to install the iFolder client 1.02 on my Windows XP Pro laptop. I'm logged in as a member of local administrator group, and the wizard starts up but when it gets to the language selection, the system freezes and that's it until I turn off the power. I can't even get the task mgr. up to shut down setup. Haven't had any problems with this client on Win 98, or Win 2K, but it just won't go on this box. Anyone have any ideas? Am I overlooking something obvious? Thanks.
Answer: Here's the solution: (Temporarily) Disable "real-time" virus scanning!
Switching to a different volume
Question: What if I don't want to store the iFolder data on the SYS volume? Can I switch it to somewhere else? Will it disturb the people who are already using it?
Answer: During the installation of iFolder the user is required to enter the location for the User Data. The default location is SYS:iFolder but can be changed to any Volume or path on the server.
To change the user data location after installing iFolder, edit the SYS:Apache\iFolder\Server\httpd_additions_nw.conf file and change "iFolderServerRoot SYS:\iFolder" to the new volume and path. It will be listed twice in the file, the first instance is for the non-ssl virtual host, and the second one is for the ssl virtual host. Make the change in both locations.
If user accounts already exist, copy all content from the SYS:iFolder directory to the new location. This change will then be transparent to existing iFolder users.
Mysterious files in conflict bin
Question: Stephen C. wrote: Maybe you can point me in the right direction. I haven't been able to find an answer to this one yet. I have several clients that have found their files (protected by iFolder) in their conflict bin. On the surface it would only be there if created on that computer but deleted from another. They are telling me that the files are not being deleted on the other computer. Is it possible that the server is sending a delete command? Has anyone seen this happen before. I haven't seen any posts on the forums.
Answer: We're not sure, but we think it depends on how the file is written by an application, We can imagine a situation where the application deletes the file and then writes a new file. This might cause the deleted file to get placed in the conflict bin because of the delete, then the new file is downloaded.
Question: Arti B. wrote: Is there going to be a Linux version of the iFolder client? If not, then will the source code for the NDK APIs be made available (free/for sale)?
Answer: We would like to do a Linux client at some point, but there are no committed plans yet. There is an API available right now. It's Leading Edge 170 (Novell iFolder Developer Kit) at http://developer.novell.com/ndk/leadedge.htm.
