6.3 Configuring an iFolder Account

Use the iFolder Account Creation Wizard to add and configure a new account. You must configure at least one iFolder account before you can create iFolders or share iFolders on your system. You can connect to the iFolder server with only one account at any given time. However, to connect to more than one iFolder servers, you can configure multiple accounts. You can log in separately to each account and be logged in concurrently to multiple accounts.

Multiple users with different local login identities will have iFolders on the same computer. The first time you start iFolder under your current local login identity, iFolder prompts you to set up an iFolder account.

IMPORTANT:iFolder 3.7 introduces a new feature, auto-account creation, which helps the iFolder administrator to create and configure an account for you. If your iFolder administrator has enabled auto-account creation, you don’t need to configure an account for yourself. When you start an iFolder for the first time, you are prompted to enter your password. Enter your password and complete configuring the account.

To configure a new account:

  1. Access the iFolder Account Creation Wizard, using one of the following methods:

    • The first time you start iFolder under your current local login identity, iFolder prompts you to set up an iFolder account. Click Forward to go directly to the iFolder Account Creation Wizard.

    • Right-click the iFolder Services iFolder Application Icon icon in the notification area, select Accounts to open the iFolder Preferences dialog box to the Accounts tab, then click Add to open the iFolder Account Creation Wizard.

  2. Follow the on-screen instructions to specify the following values:

    Parameter

    Description

    Server address

    The DNS name or IP address of the iFolder enterprise server where you have an account. Get this information from your iFolder administrator.

    For example: svr21.example.com or 192.168.1.1

    The server name is always displayed along with its IP address in the iFolder user interface. For example: iFolder - 192.168.1.1

    IMPORTANT:You cannot use iFolder 3.8 client to connect to an iFolder 3.2 server.

    Set this as my default server

    If you have multiple servers connected to your account, select the Set this as my default server check box to set the selected server from the drop-down list of servers as the default Server when you create or upload an ifolder.

    User name

    Specify your user identity for this account. Your iFolder administrator decides whether the format you should use must be your network user ID (LDAP common name) or your e-mail address.

    For example, if your name is John Smith with a user ID of jsmith and an e-mail address of john.smith@example.com, your administrator configures a setting for the server that determines which of the two formats to accept in the User name field for authentication purposes.

    Password

    Specify the password for your username.

    Authentication happens through Secure channel (SSL). You are prompted to validate and accept the server certificate.

    Remember Password

    Select the Remember password on this computer check box to log in automatically to this iFolder account whenever you log in to your computer.

    If your network password changes, automatic authentication fails gracefully the next time iFolder attempts to log in to the iFolder account. iFolder prompts you to log in with your new password and allows you to specify and save the new password.

  3. Verify the information entered by you. To make any changes, click the Back button and revisit the previous pages. Click Connect to proceed and validate your connection with the server.

  4. If you are prompted to Accept the certificate of this server, click Details to review the certificate information, then click OK to accept it.

    NOTE:During the account creation, login happens through SSL. When you are prompted to accept the server certificate, you must validate the certificate and accept it for a successful connection.

  5. If the administrator has enabled the encryption policy, iFolder prompts you to enter your passphrase.

    Enter your passphrase in the Passphrase field.

    Re-enter the passphrase in Retype the passphrase field.

    Select Remember the passphrase check box to automatically access the encrypted iFolder data during the current session. If you select this option, iFolder can remember your passphrase during the next login process. This passphrase exchange is done automatically.

    NOTE:If you do not want to enter the passphrase and skip this step, you must skip the default iFolder creation step also. Otherwise, you will be prompted to enter the passphrase again.

  6. Select the desired Recovery agent from the list and click OK.

  7. Specify the location where you want to create the default iFolder.

    By default, the default iFolder is stored at <users home directory>/ifolder/server_name/user_name.

    NOTE:For Windows, by default, the default iFolder is stored at the location %USERPROFILE%\iFolder\domainname\username\

  8. Select the type of the Default iFolder that you want to create. If you choose Encryption, you will be prompted to provide the passphrase.

    IMPORTANT:You can share only the regular iFolders. Encrypted iFolders cannot be shared.

    If your iFolder administrator has not enabled encryption for your current account, you can create only regular iFolders, and if encryption is enabled, the Regular option is selected by default.

  9. Select Secure Sync to enable secure synchronization of files in the iFolder you are creating.

    You can enable secure channel for both regular and encrypted iFolders. With this option selected, iFolder allows you to use a secure channel to synchronize between iFolder on the server and on the local machine.

    If you remove the default iFolder on the server, the next time you configure the account from any thick client, iFolder prompts you to create a default iFolder again.

    However, if you remove the default iFolder from the local machine, the next time you configure the account, iFolder prompts you to download the default iFolder.

  10. If you have already set up a default iFolder, you can download it to your local machine.

    Download the default iFolder and click Next to proceed.

  11. If a folder with the same name as the default ifolder already exists on your system, you are prompted to either merge the two folders or download the default ifolder to a different location.

    Click OK to merge the two folders or click Cancel to download the default iFolder to a different location

  12. Click Finish to close the iFolder Account Creation Wizard.

    iFolder synchronizes the user list for the specified account and identifies iFolders that are available for download. This initial download can take a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the size of the user list for the account.

  13. Verify that the account you set up appears in the list of accounts.

    1. Right-click the iFolder Services iFolder Application Icon icon in the notification area, then select Preferences from the menu to open the iFolder Preferences dialog box to the Accounts tab.

      When you are connected to the iFolder server, the Online check box is selected.

    2. Close the iFolder Preferences dialog box.

  14. Set up iFolders for the account using either of these methods:

    • Right-click the iFolder Services icon in the notification area, then select iFolders to open the iFolder browser. Continue with Section 7.5, Creating and Uploading an iFolder.

    • If iFolders for this account are available for download from the server, they are listed on the iFolder window under iFolders on <iFolder_server_name>. The download icon iFolder Application Icon indicates that the iFolder is available for download. Continue with Section 7.9, Downloading an Available iFolder.

NOTE:You cannot create two accounts on the iFolder client from two domains if both the iFolder domains point to the same LDAP source (eDirectory or Active Directory). However, this issue is not observed if the LDAP source is Openldap.