14.2 Configuring the Filr Desktop Application for All Users or for Individual Users and Groups

The Filr desktop application allows users to synchronize their Novell Filr files with their personal computers. You can enable this functionality for all users in the Filr system, or for individual users and groups. By default, this functionality is not enabled.

In addition to enabling or disabling this functionality for users, you can also make configuration changes that affect the load that the Filr desktop application puts on your Filr system, as well as make changes that ensure tighter security.

Users need to download, install, and configure the Filr desktop application on their personal computers. For more information, see the Novell Filr Desktop Application for Windows Quick Start and the Novell Filr Desktop Application for Mac Quick Start.

14.2.1 Configuring the Filr Desktop Application for All Users

To customize the desktop application experience for your Filr system:

  1. In Filr, click the admin link in the upper-right corner of the page, then click the Administration Console icon .

  2. Under System, click Desktop Application.

  3. In the Configure Desktop Application dialog box, select On.

  4. As necessary, configure Filr to allow the Filr desktop application to support the following features:

    Access Filr: Allows users to access the Filr site through the Filr desktop application.

    NOTE:Depending on the amount of anticipated load that the Filr desktop application will put on your Filr system, you might want to make the application available to users in a staged process. For more information, see Section 14.1, Planning Filr Desktop Application Usage for Your Filr Site.

    You must individually enable each Net Folder to be accessed by the Filr desktop application. For information about how to enable Net Folders to be accessed by the Filr desktop application, see Step 11 in Section 8.4, Creating and Managing Net Folders.

    Allowing access to the Filr site through the Filr desktop application can be changed on a per-user basis, as described in Section 14.2.2, Configuring the Filr Desktop Application for Individual Users and Groups.

    Cache the user’s password: Allows users to enable the Remember password option on the Account Information page in the Novell Filr Console.

    This option can be changed on a per-user basis, as described in Section 14.2.2, Configuring the Filr Desktop Application for Individual Users and Groups.

    Be deployed: Select this option to make the Filr desktop application available to users. If this option is selected, users can download the Filr desktop application as described in Downloading and Installing the Filr Desktop Application in the Novell Filr 1.1 Desktop Application for Windows Quick Start or the Novell Filr 1.1 Desktop Application for Mac Quick Start. If this option is not selected, the link to download the Filr desktop application is not visible to users.

    After you select this option, select from the following methods of deploying the Filr desktop application:

    • Deploy files contained locally: Select this option to use the Filr server for deploying the Filr desktop application.

      If you select this option, no other configuration is necessary for making the Filr desktop application available to users to download.

    • Deploy files accessed via a URL to another location: (Recommended) Select this option if you want to configure a separate web server to deploy the Filr desktop application. Deploying the desktop application in this way minimizes load on the Filr server.

      Select this option if your Filr system is fronted by an L4 or L10 switch.

      For information about how to set up a separate web server to deploy the application, see Section 14.3, Configuring a Separate Web Server to Deploy the Filr Desktop Application.

      If this option is selected, the available field must be populated with the URL of the web server that you configure for deploying the desktop application.

    NOTE:You might want to leave the Be deployed option deselected if you plan to deploy the Filr desktop application to user workstations by using client management software such as Novell ZENworks. The .msi file is available to you if you are planning to deploy the Filr desktop application by using ZENworks.

    For more information about how to deploy Filr by using the .msi file, see Section 14.6, Managing the Filr Desktop Application.

    Synchronization every xx Minutes: Specify the interval (in minutes) for how often the Filr desktop application checks the Filr server for changes to files. The default is every 15 minutes. This means that 15 minutes after one synchronization ends, another begins. This lets you control the amount of load that the Filr desktop application puts on the Filr server.

    Changes made in the desktop application are automatically synchronized to the server regardless of this setting.

    Maximum file size that can be synchronized: Specify the maximum file size (in MB) that can be synchronized between the Filr desktop application and the Filr server.

  5. Click OK.

14.2.2 Configuring the Filr Desktop Application for Individual Users and Groups

Individual user and group settings override global settings. This section describes how to customize the desktop application experience for individual users and groups on your Filr system.

To make the desktop application available to only a subset of users in your system, configure the application for all users, as described in Section 14.2.1, Configuring the Filr Desktop Application for All Users, then restrict access to the users and groups who should not have access to the application, as described in this section.

  1. In Filr, click the admin link in the upper-right corner of the page, then click the Administration Console icon .

  2. Under Management, click User Accounts.

    The Manage Users page is displayed.

  3. Select the check boxes next to the names of the users or groups for whom you want to configure the Filr desktop application, then click More > Desktop Application Settings.

    The Configure Desktop Application page is displayed.

  4. To change the desktop application settings for the selected users to be different from the global settings, select Use user settings to allow the desktop application to, then choose from the following options:

    Access Filr: Allows users to access the Filr site through the Filr desktop application.

    You must individually enable each Net Folder to be accessed by the Filr desktop application. For information about how to enable Net Folders to be accessed by the Filr desktop application, see Step 11 in Section 8.4, Creating and Managing Net Folders.

    Cache the user’s password: Allows users to enable the Remember password option on the Account Information page in the Novell Filr Console.

  5. Click OK.

If you have set individual and group settings for the Filr desktop application, you can change those settings back to the global settings for the individual users and groups.

  1. In Filr, click the admin link in the upper-right corner of the page, then click the Administration Console icon .

  2. Under Management, click User Accounts.

    The Manage Users page is displayed.

  3. Select the check boxes next to the names of the users or groups for whom you want to configure the Filr desktop application, then click More > Desktop Application Settings.

    The Configure Desktop Application page is displayed.

  4. To change the desktop application settings back to the global settings for the selected users, select Use global settings.

  5. Click OK.