8.3 Configuring and Managing Net Folder Servers

8.3.1 Configuring Net Folder Servers

Net Folder Servers represent a physical OES, NetWare, or Windows file server. Net Folder Servers are connections to specific NSS volumes (on OES and NetWare servers) and shares (on Windows servers). You can set up multiple connections to each server as needed.

You can set up each Net Folder Server to synchronize on a schedule that you specify.

  1. Log in to the Filr site as the Filr administrator.

    1. Launch a web browser.

    2. Specify one of the following URLs, depending on whether you are using a secure SSL connection:

      http://filr_hostname:8080
https://filr_hostname:8443

      Replace filr_hostname with the hostname or fully qualified domain name of the Filr server that you have set up in DNS.

      Depending on how you have configured your Filr system, you might not be required to enter the port number in the URL. If you are using NetIQ Access Manager, the Filr login screen is not used.

  2. Click the admin link in the upper-right corner of the page, then click the Administration Console icon .

  3. Under Management, click Net Folder Servers.

    The Manage Net Folder Servers page is displayed.

  4. (Conditional) If the LDAP synchronization process for importing users contains at least one user who has a Home folder associated with them, a Net Folder Server is ready to be configured immediately after running the LDAP synchronization process. (For more information about LDAP synchronization in Filr, see Section 18.1, Synchronizing Users and Groups from an LDAP Directory.)

    In the Name column, click the LDAP server name that you synchronized during the LDAP synchronization process, then skip to Step 6.

  5. (Conditional) If the LDAP synchronization process for importing users does not contain at least one user who has a Home folder associated with them, you need to manually add a new Net Folder Server. Or, you can run the LDAP synchronization, as described in Section 18.1, Synchronizing Users and Groups from an LDAP Directory.

    To manually add a new Net Folder Server, click Add.

  6. Whether you are adding a new Net Folder Server or configuring one that is synchronized through LDAP, you now need to configure it or finish configuring it.

    On the Configuration tab, specify the following information:

    Name: Specify a name for this Net Folder Server

    This is already populated if the search context of your LDAP sync contains an OES or Windows server.

    Server type: The type of file server, whether OES, NetWare, or Windows.

    Server path: The path to the NSS volume (OES or NetWare) Windows share, file server.

    • Windows: The server path must be entered using UNC syntax. For example, \\server_DNS\share

    • OES or NetWare: The server path must be entered using UNC syntax. For example, \\server_DNS\volume

    The Server path field is already populated if the LDAP synchronization process for importing users contains at least one user who has a Home folder associated with them.

    You can use DNS or IP address in the Name and Server path fields. DNS must be properly configured on the virtual appliance in order for it to work.

  7. Click the Authentication tab, then specify the following information:

    Proxy name and password: Specify the fully qualified, comma-delimited name and password for the proxy user used to access the OES, NetWare or Windows, server. (You can use the Browse icon next to the Proxy field to browse the LDAP directory for the proxy user that you want to use.)

    IMPORTANT:Before you specify a proxy name and password for the Net Folder server, ensure that you review the information in Section 8.1.2, Planning the Net Folder Server Proxy User.

    Test connection: Click this button to ensure that the path is accurate and that the credentials are valid, then click OK after the test succeeds.

    Sometimes proxy users with the incorrect context pass this test. Ensure that the context for your proxy user is correct, as described in Expected Name Format for File Servers.

    Authentication type: Select the authentication service for the file server that you are connecting to. This option corresponds with the Server type setting that you selected on the Configuration tab. If you selected OES or NetWare as the server type, only Novell NMAS is available as the authentication type. If you selected Windows as the server type, you can select either Kerberos, NTLM, or Auto detect as the authentication type. (Auto detect means that it tries authenticating with Kerberos first, and if that fails, authenticates with NTLM.)

    NOTE:If Kerberos is selected as the authentication type, ensure that the DNS name server is able to resolve DNS queries for the Active Directory domains.

    If the Kerberos port (port 88) is disabled on the Windows server, select NTLM as the authentication type.

  8. To schedule the synchronization of the Net Folder Server, click the Synchronization Schedule tab, then select Enable scheduled synchronization.

    Specify the schedule for when you want the synchronization between the file system server and Filr to occur. This becomes the default schedule for each Net Folder associated with this server.

    Synchronizations can be scheduled only if you have configured the Net Folder Server to use Full Synchronization as the synchronization method (as described in Section 8.1.4, Planning the Synchronization Method). When setting the synchronization schedule, be aware that the schedule that you choose can greatly affect system performance.

    Before you set a synchronization schedule, review the information in Section 8.1.5, Planning the Synchronization Schedule.

  9. Click the Synchronization Options tab, then specify the following information:

    Index the contents of Net Folders: Select this option to index all file content for each Net Folder associated with this Net Folder Server. (Before indexing can occur, file metadata must first be synchronized either via a full synchronization or Just-in-Time synchronization.)

    When this option is selected, all content for each synchronized file within the Net Folders is indexed, and therefore is searched when performing a search in Filr. Deselect this option if you do not want file content to be indexed. This means that file content is not searched when performing a search in Filr. However, file names and access controls are always indexed at the time of synchronization regardless of this setting. (For more information about content searchability, see Searchability of Data.)

    File metadata must first be synchronized to Filr via a full synchronization or Just-in-Time synchronization before the indexing process can begin. For more information about the synchronization process, see Section 8.1.4, Planning the Synchronization Method.

    Indexing is performed as a background process. Depending on the number of files that need to be indexed, it can take several hours or even days before all content is indexed and searchable in the Filr system.

    Enable Just-in-Time synchronization: When you enable Just-in-Time synchronization, files are synchronized the moment users access them. Just-in-Time synchronization is one method that you can use to synchronize files from Net Folders to be accessed in Filr.

    When enabling Just-in-Time synchronization, you can configure the following options:

    • Maximum age for Just-in-Time results (in seconds): When a user clicks a folder or file, if it has been more than x seconds (x being the number that you specify) since the Just-in-Time operation retrieved information about this folder or file, it retrieves the information again. The default is 30 seconds.

    • Maximum age for ACL Just-in-Time results (in seconds): When a user clicks a folder or file, if it has been more than x seconds (x being the number that you specify) since the Just-in-Time operation retrieved access control information about this folder or file, it retrieves the information again. The default is 60 seconds.

    Allow the desktop app to trigger initial home folder sync: Select this option to ensure that user Home folders are synchronized to the Filr desktop application.

    If this option is not selected, user Home folders are synchronized to the Filr desktop application only after the user logs in to Filr on the web, or after the Filr administrator triggers a full initial synchronization from the administration console (as described in Synchronizing a Net Folder Server).

    When this option is selected, the Filr desktop application triggers a full initial synchronization of user Home folders on the Filr server. Home folder information is then synchronized to the Filr desktop application.

    The following conditions must be met in order for the Filr desktop application to trigger an initial synchronization of a user’s Home folder:

  10. Click OK > Close.

  11. For Home folders to be displayed in the My Files area for each user, ensure that you have completed the steps in Section 7.0, Setting Up Personal Storage.

8.3.2 Managing Net Folder Servers

After Net Folder Servers already exist in your Filr system, you can manage them as described in this section.

Modifying a Net Folder Server

NOTE:You cannot modify a Net Folder Server’s URL if the Net Folder Server was created automatically. Net Folder Servers are automatically created in the following scenarios:

  • At the time of the LDAP synchronization (if the LDAP synchronization process for importing users contains at least one user who has a Home folder associated with them).

  • When a user authenticates to Filr (if the user has a Home folder associated with them).

  1. Log in to the Filr site as the Filr administrator.

    1. Launch a web browser.

    2. Specify one of the following URLs, depending on whether you are using a secure SSL connection:

      http://filr_hostname:8080
https://filr_hostname:8443

      Replace filr_hostname with the hostname or fully qualified domain name of the Filr server that you have set up in DNS.

      Depending on how you have configured your Filr system, you might not be required to enter the port number in the URL. If you are using NetIQ Access Manager, the Filr login screen is not used.

  2. Click the admin link in the upper-right corner of the page, then click the Administration Console icon .

  3. Under Management, click Net Folder Servers.

    The Manage Net Folder Servers page is displayed.

  4. Click the name of the Net Folder Server that you want to modify.

  5. Make the desired modifications, then click OK.

    For information about the options you can modify, see Section 8.3.1, Configuring Net Folder Servers.

Synchronizing a Net Folder Server

When you create a Net Folder Server, you can enable a synchronization schedule, as described in Section 8.3.1, Configuring Net Folder Servers.

To manually synchronize the Net Folder:

  1. Log in to the Filr site as the Filr administrator.

    1. Launch a web browser.

    2. Specify one of the following URLs, depending on whether you are using a secure SSL connection:

      http://filr_hostname:8080
https://filr_hostname:8443

      Replace filr_hostname with the hostname or fully qualified domain name of the Filr server that you have set up in DNS.

      Depending on how you have configured your Filr system, you might not be required to enter the port number in the URL. If you are using NetIQ Access Manager, the Filr login screen is not used.

  2. Click the admin link in the upper-right corner of the page, then click the Administration Console icon .

  3. Under Management, click Net Folder Servers.

    The Manage Net Folder Servers page is displayed.

  4. Select the Net Folder Server that you want to manually synchronize, then click Sync.

Deleting a Net Folder Server

NOTE:Before you can delete a Net Folder Server, you must first delete any Net Folders that are associated with the Net Folder Server.

To delete a Net Folder Server after all Net Folders associated with the Net Folder Server have been deleted:

  1. Log in to the Filr site as the Filr administrator.

    1. Launch a web browser.

    2. Specify one of the following URLs, depending on whether you are using a secure SSL connection:

      http://filr_hostname:8080
https://filr_hostname:8443

      Replace filr_hostname with the hostname or fully qualified domain name of the Filr server that you have set up in DNS.

      Depending on how you have configured your Filr system, you might not be required to enter the port number in the URL. If you are using NetIQ Access Manager, the Filr login screen is not used.

  2. Click the admin link in the upper-right corner of the page, then click the Administration Console icon .

  3. Under Management, click Net Folder Servers.

    The Manage Net Folder Servers page is displayed.

  4. Select the Net Folder Server that you want to delete, then click Delete.