WebDAV allows users to access Confluence content via a WebDAV client, such as 'My Network Places' in Microsoft Windows. Provided that the user has permission, they will be able to read and write to spaces, pages and attachments in Confluence. Users will be asked to log in and the standard Confluence content access permissions will apply to the equivalent content available through the WebDAV client.

Introduction to Confluence's WebDAV Client Integration

By default, all WebDAV clients have permission to write to Confluence. Write permissions include the ability for a WebDAV client to create, edit, move or delete content associated with spaces, pages and attachments in a Confluence installation.

On the 'WebDAV Configuration' screen in the Confluence Administration Console, you can:

Note:

  • The 'WebDav Configuration' page is only be available if the WebDAV plugin has been enabled. Note that this plugin is bundled with Confluence, and can be enabled or disabled by the System Administrator.
  • The settings on the 'WebDav Configuration' page do not apply to external attachment storage configuration.

Restricting WebDAV Client Write Access to Confluence

In earlier versions of the WebDAV plugin, separate options for restricting a WebDAV client's write permissions (that is, create/move, edit and delete actions), were available. However, in the current version of this plugin, they have been simplified and combined into a general write permission restriction that covers all of these actions.

WebDAV clients are now denied write permission to your Confluence installation by setting a regex that matches specific content within the WebDAV client's user agent header. Upon setting a regex, it will be added to a list of restricted WebDAV clients. Any WebDAV clients whose user agent header matches a regex in this list will be denied write permission to your Confluence installation.

On this page:

Related pages:

Example: A PROPFIND method header generated by a Microsoft Web Folder WebDAV client, showing the user agent header field:

PROPFIND /plugins/servlet/confluence/default HTTP/1.1
Content-Language: en-us
Accept-Language: en-us
Content-Type: text/xml
Translate: f
Depth: 1
Content-Length: 489
User-Agent: Microsoft Data Access Internet Publishing Provider DAV
Host: 127.0.0.1:8082
Connection: Keep-Alive

Note: Unlike earlier versions of the WebDAV plugin which could only restrict write permissions for all WebDAV clients, the current version of this plugin allows you to restrict write permissions to specific WebDAV clients selectively.

To restrict a WebDAV client's write access permissions to your Confluence installation:

  1. Choose the cog icon , then choose General Configuration under Confluence Administration.
  2. Choose 'WebDav Configuration' in the left panel. The 'WebDAV Configuration' page is displayed.
  3. Enter a regex that matches a specific component of the user agent header sent by the WebDAV client you want to restrict.
  4. Click the 'Add new regex' button. The regex is added to the list of restricted WebDAV clients.
    You can repeat steps 3 and 4 to add a regex for each additional WebDAV client you want to restrict.
  5. Click the 'Save' button to save the configuration changes.

To restore one or more restricted WebDAV client's write access permissions to your Confluence installation:

  1. Choose the cog icon , then choose General Configuration under Confluence Administration.
  2. Click 'WebDav Configuration' under 'Configuration' in the left panel. The 'WebDAV Configuration' page is displayed.
  3. Select the regex(es) from the list that match(es) the user agent header sent by the restricted WebDAV client(s) you want to restore.
  4. Click the 'Remove selected regexes' button. The regexes you had selected are removed from the list of restricted WebDAV clients.
  5. Click the 'Save' button to save the configuration changes.

Screenshot: WebDAV configuration
 

Disabling Strict Path Checking

If you observe any idiosyncrasies with your WebDAV client, such as a folder that does exist on your Confluence site but is missing from the client, you can disable the WebDAV plugin's strict path checking option, which may minimise these problems.

To disable the WebDAV plugin's strict path checking option:

  1. Choose the cog icon , then choose General Configuration under Confluence Administration.
  2. Click 'WebDav Configuration' under 'Configuration' in the left panel. The 'WebDAV Configuration' page is displayed.
  3. Clear the 'Disable strict path check' check box.
    (info) You can re-enable this option at a later point in time by simply selecting this check box.
  4. Click the 'Save' button to save this configuration change.

Virtual Files and Folders

In the unlikely event that you observe any problems with the WebDAV client's performance or stability, you can enable access to automatically generated (that is, virtual) files and folders.

Note:

By default, these options are hidden on the 'WebDAV Configuration' page. To make them visible, you must append the parameter ?hiddenOptionsEnabled=true to the end of your URL and reload the page. For example:

<Confluence base URL>/admin/plugins/webdav/config.action?hiddenOptionsEnabled=true

Screenshot: The Hidden Virtual Files and Folders Option
 

To enable or disable access to virtual files and folders:

  1. Choose the cog icon , then choose General Configuration under Confluence Administration.
  2. Click 'WebDav Configuration' under 'Configuration' in the left panel. The 'WebDAV Configuration' page is displayed.
  3. Amend your URL as described in the note above and reload the 'WebDav Configuration' page.
  4. Select or clear the check box options in the 'Virtual Files and Folders' section as required.
  5. Click the 'Save' button to save the configuration changes.

Using a WebDAV Client to Work with Pages

The following sections tell you how to set up a WebDAV client natively for a range of different operating systems. WebDAV clients typically appear as drives in your operating system's file browser application, such as Windows Explorer in Microsoft Windows, or Konqueror in Linux.

Setting Up a WebDAV Client in Microsoft Windows

This section covers the two methods for configuring a WebDAV client natively in Microsoft Windows:

  • As a network drive
  • As a web folder

If possible, use the network drive method as this will enable more comprehensive WebDAV client interaction with Confluence than that provided by a web folder. However, your Confluence instance must meet several environmental constraints if you use this method. If you cannot configure your instance to meet these requirements, then use the web folder method or third-party WebDAV client software.

If you run into any problems with the procedures in this section, please refer to the WebDAV Troubleshooting page.

Windows Network Drive

To map a Confluence WebDAV client network drive, your Confluence instance must be configured so that all of the following criteria is met:

  • Uses HTTP (not HTTPS)
  • Listens on port 80 (not 8080, which is the default port value used by the popular application server Apache Tomcat that runs many Confluence EAR / WAR installations, or 8090, the default for Confluence distributions)
  • Has no context root
  • There is an issue (WBDV-208) that can prevent Network Drives from being mapped. Please use the Network Folders steps below as a workaround.

The reason for these restrictions results from limitations in Microsoft's Mini-Redirector component. For more information, please refer to Microsoft's server discovery issue.

To map a Confluence WebDAV client network drive in Microsoft Windows:

  1. In Windows XP, go to My Computer -> Tools menu -> Map Network Drive.
    In Windows Vista, go to Computer -> Map Network Drive.
    The 'Map Network Drive' dialog box opens.
  2. Specify the following input to map the WebDAV client as a network drive:
    • Drive: <Any drive letter> (for example, Z:)
    • Folder: \\<hostname>\webdav (for example, \\localhost\webdav)
  3. Click 'Finish'.
    When prompted for login credentials, specify your Confluence username and password.

Windows Web Folder

To map a Confluence WebDAV client web folder in Windows XP:

  1. Go to My Network Places and choose 'Add a network place'. The 'Add Network Place Wizard' opens.
  2. Click 'Next', ensure that 'Choose another network location' is selected and then click 'Next' again.
  3. In the 'Internet or network address' field, enter the URL for the Confluence WebDAV location (for example, http://<confluence server url>/confluence/plugins/servlet/confluence/default or http://<confluence server url>/plugins/servlet/confluence/default) and then click 'Next'.
    When prompted for login credentials, specify your Confluence username and password.
  4. Provide a meaningful name for your web folder and proceed with the remainder of the wizard.
  5. Click 'Finish'.

Screenshot: A Confluence WebDAV Client Web Folder in Windows XP

To map a Confluence WebDAV client web folder in Windows Vista:
This procedure is very similar to the one for Windows XP. However, the following procedure includes the slight interface differences that are specific to Windows Vista.

  1. Open the 'Map Network Drive' dialog box (refer to first step of the procedure above for mapping a network drive) and choose 'Connect to a Web site that you can use to store your documents and pictures'. The 'Add Network Location' wizard opens.
  2. Click 'Next', ensure that 'Choose a custom network location' is selected and then click 'Next' again.
  3. In the 'Internet or network address' field, enter the URL for the Confluence WebDAV location (for example, http://<confluence server url>/confluence/plugins/servlet/confluence/default or http://<confluence server url>/plugins/servlet/confluence/default) and then click 'Next'.
    When prompted for login credentials, specify your Confluence username and password.
  4. Provide a meaningful name for your network location/web folder and proceed with the remainder of the wizard.
  5. Click 'Finish'.

Setting up a WebDAV client in Linux or Solaris

There are many tools and mechanisms available for configuring WebDAV clients in these operating systems. Therefore, we have chosen to demonstrate this using the file manager Konqueror, which is part of the Linux K Desktop Environment.

To set up a Confluence WebDAV client in Konqueror:

  1. Open Konqueror.
  2. In the 'Location' field, enter the URL for the Confluence WebDAV location using the 'protocol' webdavs (for example, webdavs://<confluence server url>/confluence/plugins/servlet/confluence/default or webdavs://<confluence server url>/plugins/servlet/confluence/default) and press Enter.
    If prompted for login credentials, specify your Confluence username and password.
    You should be able to click to load many, but not all files. In practice, you would normally save a modified file locally, then drag it to the Konqueror window to upload it to Confluence.

Known Issues

Please refer to the WebDAV plugin documentation for a description of the known issues and suggested workarounds.

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