Microsoft Bob

Storing IIS 7.5 WebDAV Properties in NTFS Alternate Data Streams

Two months ago Microsoft published an update for the WebDAV module that shipped with IIS 7.5 in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and this update is documented in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article ID 2593591:

FIX: A hotfix is available that enables WebDAV to store the properties of file resources by using NTFS alternate data streams in IIS 7.5

This update enables administrators to configure the IIS 7.5 WebDAV module to store WebDAV-based properties in NTFS alternate data streams instead of properties.dav files. By way of explanation, WebDAV has two HTTP methods - PROPFIND and PROPPATCH - which enable WebDAV clients to store custom properties on a WebDAV server. These properties may contain anything that makes sense to the WebDAV client. For example, if you were creating a WebDAV client that stored Microsoft Office documents on a WebDAV server, you could store metadata in WebDAV properties for each document, like the author's name, document abstract, etc.

By default, the IIS 7.5 WebDAV module stores properties in system files in each folder of a website that are called properties.dav. These files are essentially text-based INI files that contain the encoded WebDAV properties for the various files in each folder. In contrast, the WebDAV functionality in IIS 6 had used NTFS alternate data streams to store WebDAV properties, which are described in the following Microsoft TechNet article:

The NTFS File System

After we shipped IIS 6, we received a lot of complaints from customers who were losing their WebDAV properties when they were copying their website files between NTFS and FAT file systems. This was expected behavior - NTFS alternate data streams will be removed when you copy files from NTFS to FAT. To remedy this situation, in IIS 7.0 we decided to switch to using INI-based functionality in order to prevent losing custom WebDAV properties when files are copied between disparate file systems.

When we were designing IIS 7.5, we wanted to add optional support for storing WebDAV properties in NTFS alternate data streams, and we wanted to do so because NTFS alternate data streams might perform faster when you are working with larger websites; however, we ran out of time to implement that functionality before we shipped Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. That being said, we still wanted to implement the feature, and the update that I listed at the beginning of this blog contains the functionality that is required to enable storing WebDAV properties in NTFS alternate data streams.

Enabling Alternate Data Streams for WebDAV Properties

The above information is good news for anyone who is storing large quantities of WebDAV properties, so your next logical question might be: "How do I enable NTFS alternate data streams for WebDAV properties ?"

Actually, it's really simple. In the KB article that I listed in the beginning of this blog, I documented two methods that show you how to enable storing WebDAV properties in NTFS alternate data streams:

1. By modifying your applicationHost.config file
2. By using AppCmd.exe

For the sake of completeness, I will repost some of the information here. ;-)

Method #1: Modifying your applicationHost.config file

<webdav>
  <globalSettings>
    <propertyStores>
      <add name="webdav_simple_prop"
        image="%windir%\system32\inetsrv\webdav_simple_prop.dll"
        image32="%windir%\syswow64\inetsrv\webdav_simple_prop.dll"
        useAlternateDataStreams="true" />
    </propertyStores>
    <lockStores>
      <add name="webdav_simple_lock"
        image="%windir%\system32\inetsrv\webdav_simple_lock.dll"
        image32="%windir%\syswow64\inetsrv\webdav_simple_lock.dll" />
    </lockStores>
  </globalSettings>
  <authoring>
    <locks enabled="true" lockStore="webdav_simple_lock" />
    <properties>
      <clear />
      <add xmlNamespace="*" propertyStore="webdav_simple_prop" />
    </properties>
  </authoring>
  <authoringRules />
</webdav>

Method #2: Using AppCmd.exe

Migrating IIS 7 WebDAV Properties into Alternate Data Streams

Once you've enabled storing WebDAV properties in alternate data streams, you are presented with a new challenge: "How do I migrate my existing WebDAV properties?"

Here's the situation, once you have enabled the alternate data streams feature, the WebDAV property provider is going to ignore any properties that have already been set in properties.dav files. With this in mind, I wrote a script that will migrate all of the WebDAV properties from all of the properties.dav files in a website into their corresponding per-file NTFS alternate data streams.

To use the following script, you will need to update the folder path in the third line of the script with the path to your website. Once you have done that, you can run the script to migrate your existing WebDAV properties.

NOTE: You need to run this script as an administrator!

Option Explicit

Dim arrFolderTree, intFolderCount

arrFolderTree = BuildFolderTree("C:\inetpub\wwwroot")

For intFolderCount = 1 To UBound(arrFolderTree)
  MigratePropertiesToADS arrFolderTree(intFolderCount)
Next

Sub MigratePropertiesToADS(strFolderPath)
  On Error Resume Next
  
  ' Declare all our variables
  Dim objTempFSO, objTempFolder
  Dim objTempPropertiesFile, objTempAlternateDataStream
  Dim strTempLine, strTempObjectName, blnTempOpenStream
  Const strTempPropertiesDAV = "\properties.dav"
  Const strTempAlternateDataStream = ":properties.dav:$DATA"

  ' Create a file system object.
  Set objTempFSO = WScript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")

  ' Flag the function as having a closed output stream.
  blnTempOpenStream = False

  ' Retrieve a folder object for the path.
  Set objTempFolder = objTempFSO.GetFolder(strFolderPath)

  ' Check for a properties.dav file in the current folder.
  If objTempFSO.FileExists(objTempFolder.Path & strTempPropertiesDAV) Then
    ' Open the properties.dav file for the current folder.
    Set objTempPropertiesFile = objTempFSO.OpenTextFile(objTempFolder.Path & _
      strTempPropertiesDAV,1,False,-1)
    ' Loop through the properties.dav file.
    Do While Not objTempPropertiesFile.AtEndOfStream
      ' Retrieve a line from the properties.dav file.
      strTempLine = Trim(objTempPropertiesFile.ReadLine)
      ' Check if it's a section heading.
      If Left(strTempLine,1) = "[" And Right(strTempLine,1) = "]" Then
        ' Parse the name of the object (file/folder).
        strTempObjectName = Replace(Trim(Mid(strTempLine,2,Len(strTempLine)-2)),"/","\")
        ' Strip off a backslash from the parent folder.
        If Len(strTempObjectName) = 1 Then strTempObjectName = ""
        ' Check to see if the file/folder exists.
        If objTempFSO.FileExists(objTempFolder.Path & _
             strTempObjectName) Or objTempFSO.FolderExists(objTempFolder.Path & _
             strTempObjectName) Then
          ' Create a file object for the alternate data stream.
          Set objTempAlternateDataStream = objTempFSO.CreateTextFile(objTempFolder.Path & _
             strTempObjectName & _
             strTempAlternateDataStream,True,-1)
          ' Write the WebDAV section header.
          objTempAlternateDataStream.WriteLine "[WebDAV]"
          ' Flag the function as having an open output stream.
          blnTempOpenStream = True
        Else
          ' Flag the function as having a closed output stream.
          blnTempOpenStream = False
        End If
      Else
        ' Check if we have an open output stream.
        If blnTempOpenStream = True Then
          ' Output a property.
          objTempAlternateDataStream.WriteLine strTempLine
        End If
      End If
    Loop
    ' Close the properties.dav file.
    objTempPropertiesFile.Close
  End If
  Set objTempFSO = Nothing
End Sub

Function BuildFolderTree(strTempBaseFolder)
  On Error Resume Next

  ' Declare all our variables
  Dim objTempFSO
  Dim objTempFolder
  Dim objTempSubFolder
  Dim lngTempFolderCount
  Dim lngTempBaseCount

  ' Create our file system object.
  Set objTempFSO = WScript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
     
  ' Define the initial values for our folder counters.
  lngTempFolderCount = 1
  lngTempBaseCount = 0
  
  ' Dimension an array to hold the folder names.
  ReDim strTempFolders(1)
  
  ' Store the root folder in our array.
  strTempFolders(lngTempFolderCount) = strTempBaseFolder
    
  ' Loop while we still have folders to process.
  While lngTempFolderCount <> lngTempBaseCount
    ' Set up a folder object to a base folder.
    Set objTempFolder = objTempFSO.GetFolder(strTempFolders(lngTempBaseCount+1))
    ' Loop through the collection of subfolders for the base folder.
    For Each objTempSubFolder In objTempFolder.SubFolders
      ' Increment our folder count.
      lngTempFolderCount = lngTempFolderCount + 1
      ' Increase our array size
      ReDim Preserve strTempFolders(lngTempFolderCount)
      ' Store the folder name in our array.
      strTempFolders(lngTempFolderCount) = objTempSubFolder.Path
    Next
    ' Increment the base folder counter.
    lngTempBaseCount = lngTempBaseCount + 1
  Wend

  ' Return the array of folder names.
  BuildFolderTree = strTempFolders

End Function

In Closing

I have a couple final notes for you to consider:

• Enabling NTFS alternate data streams is a global WebDAV setting; you cannot do this on a per-site basis.
• As with IIS 6, once you enable storing WebDAV properties in NTFS alternate data streams, you will lose your WebDAV properties if you copy your files between NTFS and FAT file systems.

Posted: Dec 30 2011, 15:39 by Bob | Comments (0) |

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Tags: AppCmd, Batch Files, IIS, Scripting, WebDAV

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Sending WebDAV Requests in .NET Revisited

I recently spoke with a great customer in India, and he was experimenting with the code from my Sending WebDAV Requests in .NET blog post. He had a need to send the WebDAV LOCK/UNLOCK commands, so I wrote a quick addition to the code in my original blog post to send those commands, and I thought that I'd share that code in an updated blog post.

Using WebDAV Locks

First of all, you may need to enable WebDAV locks on your server. To do so, follow the instructions in the following walkthrough:

How to Use WebDAV Locks
http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/596/how-to-use-webdav-locks/

If you were writing a WebDAV client, sending the LOCK/UNLOCK commands would help to avoid two clients attempting to author the same resource. So if your WebDAV client was editing a file named "foo.txt", the flow of events would be something like the following:

1. LOCK foo.txt
2. GET foo.txt
3. [make some changes to foo.txt]
4. PUT foo.txt
5. UNLOCK foo.txt

Description for the Sample Application

The updated code sample in this blog post shows how to send most of the common WebDAV requests using C# and common .NET libraries. In addition to adding the LOCK/UNLOCK commands to this version, I also changed the sample files to upload/download Classic ASP pages instead of text files; I did this so you can see that the WebDAV requests are correctly accessing the source code of the ASP pages instead of the translated output.

Having said that, I need to mention once again that I create more objects than are necessary for each section of the sample, which creates several intentional redundancies; I did this because I wanted to make each section somewhat self-sufficient, which helps you to copy and paste a little easier. I present the WebDAV methods the in the following order:

Source Code for the Sample Application

Here is the source code for the updated sample application:

using System;
using System.Net;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;

class WebDavTest
{
  static void Main(string[] args)
  {
    try
    {
      // Define the URLs.
      string szURL1 = @"http://localhost/foobar1.asp";
      string szURL2 = @"http://localhost/foobar2.asp";
      string szURL3 = @"http://localhost/foobar3";

      // Some sample code to put in an ASP file.
      string szAspCode1 = @"<%=Year()%>";
      string szAspCode2 = @"<%=Time()%>";

      // Some XML to put in a lock request.
      string szLockXml = "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" ?>" +
        "<D:lockinfo xmlns:D='DAV:'>" +
        "<D:lockscope><D:exclusive/></D:lockscope>" +
        "<D:locktype><D:write/></D:locktype>" +
        "<D:owner><D:href>mailto:someone@example.com</D:href></D:owner>" +
        "</D:lockinfo>";

      // Define username, password, and lock token strings.
      string szUsername  = @"username";
      string szPassword  = @"password";
      string szLockToken = null;

      // --------------- PUT REQUEST #1 --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpPutRequest1 =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL1);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpPutRequest1.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpPutRequest1.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpPutRequest1.Method = @"PUT";

      // Specify that overwriting the destination is allowed.
      httpPutRequest1.Headers.Add(@"Overwrite", @"T");

      // Specify the content length.
      httpPutRequest1.ContentLength = szAspCode1.Length;

      // Optional, but allows for larger files.
      httpPutRequest1.SendChunked = true;

      // Retrieve the request stream.
      Stream putRequestStream1 =
         httpPutRequest1.GetRequestStream();

      // Write the string to the destination as text bytes.
      putRequestStream1.Write(
         Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes((string)szAspCode1),
         0, szAspCode1.Length);

      // Close the request stream.
      putRequestStream1.Close();

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpPutResponse1 =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpPutRequest1.GetResponse();

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(@"PUT Response #1: {0}",
         httpPutResponse1.StatusDescription);

      // --------------- LOCK REQUEST --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpLockRequest =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL1);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpLockRequest.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpLockRequest.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpLockRequest.Method = @"LOCK";

      // Specify the request timeout.
      httpLockRequest.Headers.Add(@"Timeout", "Infinite");

      // Specify the request content type.
      httpLockRequest.ContentType = "text/xml; charset=\"utf-8\"";

      // Retrieve the request stream.
      Stream lockRequestStream =
         httpLockRequest.GetRequestStream();

      // Write the lock XML to the destination.
      lockRequestStream.Write(
         Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes((string)szLockXml),
         0, szLockXml.Length);

      // Close the request stream.
      lockRequestStream.Close();

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpLockResponse =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpLockRequest.GetResponse();

      // Retrieve the lock token for the request.
      szLockToken = httpLockResponse.GetResponseHeader("Lock-Token");

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(
         @"LOCK Response: {0}",
         httpLockResponse.StatusDescription);
      Console.WriteLine(
         @" LOCK Token: {0}",
         szLockToken);

      // --------------- GET REQUEST #1 --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpGetRequest1 =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL1);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpGetRequest1.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpGetRequest1.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpGetRequest1.Method = @"GET";

      // Specify the request for source code.
      httpGetRequest1.Headers.Add(@"Translate", "F");

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpGetResponse1 =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpGetRequest1.GetResponse();

      // Retrieve the response stream.
      Stream getResponseStream1 =
         httpGetResponse1.GetResponseStream();

      // Create a stream reader for the response.
      StreamReader getStreamReader1 =
         new StreamReader(getResponseStream1, Encoding.UTF8);

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(
         @"GET Response #1: {0}",
         httpGetResponse1.StatusDescription);
      Console.WriteLine(
         @" Response Length: {0}",
         httpGetResponse1.ContentLength);
      Console.WriteLine(
         @" Response Text: {0}",
         getStreamReader1.ReadToEnd());

      // Close the response streams.
      getStreamReader1.Close();
      getResponseStream1.Close();

      // --------------- PUT REQUEST #2 --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpPutRequest2 =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL1);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpPutRequest2.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpPutRequest2.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpPutRequest2.Method = @"PUT";

      // Specify that overwriting the destination is allowed.
      httpPutRequest2.Headers.Add(@"Overwrite", @"T");

      // Specify the lock token.
      httpPutRequest2.Headers.Add(@"If",
        String.Format(@"({0})",szLockToken));

      // Specify the content length.
      httpPutRequest2.ContentLength = szAspCode1.Length;

      // Optional, but allows for larger files.
      httpPutRequest2.SendChunked = true;

      // Retrieve the request stream.
      Stream putRequestStream2 =
         httpPutRequest2.GetRequestStream();

      // Write the string to the destination as a text file.
      putRequestStream2.Write(
         Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes((string)szAspCode2),
         0, szAspCode1.Length);

      // Close the request stream.
      putRequestStream2.Close();

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpPutResponse2 =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpPutRequest2.GetResponse();

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(@"PUT Response #2: {0}",
         httpPutResponse2.StatusDescription);

      // --------------- GET REQUEST #2 --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpGetRequest2 =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL1);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpGetRequest2.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpGetRequest2.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpGetRequest2.Method = @"GET";

      // Specify the request for source code.
      httpGetRequest2.Headers.Add(@"Translate", "F");

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpGetResponse2 =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpGetRequest2.GetResponse();

      // Retrieve the response stream.
      Stream getResponseStream2 =
         httpGetResponse2.GetResponseStream();

      // Create a stream reader for the response.
      StreamReader getStreamReader2 =
         new StreamReader(getResponseStream2, Encoding.UTF8);

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(
         @"GET Response #2: {0}",
         httpGetResponse2.StatusDescription);
      Console.WriteLine(
         @" Response Length: {0}",
         httpGetResponse2.ContentLength);
      Console.WriteLine(
         @" Response Text: {0}",
         getStreamReader2.ReadToEnd());

      // Close the response streams.
      getStreamReader2.Close();
      getResponseStream2.Close();
      
      // --------------- UNLOCK REQUEST --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpUnlockRequest =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL1);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpUnlockRequest.Credentials = 
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpUnlockRequest.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpUnlockRequest.Method = @"UNLOCK";

      // Specify the lock token.
      httpUnlockRequest.Headers.Add(@"Lock-Token", szLockToken);

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpUnlockResponse =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpUnlockRequest.GetResponse();

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(
         @"UNLOCK Response: {0}",
         httpUnlockResponse.StatusDescription);

      // --------------- COPY REQUEST --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpCopyRequest =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL1);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpCopyRequest.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpCopyRequest.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpCopyRequest.Method = @"COPY";

      // Specify the destination URL.
      httpCopyRequest.Headers.Add(@"Destination", szURL2);

      // Specify that overwriting the destination is allowed.
      httpCopyRequest.Headers.Add(@"Overwrite", @"T");

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpCopyResponse =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpCopyRequest.GetResponse();

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(@"COPY Response: {0}",
         httpCopyResponse.StatusDescription);

      // --------------- MOVE REQUEST --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpMoveRequest =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL2);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpMoveRequest.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpMoveRequest.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpMoveRequest.Method = @"MOVE";

      // Specify the destination URL.
      httpMoveRequest.Headers.Add(@"Destination", szURL1);

      // Specify that overwriting the destination is allowed.
      httpMoveRequest.Headers.Add(@"Overwrite", @"T");

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpMoveResponse =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpMoveRequest.GetResponse();

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(@"MOVE Response: {0}",
         httpMoveResponse.StatusDescription);

      // --------------- DELETE FILE REQUEST --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpDeleteFileRequest =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL1);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpDeleteFileRequest.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpDeleteFileRequest.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpDeleteFileRequest.Method = @"DELETE";

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpDeleteFileResponse =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpDeleteFileRequest.GetResponse();

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(@"DELETE File Response: {0}",
         httpDeleteFileResponse.StatusDescription);

      // --------------- MKCOL REQUEST --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpMkColRequest =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL3);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpMkColRequest.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpMkColRequest.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpMkColRequest.Method = @"MKCOL";

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpMkColResponse =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpMkColRequest.GetResponse();

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(@"MKCOL Response: {0}",
         httpMkColResponse.StatusDescription);

      // --------------- DELETE FOLDER REQUEST --------------- //

      // Create an HTTP request for the URL.
      HttpWebRequest httpDeleteFolderRequest =
         (HttpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create(szURL3);

      // Set up new credentials.
      httpDeleteFolderRequest.Credentials =
         new NetworkCredential(szUsername, szPassword);

      // Pre-authenticate the request.
      httpDeleteFolderRequest.PreAuthenticate = true;

      // Define the HTTP method.
      httpDeleteFolderRequest.Method = @"DELETE";

      // Retrieve the response.
      HttpWebResponse httpDeleteFolderResponse =
         (HttpWebResponse)httpDeleteFolderRequest.GetResponse();

      // Write the response status to the console.
      Console.WriteLine(@"DELETE Folder Response: {0}",
         httpDeleteFolderResponse.StatusDescription);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
      Console.WriteLine(ex.Message);
    }
  }
}

Running the Sample Application

When you run the code sample, if there are no errors you should see something like the following output:

PUT Response #1: Created LOCK Response: OK    LOCK Token: <opaquelocktoken:4e616d65-6f6e-6d65-6973-526f62657274.426f62526f636b73> GET Response #1: OK    Response Length: 11    Response Text: <%=Year()%> PUT Response #2: No Content GET Response #2: OK    Response Length: 11    Response Text: <%=Time()%> UNLOCK Response: No Content COPY Response: Created MOVE Response: No Content DELETE File Response: OK MKCOL Response: Created DELETE Folder Response: OK Press any key to continue . . .

If you looked at the IIS logs after running the sample application, you should see entries like the following example:

#Software: Microsoft Internet Information Services 7.5
#Version: 1.0
#Date: 2011-10-18 06:49:07
#Fields: date time s-ip cs-method cs-uri-stem cs-uri-query s-port cs-username c-ip sc-status sc-substatus sc-win32-status
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 PUT /foobar1.asp - 80 - ::1 401 2 5
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 PUT /foobar1.asp - 80 username ::1 201 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 LOCK /foobar1.asp - 80 username ::1 200 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 GET /foobar1.asp - 80 username ::1 200 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 PUT /foobar1.asp - 80 username ::1 204 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 GET /foobar1.asp - 80 username ::1 200 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 UNLOCK /foobar1.asp - 80 username ::1 204 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 COPY /foobar1.asp http://localhost/foobar2.asp 80 username ::1 201 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 MOVE /foobar2.asp http://localhost/foobar1.asp 80 username ::1 204 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 DELETE /foobar1.asp - 80 username ::1 200 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 MKCOL /foobar3 - 80 username ::1 201 0 0
2011-10-18 06:49:07 ::1 DELETE /foobar3 - 80 username ::1 200 0 0

Closing Notes

Since the code sample cleans up after itself, you should not see any files or folders on the destination server when it has completed executing. To see the files and folders that are actually created and deleted on the destination server, you would need to step through the code in a debugger.

This updated version does not include examples of the WebDAV PROPPATCH/PROPFIND methods in this sample for the same reason that I did not do so in my previous blog - those commands require processing the XML responses, and that is outside the scope of what I wanted to do with this sample.

I hope this helps!

Note: This blog was originally posted at http://blogs.msdn.com/robert_mcmurray/

Posted: Oct 17 2011, 17:05 by Bob | Comments (0) |

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How to create an HTML Application to configure your WebDAV Redirector settings

I've mentioned in previous blog posts that I use the Windows WebDAV Redirector a lot. (And believe me, I use it a lot.) Having said that, there are a lot of registry settings that control how the Windows WebDAV Redirector operates, and I tend to tweak those settings fairly often.

I documented all of those registry settings in my Using the WebDAV Redirector walkthrough, but unfortunately there isn't a built-in interface for managing the settings. With that in mind, I decided to write my own user interface.

I knew that it would be pretty simple to create a basic Windows Form application that does everything, but my trouble is that I would want to share the code in a blog, and the steps create a Windows application are probably more than I would want to write in such a short space. So I decided to reach into my scripting past and create an HTML Application for Windows that configures all of the Windows WebDAV Redirector settings.

It should be noted, like everything else these days, that this code is provided as-is. ;-]

Using the HTML Application

When you run the application, it will present you with the following user interface, which allows you to configure most of the useful Windows WebDAV Redirector settings:

Creating the HTML Application

To create this HTML Application, save the following HTMLA code as "WebDAV Redirector Settings.hta" to your computer, and then double-click its icon to run the application.

<html>

<head>
<title>WebDAV Redirector Settings</title>
<HTA:APPLICATION
  APPLICATIONNAME="WebDAV Redirector Settings"
  ID="WebDAV Redirector Settings"
  VERSION="1.0"
  BORDER="dialog"
  BORDERSTYLE="static"
  INNERBORDER="no"
  SYSMENU="no"
  MAXIMIZEBUTTON="no"
  MINIMIZEBUTTON="no"
  SCROLL="no"
  SCROLLFLAT="yes"
  SINGLEINSTANCE="yes"
  CONTEXTMENU="no"
  SELECTION="no"/>

<script language="vbscript">
' ----------------------------------------
' Start of main code section.
' ----------------------------------------

Option Explicit

Const intDialogWidth = 700
Const intDialogHeight = 620
Const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
Const strWebClientKeyPath = "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters"
Const strLuaKeyPath = "Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System"
Dim objRegistry
Dim blnHasChanges

' ----------------------------------------
' Start the application.
' ----------------------------------------

Sub Window_OnLoad
  On Error Resume Next
  ' Set up the UI dimensions.
  Self.resizeTo intDialogWidth,intDialogHeight
  Self.moveTo (Screen.AvailWidth - intDialogWidth) / 2, _
    (Screen.AvailHeight - intDialogHeight) / 2
  ' Retrieve the current settings.
  Document.all.TheBody.ClassName = "hide"
  Set objRegistry = GetObject( _
    "winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\.\root\default:StdRegProv")
  Call CheckForLUA()
  Call GetValues()
  Document.All.TheBody.ClassName = "show"
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' Check for User Access Control
' ----------------------------------------

Sub CheckForLUA()
  If GetRegistryDWORD(strLuaKeyPath,"EnableLUA",1)<> 0 Then
    MsgBox "User Access Control (UAC) is enabled on this computer." & _
      vbCrLf & vbCrLf & "UAC must be disabled in order to edit " & _
      "the registry and restart the service for the WebDAV Redirector. " & _
      "Please disable UAC before running this application again. " & _
      "This application will now exit.", _
      vbCritical, "User Access Control"
    Self.close
  End If 
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' Exit the application.
' ----------------------------------------

Sub ExitApplication()
  If blnHasChanges = False Then
    If MsgBox("Are you sure you want to exit?", _
      vbQuestion Or vbYesNo Or vbDefaultButton2, _
      "Exit Application") = vbNo Then
      Exit Sub
    End If
  Else
    Dim intRetVal
    intRetVal = MsgBox("You have unsaved changes. " & _
      "Do you want to save them before you exit?", _
      vbQuestion Or vbYesNoCancel Or vbDefaultButton1, _
      "Exit Application")
    If intRetVal = vbYes Then
      Call SetValues()
    ElseIf intRetVal = vbCancel Then
      Exit Sub
    End If
  End If
  Self.close
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' Flag the application as having changes.
' ----------------------------------------

Sub FlagChanges()
  blnHasChanges = True
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' Retrieve the settings from the registry.
' ----------------------------------------

Sub GetValues()
  On Error Resume Next
  Dim tmpCount,tmpArray,tmpString
  ' Get the radio button values
  Call SetRadioValue(Document.all.BasicAuthLevel, _
    GetRegistryDWORD(strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "BasicAuthLevel",1))
  Call SetRadioValue(Document.all.SupportLocking, _
    GetRegistryDWORD(strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "SupportLocking",1))
  ' Get the text box values
  Document.all.InternetServerTimeoutInSec.Value = _
    GetRegistryDWORD(strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "InternetServerTimeoutInSec",30)
  Document.all.FileAttributesLimitInBytes.Value = _
    GetRegistryDWORD(strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "FileAttributesLimitInBytes",1000000)
  Document.all.FileSizeLimitInBytes.Value = _
    GetRegistryDWORD(strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "FileSizeLimitInBytes",50000000)
  Document.all.LocalServerTimeoutInSec.Value = _
    GetRegistryDWORD(strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "LocalServerTimeoutInSec",15)
  Document.all.SendReceiveTimeoutInSec.Value = _
    GetRegistryDWORD(strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "SendReceiveTimeoutInSec",60)
  Document.all.ServerNotFoundCacheLifeTimeInSec.Value = _
    GetRegistryDWORD(strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "ServerNotFoundCacheLifeTimeInSec",60)
  ' Get the text area values
  tmpArray = GetRegistryMULTISZ( _
    strWebClientKeyPath,"AuthForwardServerList")
  For tmpCount = 0 To UBound(tmpArray)
    tmpString = tmpString & tmpArray(tmpCount) & vbTab
  Next
  If Len(tmpString)>0 Then
    Document.all.AuthForwardServerList.Value = _
      Replace(Left(tmpString,Len(tmpString)-1),vbTab,vbCrLf)
  End If
  blnHasChanges = False
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' Save the settings in the registry.
' ----------------------------------------

Sub SetValues()
  On Error Resume Next
  ' Set the radio button values
  Call SetRegistryDWORD( _
    strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "BasicAuthLevel", _
    GetRadioValue(Document.all.BasicAuthLevel))
  Call SetRegistryDWORD( _
    strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "SupportLocking", _
    GetRadioValue(Document.all.SupportLocking))
  ' Set the text box values
  Call SetRegistryDWORD( _
    strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "InternetServerTimeoutInSec", _
    Document.all.InternetServerTimeoutInSec.Value)
  Call SetRegistryDWORD( _
    strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "FileAttributesLimitInBytes", _
    Document.all.FileAttributesLimitInBytes.Value)
  Call SetRegistryDWORD( _
    strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "FileSizeLimitInBytes", _
    Document.all.FileSizeLimitInBytes.Value)
  Call SetRegistryDWORD( _
    strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "LocalServerTimeoutInSec", _
    Document.all.LocalServerTimeoutInSec.Value)
  Call SetRegistryDWORD( _
    strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "SendReceiveTimeoutInSec", _
    Document.all.SendReceiveTimeoutInSec.Value)
  Call SetRegistryDWORD( _
    strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "ServerNotFoundCacheLifeTimeInSec", _
    Document.all.ServerNotFoundCacheLifeTimeInSec.Value)
  ' Set the text area values
  Call SetRegistryMULTISZ( _
    strWebClientKeyPath, _
    "AuthForwardServerList", _
    Split(Document.all.AuthForwardServerList.Value,vbCrLf))
  ' Prompt to restart the WebClient service
  If MsgBox("Do you want to restart the WebDAV Redirector " & _
    "service so your settings will take effect?", _
    vbQuestion Or vbYesNo Or vbDefaultButton2, _
    "Restart WebDAV Redirector") = vbYes Then
    ' Restart the WebClient service.
    Call RestartWebClient()
  End If
  Call GetValues()
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' Start the WebClient service.
' ----------------------------------------

Sub RestartWebClient()
  On Error Resume Next
  Dim objWMIService,colServices,objService
  Document.All.TheBody.ClassName = "hide"
  Set objWMIService = GetObject( _
    "winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\.\root\cimv2")
  Set colServices = objWMIService.ExecQuery( _
    "Select * from Win32_Service Where Name='WebClient'")
  For Each objService in colServices
    objService.StopService()
    objService.StartService()
  Next
  Document.All.TheBody.ClassName = "show"
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' Retrieve a DWORD value from the registry.
' ----------------------------------------

Function GetRegistryDWORD( _
    ByVal tmpKeyPath, _
    ByVal tmpValueName, _
    ByVal tmpDefaultValue)
  On Error Resume Next
  Dim tmpDwordValue
  If objRegistry.GetDWORDValue( _
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, _
      tmpKeyPath, _
      tmpValueName, _
      tmpDwordValue)=0 Then
    GetRegistryDWORD = CLng(tmpDwordValue)
  Else
    GetRegistryDWORD = CLng(tmpDefaultValue)
  End If
End Function

' ----------------------------------------
' Set a DWORD value in the registry.
' ----------------------------------------

Sub SetRegistryDWORD( _
    ByVal tmpKeyPath, _
    ByVal tmpValueName, _
    ByVal tmpDwordValue)
  On Error Resume Next
  Call objRegistry.SetDWORDValue( _
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, _
    tmpKeyPath, _
    tmpValueName, _
    CLng(tmpDwordValue))
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' Retrieve a MULTISZ value from the registry.
' ----------------------------------------

Function GetRegistryMULTISZ( _
    ByVal tmpKeyPath, _
    ByVal tmpValueName)
  On Error Resume Next
  Dim tmpMultiSzValue
  If objRegistry.GetMultiStringValue( _
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, _
      tmpKeyPath, _
      tmpValueName, _
      tmpMultiSzValue)=0 Then
    GetRegistryMULTISZ = tmpMultiSzValue
  Else
    GetRegistryMULTISZ = Array()
  End If
End Function

' ----------------------------------------
' Set a MULTISZ value in the registry.
' ----------------------------------------

Sub SetRegistryMULTISZ( _
    ByVal tmpKeyPath, _
    ByVal tmpValueName, _
    ByVal tmpMultiSzValue)
  On Error Resume Next
  Call objRegistry.SetMultiStringValue( _
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, _
    tmpKeyPath, _
    tmpValueName, _
    tmpMultiSzValue)
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' Retrieve the value of a radio button group.
' ----------------------------------------

Function GetRadioValue(ByVal tmpRadio)
  On Error Resume Next
  Dim tmpCount
  For tmpCount = 0 To (tmpRadio.Length-1)
    If tmpRadio(tmpCount).Checked Then
      GetRadioValue = CLng(tmpRadio(tmpCount).Value)
      Exit For
    End If
  Next
End Function

' ----------------------------------------
' Set the value for a radio button group.
' ----------------------------------------

Sub SetRadioValue(ByVal tmpRadio, ByVal tmpValue)
  On Error Resume Next
  Dim tmpCount
  For tmpCount = 0 To (tmpRadio.Length-1)
    If CLng(tmpRadio(tmpCount).Value) = CLng(tmpValue) Then
      tmpRadio(tmpCount).Checked = True
      Exit For
    End If
  Next
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
'
' ----------------------------------------

Sub Validate(tmpField)
  Dim tmpRegEx, tmpMatches
  Set tmpRegEx = New RegExp
  tmpRegEx.Pattern = "[0-9]"
  tmpRegEx.IgnoreCase = True
  tmpRegEx.Global = True
  Set tmpMatches = tmpRegEx.Execute(tmpField.Value)
  If tmpMatches.Count = Len(CStr(tmpField.Value)) Then
    If CDbl(tmpField.Value) => 0 And _
      CDbl(tmpField.Value) =< 4294967295 Then
      Exit Sub
    End If
  End If
  MsgBox "Please enter a whole number between 0 and 4294967295.", _
    vbCritical, "Validation Error"
  tmpField.Focus
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
'
' ----------------------------------------

Sub BasicAuthWarning()
  MsgBox "WARNING:" & vbCrLf  & vbCrLf & _
    "Using Basic Authentication over non-SSL connections can cause " & _
    "serious security issues. Usernames and passwords are transmitted " & _
    "in clear text, therefore the use of Basic Authentication with " & _
    "WebDAV is disabled by default for non-SSL connections. That " & _
    "being said, this setting can override the default behavior for " & _
    "Basic Authentication, but it is strongly discouraged.", _
    vbCritical, "Basic Authentication Warning"
End Sub

' ----------------------------------------
' End of main code section.
' ----------------------------------------

</script>
<style>
body { color:#000000; background-color:#cccccc;
  font-family:'Segoe UI',Tahoma,Verdana,Arial; font-size:9pt; }
fieldset { padding:10px; width:640px; }
.button { width:150px; }
.textbox { width:200px; height:22px; text-align:right; }
.textarea { width:300px; height:50px; text-align:left; }
.radio { margin-left:-5px; margin-top: -2px; }
.hide { display:none; }
.show { display:block; }
select { width:300px; text-align:left; }
table { border-collapse:collapse; empty-cells:hide; }
h1 { font-size:14pt; }
th { font-size:9pt; text-align:left; vertical-align:top; padding:2px; }
td { font-size:9pt; text-align:left; vertical-align:top; padding:2px; }
big { font-size:11pt; }
small { font-size:8pt; }
</style>
</head>

<body id="TheBody" class="hide">

<h1 align="center" id="TheTitle" style="margin-bottom:-20px;">WebDAV Redirector Settings</h1>
<div align="center">
<p style="margin-bottom:-20px;"><i><small><b>Note</b>: See <a target="_blank" href="http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/386/using-the-webdav-redirector/">Using the WebDAV Redirector</a> for additional details.</small></i></p>
  <form>
    <center>
    <table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" style="width:600px;">
      <tr>
        <td style="width:600px;text-align:left"><fieldset title="Security Settings">
        <legend>&nbsp;<b>Security Settings</b>&nbsp;</legend>
        These values affect the security behavior for the WebDAV Redirector.<br>
        <table style="width:600px;">
          <tr title="Specifies whether the WebDAV Redirector can use Basic Authentication to communicate with a server.">
            <td style="width:300px">
            <table border="0">
              <tr>
                <td style="width:300px"><b>Basic Authentication Level</b></td>
              </tr>
              <tr>
                <td style="width:300px;"><span style="width:280px;padding-left:20px;"><small><i><b>Note</b>: Using basic authentication can cause <u>serious security issues</u> as the username and password are transmitted in clear text, therefore the use of basic authentication over WebDAV is disabled by default unless the connection is using SSL.</i></small></span></td>
              </tr>
            </table>
            </td>
            <td style="width:300px">
            <table style="width:300px">
              <tr>
                <td style="width:020px"><input class="radio" type="radio" value="0" name="BasicAuthLevel" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" id="BasicAuthLevel0"></td>
                <td style="width:280px"><label for="BasicAuthLevel0">Basic Authentication is disabled</label></td>
              </tr>
              <tr>
                <td style="width:020px"><input class="radio" type="radio" value="1" checked name="BasicAuthLevel" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" id="BasicAuthLevel1"></td>
                <td style="width:280px"><label for="BasicAuthLevel1">Basic Authentication is enabled for SSL web sites only</label></td>
              </tr>
              <tr>
                <td style="width:020px"><input class="radio" type="radio" value="2" name="BasicAuthLevel" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" id="BasicAuthLevel2" onClick="BasicWarning()"></td>
                <td style="width:280px"><label for="BasicAuthLevel2">Basic Authentication is enabled for SSL and non-SSL web sites</label></td>
              </tr>
            </table>
            </td>
          </tr>
          <tr title="Specifies a list of local URLs for forwarding credentials that bypasses any proxy settings. (Note: This requires Windows Vista SP1 or later.)">
            <td style="width:300px">
            <table border="0">
              <tr>
                <td style="width:300px"><b>Authentication Forwarding Server List</b></td>
              </tr>
              <tr>
                <td style="width:300px;"><span style="width:280px;padding-left:20px;"><small><i><b>Note</b>: Include one server name per line.</i></small></span></td>
              </tr>
            </table>
            </td>
            <td style="width:300px"><textarea class="textarea" name="AuthForwardServerList" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()"></textarea></td>
          </tr>
          <tr title="Specifies whether the WebDAV Redirector supports locking.">
            <td style="width:300px"><b>Support for WebDAV Locking</b></td>
            <td style="width:300px">
            <table style="width:300px">
              <tr>
                <td style="width:020px"><input class="radio" type="radio" value="1" checked name="SupportLocking" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" id="SupportLocking1"></td>
                <td style="width:280px"><label for="SupportLocking1">Enable Lock Support</label></td>
              </tr>
              <tr>
                <td style="width:020px"><input class="radio" type="radio" value="0" name="SupportLocking" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" id="SupportLocking0"></td>
                <td style="width:280px"><label for="SupportLocking0">Disable Lock Support</label></td>
              </tr>
            </table>
            </td>
          </tr>
        </table>
        </fieldset> </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td style="width:600px;text-align:left"><fieldset title="Time-outs">
        <legend>&nbsp;<b>Time-outs and Maximum Sizes</b>&nbsp;</legend>
        These values affect the behavior for WebDAV Client/Server operations.<br>
        <table border="0" style="width:600px;">
          <tr title="Specifies the connection time-out for the WebDAV Redirector uses when communicating with non-local WebDAV servers.">
            <td style="width:300px"><b>Internet Server Time-out</b> <small>(In Seconds)</small></td>
            <td style="width:300px"><input class="textbox" type="text" name="InternetServerTimeoutInSec" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" onblur="VBScript:Validate(Me)" value="30"></td>
          </tr>
          <tr title="Specifies the connection time-out for the WebDAV Redirector uses when communicating with a local WebDAV server.">
            <td style="width:300px"><b>Local Server Time-out</b> <small>(In Seconds)</small></td>
            <td style="width:300px"><input class="textbox" type="text" name="LocalServerTimeoutInSec" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" onblur="VBScript:Validate(Me)" value="15"></td>
          </tr>
          <tr title="Specifies the time-out in seconds that the WebDAV Redirector uses after issuing a request.">
            <td style="width:300px"><b>Send/Receive Time-out</b> <small>(In Seconds)</small></td>
            <td style="width:300px"><input class="textbox" type="text" name="SendReceiveTimeoutInSec" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" onblur="VBScript:Validate(Me)" value="60"></td>
          </tr>
          <tr title="Specifies the period of time that a server is cached as non-WebDAV by the WebDAV Redirector. If a server is found in this list, a fail is returned immediately without attempting to contact the server.">
            <td style="width:300px"><b>Server Not Found Cache Time-out</b> <small>(In Seconds)</small></td>
            <td style="width:300px"><input class="textbox" type="text" name="ServerNotFoundCacheLifeTimeInSec" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" onblur="VBScript:Validate(Me)" value="60"></td>
          </tr>
          <tr title="Specifies the maximum size in bytes that the WebDAV Redirector allows for file transfers.">
            <td style="width:300px"><b>Maximum File Size</b> <small>(In Bytes)</small></td>
            <td style="width:300px"><input class="textbox" type="text" name="FileSizeLimitInBytes" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" onblur="VBScript:Validate(Me)" value="50000000"></td>
          </tr>
          <tr title="Specifies the maximum size that is allowed by the WebDAV Redirector for all properties on a specific collection.">
            <td style="width:300px"><b>Maximum Attributes Size</b> <small>(In Bytes)</small></td>
            <td style="width:300px"><input class="textbox" type="text" name="FileAttributesLimitInBytes" onchange="VBScript:FlagChanges()" onblur="VBScript:Validate(Me)" value="1000000"></td>
          </tr>
        </table>
        </fieldset> </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td style="text-align:center">
        <table border="0">
          <tr>
            <td style="text-align:center"><input class="button" type="button" value="Apply Settings" onclick="VBScript:SetValues()">
            <td style="text-align:center"><input class="button" type="button" value="Exit Application" onclick="VBScript:ExitApplication()">
          </tr>
        </table>
        </td>
      </tr>
    </table>
    </center>
  </form>
</div>

</body>

</html>

Additional Notes

You will need to run this HTML Application as an administrator in order to save the settings and restart the Windows WebDAV Redirector. (Which is listed as the "WebClient" service in your Administrative Tools.)

This HTML Application performs basic validation for the numeric fields, and it prevents you from exiting the application when you have unsaved changes, but apart from that there's not much functionality other than setting and retrieving the registry values. How else can you get away with posting an application in a blog with only 500 lines of code and no compilation required? ;-]

Note: This blog was originally posted at http://blogs.msdn.com/robert_mcmurray/

Posted: Oct 07 2011, 09:00 by Bob | Comments (0) |

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Filed under: IIS | Scripting | WebDAV

Tags: IIS, Windows, Scripting, WebDAV, HTMLA

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Life after FPSE (Part 6)

In this latest installment on my series about configuring your server for hosting without the FrontPage Server Extensions (FPSE), I'd like to discuss a couple of WebDAV best practices that I like to use.

Blocking FPSE-related Folders with Request Filtering

In my How to Migrate FPSE Sites to WebDAV walkthough, I discuss the following FPSE-related folders:

One of the actions that I usually take on my servers is to lock down all of these folders for my entire server using Request Filtering. To do so, open a command prompt and enter the following commands:

cd %WinDir%\System32\inetsrv

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/security/requestFiltering /+"hiddenSegments.[segment='_vti_cnf']" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/security/requestFiltering /+"hiddenSegments.[segment='_fpclass']" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/security/requestFiltering /+"hiddenSegments.[segment='_private']" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/security/requestFiltering /+"hiddenSegments.[segment='_vti_log']" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/security/requestFiltering /+"hiddenSegments.[segment='_vti_pvt']" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/security/requestFiltering /+"hiddenSegments.[segment='_vti_txt']" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/security/requestFiltering /+"hiddenSegments.[segment='fpdb']" /commit:apphost

Note: You should only enter the following commands if you are sure that you will not be using FPSE anywhere on your server!

cd %WinDir%\System32\inetsrv

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/security/requestFiltering /+"hiddenSegments.[segment='_vti_bin']" /commit:apphost

These settings will prevent any of the FPSE-related paths from being viewed over HTTP from a web browser; web clients will receive an HTTP Error 404.8 - Not Found message when they attempt to access those paths. But that being said - when you enable WebDAV for a website by using the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, it will configure the Request Filtering settings that enable WebDAV clients to access those paths through WebDAV requests, even though access from a web browser is still blocked. (All of this is made possible through the built-in integration between WebDAV and Request Filtering. ;-]) Enabling access to these folders over WebDAV is necessary if you are opening your website over a WebDAV-mapped drive while you are using authoring clients that do not have native WebDAV support, such as FrontPage or Visual Studio.

Two Sites are Better Than One

In part 4 of this blog series I discussed why I like to set up two websites when using WebDAV; as a quick review, here is the general idea for that environment:

• The first website (e.g. www.example.com) is used for normal HTTP web browsing
• The second website (e.g. authoring.example.com) is used for for WebDAV authoring

There is a list of several reasons in that blog post why using two sites that point to the same content can be beneficial, and I won't bother quoting that list in this blog post - you can view that information by looking at that post.

But that being said, one of the items that I mentioned in that list was using separate application pools for each website. For example:

• The first application pool (e.g. www.example.com) is configured to use delegated configuration
• The second application pool (e.g. authoring.example.com) is configured to ignore delegated configuration

This configuration helps alleviate problems from uploading invalid Web.config files that might otherwise prevent HTTP access to your website. By way of explanation, the WebDAV module attempts to validate Web.config files when they are uploaded over WebDAV - this is done to try and prevent crashing your HTTP functionality for a website and being unable to fix it. Here's what I mean by that: IIS 7 allows configuration settings to be delegated to Web.config files, but if there is a mistake in a Web.config file, IIS 7 will return an HTTP Error 500.19 - Internal Server Error message for all HTTP requests. Since WebDAV is HTTP-based, that means that you won't be able to fix the problem over WebDAV. (If the WebDAV module didn't perform any validation, that means that your website would become unusable and unrepairable if you had uploaded the bad Web.config file over WebDAV.) To help alleviate this, the WebDAV module performs a simple validation check to prevent uploading invalid Web.config files. But if you save an invalid Web.config file through some other means, like the local file system or over FTP, then you will have no way to repair the situation through WebDAV.

This leads us back to the idea that you can implement when you are using two websites - you can configure the application pool for the WebDAV-enabled website to ignore delegated configuration settings; so it doesn't matter if you have an invalid Web.config file - you will always be able to fix the problem over WebDAV. To configure an application pool to ignore delegated configuration settings, open a command prompt and enter the following commands:

cd %WinDir%\System32\inetsrv

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/applicationPools /[name='authoring.example.com'].enableConfigurationOverride:"False" /commit:apphost

Note: you need to update the highlighted section of that example with the name of your website, such as "Default Web Site," etc.

When you have two websites configured in this example and you have an invalid Web.config file that is causing the HTTP 500 error for the www.example.com website, you can still connect to authoring.example.com via WebDAV and fix the problem.

More Information

For additional information on the concepts that were discussing in this blog, see the following topics:

• Life after FPSE (Part 4) - This blog post discusses a couple of WebDAV-related topics, and includes my list of additional reasons why configuring two websites when you are using WebDAV can be advantageous.
• Adding Application Pools - This topic contains the detailed information about the enableConfigurationOverride setting for an application pool.
• Using the WebDAV Redirector - This walkthrough discusses mapping drives to WebDAV-enabled websites.

I hope this helps. ;-]

Posted: Jan 31 2011, 12:06 by Bob | Comments (0) |

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Filed under: FrontPage | IIS | WebDAV

Tags: FrontPage, WebDAV, IIS

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