Helpdesk

What is DAV?

DAV (pronounced as in davenport) is a way to provide file transfers via HTTP. In many respects, it can substitute for traditional FTP servers but provides a more robust, flexible, and secure way of sharing files.

Furthermore, most recent operating systems have built-in functionality that allows you to "mount" a DAV share just as you would a local network volume, so you can simply drag & drop files as well as access them directly without necessarily "downloading" them first or using a separate program.

For more information on DAV, please visit webdav.org.

Connecting

MacOS :: Windows 2000/XP :: Windows NT/95/98/ME :: Others

One small disadvantage of DAV-based file sharing is that the details of the connection method varies from operating system to operating system. Please see the particulars for your operating system of interest from the list above.

Another inconvenience concerns the use of "self-signed" security certificates. DAV clients will generally issue a warning that our certificate isn't from a "trusted" authority and require you to accept it despite this. Most clients also provide a means to accept our certificate permanently, in which case you will only have to do this once. However, the Windows certificate managment interface does not appear to do this properly and you will have to accept the warning each time you connect (and possibly multiple times per connection). Unfortunately, we know of no solution at this time.

Please have the following information (which should've been provided to you) before continuing: the URL you will use to connect to the DAV share, the login name, and the password.

MacOS

MacOS prior to MacOS X 10.4 (Tiger) do not have built-in support for SSL-encrypted DAV access. Please download and install Goliath and read its documentation.

For MacOS X 10.4 and higher, simply select Connect to server from the Finder's Go menu and enter DAV URL.

Windows 2000/XP

Windows 2000 and XP have built-in DAV support. For Windows 2000, make sure that you have upgraded to at least Service Pack 3- prior versions had known bugs. To make a connection, open the My Network Places icon on your desktop and then double-click the Add Network Place option.

On some installations/configurations of XP, you may not see My Network Places on the desktop- instead, please check your Start menu. You will have to select Next to proceed past the opening description, followed by Choose another network location when asked where your network place is.

In the subsequent dialog, enter the URL you were given and press Next. At this point you will probably be given a certificate warning- accept it. You should then be prompted with a login dialog - enter your login name and password and then Finish the wizard.

Your My Network Places window should now have an icon for the DAV share and it should open if your connection was successful. That icon should persist so for future connections, simply open it and login as usual.

You may be repeatedly asked to accept a certficate warning, or asked to login again despite having already done so. Just repeat as necessary. For details on how you can permanently avoid these warnings, see the HOWTO on installing 3rd-party certificates.

Windows NT/95/98/ME

The base Windows NT/95 operating systems did not natively support DAV. However, depending on the service pack level, Internet Explorer version, and/or Microsoft Office version, DAV support may have been added to your computer. If, when you open My Computer, you see a folder named Web Folders ("Web Folders" is what Microsoft calls DAV shares), this capability has been installed.

Windows 98/ME should have this capability installed by default.

To connect, open the Web Folders folder, then launch the Add New wizard. Enter the URL when prompted, accept any security certificate warnings, and then login with your provided login name and password. An icon for the DAV share should appear in that folder and persist for future connections.

Other operating systems

Please consult the webdav.org projects page for a listing of clients for a variety of platforms.

As a fallback option, it is also possible to use a standard web browser to access a DAV share, since it runs over HTTP. Just point your browser at the proper URL and login as usual. This method, however, will not let you download more than one file at a time, and provides no way to upload files, so is not recommended.