Problem: Apache 2.2 on Win32, WebDAV, connect through Windows VistaClient

Hi folks.

I did a quick search and found any info regarding a FAQ or my problem,
so please excuse me if that topic already has been discussed.
I spent my whole last day in finding a solution for this problem on the
web, without satisfying results.

I have an Apache 2.2 running on windows. I got the WebDAV module up and
running over standard HTTP as well as HTTPS. The server is configured to
only switch do DAV mode within certain directories, such as
https://my.dyndns.server/webdav/
It works fine on both (JAVA) WebDAV Explorer and MacOS 9. Browsing
through Firefox and IE7 also shows up the appropriate files and
directories. Authentification is done via DIGEST.

The folder is mapped and configured via ALIAS and LOCATION.

Now I'm trying to access that share through Windows Vista's integrated
network drive connection, but without* success. (* see below)

Whenever I try to establish the connection, Vista keeps telling me that
the directory is not valid, or cannot be accessed. The interesting part
is that when I connect via standard HTTP, then nothing shows up in the
access logs. I'm a bit baffled about that, since MacOS 9 did leave it's
fingerprint there.

However, when trying to connect via HTTPS at least the user/password
login box appears, but then resulting in the mentioned error.
The interesting part about that is that this action can be seen in the
logs as

"OPTIONS / HTTP/1.1" - "Microsoft-WebDAV-MiniRedir/6.0.6000"

As it seems, Windows Vista tries to OPTION the server's root first,
which is definitely not what I expect it to do. When I


Dav on

require valid-user

# etc etc


at least the connection is established, but then resulting in some
errors since the "expected" directory /webdav is not there (since it's
just ALIASed).

I tried everything on the client side to get it working - connecting to
\\my.dyndns.server\webdav, \\my.dyndns.server@SSL\webdav,
http://my.dyndns.server:80/webdav, http://my.dyndns.server:80/webdav#
and both HTTPS variants - nothing worked.

So I guess I have to find a workaround on the server side. I have read
that when setting up a subdomain like webdav.blah.foo Vista connects
fine, but since I use DynDNS that options doesn't apply to me. Before I
start to LISTEN on another port and run a specialized WebDAV server on
that, has anyone an idea?

Is there a possibility to allow OPTION and PROPFIND on the root without
giving up security and "browsability"? (Does that word even exist? *g*)


Best regards,
Markus

Internal redirection via mod_rewrite? -- was: Problem: Apache 2.2on Win32, WebDAV, connect through W

Hi again.

I just wondered whether it is possible to internally rewrite a subdomain
access request to another one to achieve the solution to my WebDAV problem.

The idea is: If a client connects to http://dav.whatever.foo the request
will be interally rewritten to http://www.whatever.foo/webdav, which is
defined via an ALIAS and LOCATION as DAV-enabled.

I tried it via a [R]-rule which seems to work on Vista clients but fails
on others with the hint, I should use the new URL. When removing the [R]
flag from the RewriteRule, I assumed everything should work fine since
Vista thinks it accesses the server's (subdomain's, that is) root where
in reality it accesses the folder I it to access. - However it does not.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^dav\.mydomain\.foo [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^$
RewriteRule ^/(.*) http://www.mydomain.foo:80/webdav/$1

Any idea what is wrong here?

Regards,
Markus

Re: Problem: Apache 2.2 on Win32, WebDAV, connect through Windows Vista Client

With regard to the OPTIONS problem, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/831805
for more information.
On Jul 2, 2:53 am, Markus Mayer
wrote:
> Hi folks.
>
> I did a quick search and found any info regarding a FAQ or my problem,
> so please excuse me if that topic already has been discussed.
> I spent my whole last day in finding a solution for this problem on the
> web, without satisfying results.
>
> I have an Apache 2.2 running on windows. I got the WebDAV module up and
> running over standard HTTP as well as HTTPS. The server is configured to
> only switch do DAV mode within certain directories, such ashttps://my.dyndns.server/webdav/
> It works fine on both (JAVA) WebDAV Explorer and MacOS 9. Browsing
> through Firefox and IE7 also shows up the appropriate files and
> directories. Authentification is done via DIGEST.
>
> The folder is mapped and configured via ALIAS and LOCATION.
>
> Now I'm trying to access that share through Windows Vista's integrated
> network drive connection, but without* success. (* see below)
>
> Whenever I try to establish the connection, Vista keeps telling me that
> the directory is not valid, or cannot be accessed. The interesting part
> is that when I connect via standard HTTP, then nothing shows up in the
> access logs. I'm a bit baffled about that, since MacOS 9 did leave it's
> fingerprint there.
>
> However, when trying to connect via HTTPS at least the user/password
> login box appears, but then resulting in the mentioned error.
> The interesting part about that is that this action can be seen in the
> logs as
>
> "OPTIONS / HTTP/1.1" - "Microsoft-WebDAV-MiniRedir/6.0.6000"
>
> As it seems, Windows Vista tries to OPTION the server's root first,
> which is definitely not what I expect it to do. When I
>
>
> Dav on
>
> require valid-user
>
> # etc etc
>
>
> at least the connection is established, but then resulting in some
> errors since the "expected" directory /webdav is not there (since it's
> just ALIASed).
>
> I tried everything on the client side to get it working - connecting to
> \\my.dyndns.server\webdav, \\my.dyndns.server@SSL\webdav,http://my.dyndns.server:80/web dav,http://my.dyndns.server:80/webdav#
> and both HTTPS variants - nothing worked.
>
> So I guess I have to find a workaround on the server side. I have read
> that when setting up a subdomain like webdav.blah.foo Vista connects
> fine, but since I use DynDNS that options doesn't apply to me. Before I
> start to LISTEN on another port and run a specialized WebDAV server on
> that, has anyone an idea?
>
> Is there a possibility to allow OPTION and PROPFIND on the root without
> giving up security and "browsability"? (Does that word even exist? *g*)
>
> Best regards,
> Markus

Re: Problem: Apache 2.2 on Win32, WebDAV, connect through WindowsVista Client

Am 05.07.2007 09:29 schrieb Adam Malcontenti-Wilson:
> With regard to the OPTIONS problem, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/831805
> for more information.

According to that, there's no solution. Any idea how to redirect the
access so that Windows thinks it has root access, where in reality it
hasn't? Any mod_rewrite trick for example?

Thanks so far,
Markus