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About WebDAV

WebDAV is a protocol for managing the content of a web-server.  It enables the web-server to also act as a file-server.    However, a web-browser is not used to update the contents of a web-site.  Instead, a WebDAV client is used and it makes the files on the web-server appear as a normal file-share on your local computer. All major operating systems have an integrated WebDAV client.

Authentication

Web-site content is often managed by multiple people.  At TRIUMF, each person uses their personal TRIUMF e-mail credentials to authenticate. The access controls on the site determine who can modify the content.  This avoids the security problems caused by using a shared account whose password is known by mutliple people.  The access controls are maintained by the core-computing group and modified upon request.

Modifying the contents of a WebDAV enabled site

Each WebDAV site at TRIUMF has a URL for viewing the contents in the normal manner.  e.g.

http://<site-name>.triumf.ca
There is also a special URL for modifying the content of the site.  It is just the normal URL with /dav appended and with encryption on the transport protocol (https) to protect the credentials. 
https://<site-name>.triumf.ca/dav

It looks like a normal URL that you would enter in a web-browser, but a web-browser displays HTML.  For managing the files on the web-site, a WebDAV client must be used.

For the encryption, TRIUMF WebDAV sites use a security certificate signed by the TRIUMF Certificate Authority.  Therefore, if you have not already done so, import the TRIUMF-CA root certificate into your WebDAV client.

Configuring and using a WebDAV Client

Follow the instructions for the appropriate operating-system.

 

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