Using mapped network drives to serve static content on IBM HTTP Server
 Technote (troubleshooting)
 
Problem(Abstract)
You can configure IBM® HTTP Server to serve static content from a mapped network drive. However, certain steps must be taken to ensure that IBM HTTP Server has the correct permissions to access the static content on the remote system.
 
Resolving the problem
Setting up the IBM HTTP Server to serve static content from a mapped network drive requires the following steps:
  1. A Directory stanza for the mapped drive must exist in the httpd.conf file.

  2. An Alias directive must be used to alias the mapped drive.

  3. The user account used to start the IBM HTTP Server service must also exist on the remote system with the same password.

  4. The network drive must be mapped using this user account.


Warning
Serving static content from a remote system might affect the performance and reliability of the Web server. Performance depends on the bandwidth or speed of the network between the Web server and the remote system. Also, the availability of the remote system affects the reliability of the content being served.

It is recommended that you serve static content from a local drive whenever possible.


Example
  1. Start the IBM HTTP Server service in the Windows® services panel using an account called ihsadmin.

    Note: This account must have full permissions to the local IBM HTTP Server directories and port 80.

  2. On the remote system:
    1. Create an account called ihsadmin.
    2. Create a folder called "test" and then a sub-folder within "test" called "data".
    3. Share the "test" folder on this system and give the ihsadmin account rights to this share.

  3. Place a file called index.html in the "data" folder.

  4. On the system where the IBM HTTP Server is running, map drive "F" to the test share on the remote system and log in using ihsadmin as the user account.

  5. You are now mapped to F:/, which contains a folder called data, with an index.html file.

  6. Edit the httpd.conf file on the IBM HTTP Server system located in the install_root/conf directory. Then add the following to properly alias the IBM HTTP Server to the test share:

    <Directory "\\hostname\test\data">
    Options Indexes
    AllowOverride None
    order allow,deny
    allow from all
    </Directory>

    Alias /test/  "F:/data/"
    Notes: a. You must use the UNC Path within the Directory stanza, and
    not the drive letter and path.
    b. You can use the drive letter and folder within the Alias directive.

  7. Recycle the IBM HTTP Server and attempt to access the index.html file within the F:/data folder.
    Example: http://www.youhostname.com/test/index.html

If you are not able to access the index.html page, go back and check your steps carefully; contact your local system administrator to confirm that the user account has proper permissions to the share.

If you continue to experience problems and require additional assistance with the IBM HTTP Server configuration, call 1-800-IBM-SERV and open a problem record. Outside the United States, contact your local IBM Support Center.
 
 
 


Document Information


Product categories: Software > Application Servers > Distributed Application & Web Servers > IBM HTTP Server > Runtime
Operating system(s): Windows
Software version: 6.0
Software edition:
Reference #: 1175389
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: Jul 28, 2004