2.2. Investigating the Nature of FTP and WebDAV Sites
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is one of the most commonly used mechanisms for transferring Web content from a machine where it's developed (for example, a SharePoint Designer client machine) to a location on the Web server. In a common scenario, an administrator might create an FTP site whose content location is the same as a normal HTTP site. An author would then publish the content by using FTP as a communication mechanism between the client software (such as SharePoint Designer) and the Web server (such as IIS). Although using the FTP approach might have some security issues, it's a very simple and standard way to move content to the Web server.
You have to install the FTP service by using the Add/Remove Programs function prior to creating FTP Web sites in IIS. To set up an FTP site in IIS, follow these steps:
Open the IIS Manager by choosing Start
Administrative Tools. If you have the FTP service installed, an FTP Sites folder appears in the left pane in the Microsoft Management Console.Right-click on the FTP Sites folder and then choose New
FTP Site from the popup menu. The FTP Site Creation Wizard, as shown in Figure 2.11, opens.Figure 2.11. The FTP Site Creation Wizard
Click Next and then type the description for your FTP site in the Description text field.
Click Next.
On the next screen, specify the IP address and port for use by the FTP site. When you installed the FTP service, a default FTP site was created for you and uses port 21. If you want to create a new FTP site, you can either specify a different IP address or a different port.
Click Next.
In the FTP User Isolation window, click Isolate users and then click Next. FTP User Isolation Settings provides you with a mechanism that can be used to isolate FTP directories based on users. The Isolate Users option ensures that users can't view directories that they don't have permissions to see and are directly taken to their folders and files within the FTP site.
Specify the root folder location of your FTP site and then click Next.
In the FTP Access Permissions screen, keep the Read check box selected and then click Next. You can change these settings later by using the Home Directory tab in the FTP Site Properties dialog box.
Click Next and then click Finish.
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You can now create directories within the root content location of this Web site for various users and set up permissions using the Security tab in the Folder Properties dialog box so that users are directed only to the folders where they have permissions. Once the FTP site is set up, you can use the Current Sessions button in the FTP Site tab of the site properties to determine the users that are connected to your FTP site.
While FTP is a simple way to transfer files to a Web server, it has a number of security and management issues. IIS also supports another Web standard for remote authoring called WebDAV. WebDAV adds on to the HTTP protocol (the main Internet communication protocol) and provides features that allow client programs to list files and directories on a Web server, add and delete files from a Web server, check-in or check-out files, etc. So, once a Web site is configured for WebDAV, you can access it in a Windows Explorer-like view in a client program, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, etc. By default, in IIS 6.0, WebDAV is prohibited. So, in order to enable it for use on an HTTP site, you have to follow these steps:
Open the IIS Manager and then click the Web Service Extensions folder in the left pane, as shown in Figure 2.12. By default, WebDAV is prohibited.
Figure 2.12. The Web Service Extension folder and its contents
Click WebDAV and then click Allow.
In the left pane in the IIS Manager, right-click on the Web site (or a folder inside the Web site) that you want to configure for use as a WebDAV site and then choose Properties from the popup menu.
Click the Home Directory tab and then click the Write and Directory Browsing check boxes.
This is all you need to do to enable WebDAV on an IIS Web site (or folder). Based on the permissions that you set on the Web site folders, users should be able to access and modify the site contents in a folder-like view in a Web browser or SharePoint Designer.