SC Files in remote location on Windows

[dtremmel]

I have been working with our systems admins to set up SuperContainer so that it can store its files on a remote file server, since a couple of research projects are threatening to overwhelm our FileMaker server with the volume of images they need to store. Since we're running SC (2.852) on FM Server 11 (running under Windows Server 2008), we've edited the web.xml file, and can see that SC is trying to write to the remote location. We have looked around for answers, but most of the advice seems to apply to Mac servers, not Windows. Here are the questions our sys admins have:

(1) Does the remote volume need to be mounted? If so, how do we do this under Windows server, since mounted volumes are generally user-specific, while the server runs basically with no user logged in?

(2) We see that on the Mac the remote volume should have a group:fmsadmin and owner:fmserver with read/write permissions. Does this apply in Windows? If so, are these groups local or domain-level? Our Active Directory domain encompasses an entire university, and so we're not sure we can claim either of these groups in the domain. What are the appropriate permissions settings on Windows?

Any help would be appreciated (aside from the advice to switch to Mac server; though I would personally prefer that route, I'm not in a position to make that call)...

Thanks.

[andidale]

Hello newbie,

I am also trying to trouble shoot an issue with a Windows server and SC 2.852, however I have been running SC for many years now and can tell you that you do not need to mount the remote volume. You did not say what your exact issue is, but what I am seeing after updating to 2.852 is this:

After upgrading, if I view SuperContainer web viewer from a user machine the web viewer displays this message:

HTTP Status 500 -

FileMaker Server has encountered an error:

The server encountered an internal error () that prevented it from fulfilling this request....

However if I launch a FileMaker client from the FileMaker Server, go Hosts/ FM Server and open the file, now the images display properly with no error.

This has happened AFTER Java updates on both our local machines and I believe the server as well - I am trying to verify that with IT.

[dtremmel]

Thanks for your response. I should have given some more details on what has been set up for me.

They have set up a volume called SuperContainer on a remote file server, and created a directory called Files. When they edited the web.xml file, they set the vistaFilesPath parameter to "[server_name][volume - in this case SuperContainer]Files". They did not edit the windowsFilesPath parameter, I guess since we're using Server 2008.

When I try to upload images through the web viewer in a database on my client machine, or if I point the web viewer at a file that exists on the remote server, I get this error:

"Directory [server_name][volume - in this case SuperContainer]Fileskosimages60 could not be created because of an unknown error."

The "kosimages60" is just the standard location info set up in the web viewer for this project. Since the error returns the location we set up in the web.xml file, it seems like it knows where to go. However, the fact that I get the same error both trying to write and trying to read suggests this may be more than a permissions issue (since it shouldn't have to create to read).

So I'm not getting the same error that you are (not yet, anyways...). Hopefully somebody can spot something in the setup that is wrong. I'd play with the web.xml setup, except I don't have access to edit it (only view) - guess I need to petition for more privileges...

[ooparah]

Andidale--

After upgrading, if I view SuperContainer web viewer from a user machine the web viewer displays this message: HTTP Status 500 - FileMaker Server has encountered an error: The server encountered an internal error () that prevented it from fulfilling this request....

This definitely sounds like an IP address issue. It seems like you are maybe using the internal IP address in your SuperContainer Web viewers and therefore, users inside the network and accessing the database in this way, have access to the SC hosted files. However, those accessing it by other/external means are being denied access to the file and those files hosted within that database. You may want to first check if an external user can reach that server machine using the external IP address (check if it resolves), otherwise, it may be a firewall issue. If that external IP does resolve, you may want to use the FileMaker Get ( HostIPAddress ) function in your web viewers and solution so that it will give either the internal or external IP address depending on how the user is accessing the hosted database file.

Dtremmel--

I would petition! Then check whether this path to the remote volume is correct and that the account that SuperContainer is deployed under (ex. "fmserver", "admin", "yourusername", etc) has the proper rights and privileges to read/write to that drive.

I hope this helps. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly and I will be more than happy to assist you further.

Regards,