Okay,
so here is what I have found so far:
The File Manager module in eGroupware is based on VFS: Virtual File System. The files you store are stored either in a file system or in a SQL database (configurable).
The VFS can be used from other interfaces as eGroupware by using WebDAV. It is possible to use a FlexShare as a WebDAV share, but it is not supported completely out of the ClearOS box (look
here for for information).
The text below is from various sources, I hope it makes sense and gives insight in what is (functionally) possible / impossible.
Description File Manager Module:
The File Manager module allows users to manage files in the eGroupWare server (load, move, etc.). Files can also be shared with other users through ACLs (Access Control Lists).
This module allows users to manage files in eGroupWare or on a WebDAV server and make them accessible to other users. It has the ability to perform the most common file actions which include:
- Uploading
- Renaming
- Copying
- Moving
- Creating directories
- Deleting
- Adding and editing text files
- Synchronizing with filing system
- Viewing file attributes
- Directory navigation
Comments can be added to both files and directories. The File Manager keeps a record of changes made to files thereby allowing basic verification of any changes made. Version control/recovery is not supported at this time.
At the moment sharing files is only supported through group ACL’s. This means that an administrator can create a group which includes all users who want to exchange files among each other. However, it can also be set up so as to allow access to other groups and even to individual users.
Capabilities:
- Use web based file manager for sharing information and managing documents
- Individual home data area for each user
- Team folder for supporting data exchange optimally
- Direct access to the file manager from the personal computer using WebDAV (web based distributed authoring and versioning).
WebDAV access to VFS
eGroupware now includes a WebDAV client VFS implementation, so if you set your file repository to be "http ://some.webdav.url.com" in the setup app, and set the file repository type to DAV all vfs-using apps should transparently access their files over webdav.
The key benefit of this is that then you can access your file repository directly using WebDAV enabled applications. In Windows (with IE 5+?), you can create a web-folder, and point it at your WebDAV server. On Linux you can mount it as a file system using davfs. OpenOffice?, MSOffice, and plenty of other major applications can save files directly to a WebDAV share.
Setup a WebDAV repository
The easiest way to get a DAV repository going is to use the Apache web server - either Apache 1.x with the mod_dav module, or Apache 2 (which has DAV builtin) - once you have mod_dav installed correctly RTFM, you should easily be able to get an (unauthenticated) WebDAV server going.
The WebDAV repository's "document root" requires the same kind of file structure and permissions as is required for the standard VFS_SQL file repository - ie there needs to be a directory named "/home", and this need to be writable by Apache.
WebDAV Authentication
This is the tricky bit : ideally you want user names and passwords for the DAV server, so not just any fool can read your data. Although authentication is "optional" for VFS_DAV- its essential from a security standpoint if you want to make your files accessible over the internet.
Of course, you can manually create and manage .htaccess and htpasswd files for each user. But ideally you want to be able to log into the WebDAV repository using the same username and password as you use with egroupware.
To do this, you need to get Apache to authenticate against whatever you have setup eGroupware to store its accounts information in. For instance, if you authenticate against LDAP use mod_auth_ldap.
here
