Double access to VFS structure and folder naming

Dear Stefan,
I’ll try to explain you what the problem is.
Every project includes many files. Many files are administrative but, in our case, there are many technical files such as BIM models that very often have dimensions of 300-400 MB.
In many cases the technical applications do not allow access to the files through protocols such as Webdav.
At the same time, the EGW file manager is very convenient because the files are visible and usable within a shared environment that represents, through email and rocketchat a way to interact with the outside world and between different co-workers.
We have many projects coded according to the standard “xxxx-xxxx” or in other words, eg “2021-0022 Project xxxx”.
For each project we have many administrative files that is very convenient to keep available in EGW but many files must be stored on the NAS (actually a windows server) because of large size and for which the applications do not allow access via protocols other than Windows.
The structure we would like to realize is the one shown in the figure. (NAS Directory should be a link to the NAS)

image.png2548x1300 320 KB

Obviously, the technical files would still be used through the NAS but could be managed adding metadata within EGW. Is this possible?
Thanks
Gabriele

Thanks Ralf,
I’ll try.
However, following yours and Stefan’s instructions, we succeeded in mounting the NAS and we are now trying to organise the folders in such a way that all administrative information are stored in the VFS while, through the NAS mount, the user can add or delete technical files too. Technical files are stored in a VFS sub-directory that is actually link to the correspondent NAS subfolder. So, for example, the subdirectory drawingxxx exists in the VFS and in the external NAS with the same name.
The use of the data files with technical software, the access is made directly via the external NAS.
Everything seems to work. I’m doing the final tests.
Thanks again
Gabriele

Hi everyone,
as reported in previous posts we are trying to mount a filesystem on a NAS in order to have such a structure in the VFS:
2021-00xx Name of the project
Sub-Directory 01 (VFS)
Sub-Directory 02 (VFS)
Sub-Directory 03 (NAS) via a VFS link to /NAS/2021-00xx Name of the project.
So we would like to mount the NAS filesystem under the name NFS in the VFS directory “/”. We are encountering some problems in this process.
Problem 01 - we are unable to mount the NAS file system in the “/” directory but only in the /Backup directory. The image shows the result:

Problem 02 - As you can see from the image, all files have protection d----r-x—which cannot be modified via VFS. If the NAS is mounted with a local NAS user using the command

sudo docker exec -it egroupware /usr/share/egroupware/filemanager/cli.php mount --user root_admin --password ‘myrootpassword’ smb://admin:mynaspassword@nas/share/egroupware/filemanager/cli

the mount is performed but the NAS seems to be read only for VFS
We use active directory for authentication to NAS and EGW, so we should mount NAS with a domain user in order to have it in RW for users present and enabled in active directory.
Using the domain account to mount the script

sudo docker exec -it egroupware /usr/share/egroupware/filemanager/cli.php mount --user root_admin --password ‘myrootpassword’ smb://egroupware@mydomain.local:mypassword@nas/share/egroupware/filemanager/cli

After entering the user’s password egroupware@mydomain.local returns the error “permission denied are you root?”, even if the account egroupware@mydomain.local has been added to the egroupware root accounts via the setup panel
The question is: how can you mount a share that resides on the NAS where the users are managed by active directory and therefore are domain users and not local?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Gabriele

Hi All,
no news on this post. I think it would be important for all users to have the possibility to link and use with the same users (and not with a local user of the NAS) of EGW an external NAS !!!
Is there a solution?
Every contribution is welcome
Gabriele

Hi Ralf
we are using this instruction

sudo docker exec -it 266522d0ccf7 bash cd usr/share/egroupware/ filemanger/cli.php mount --user root_admin --password ‘xxxxxxxxx’ ‘smb://$user:$password@nas/Work’ /var/lib/egroupware/default/backup/Work

but it returns the error: bash: cd: No such file or directory

if I connect to the container 266522d0ccf7 the path usr/share/egroupware exists, I also tried to delete the slash /usr/share/egroupware and usr/share/egroupware/ but the result does not change.
What’s wrong with the command I run?
Thanks for your help
Gabriele

Hi Stefan and Ralf
a successful but partial step!!! I followed your suggestions and things are going a bit better. I have done mount as indicated with this command:

sudo docker exec -it egroupware /usr/share/egroupware/filemanager/cli.php mount --user root_admin --password ‘xxxxxxxxx’ ‘smb://$user:$password@nas/Work /var/lib/egroupware/default/Work’

this is the output

Root access granted!
sqlfs://$host/ /
links://$host/apps /apps
filesystem://default/var/lib/egroupware/default/backup?group=Admins&mode=070 /backup
atsrl@egroupware:~$

but I don’t see the mount using VFS. I also tried to execute the command changing the mount point:

sudo docker exec -it egroupware /usr/share/egroupware/filemanager/cli.php mount --user root_admin --password ‘#In)EOtxRPIW[8[S’ ‘smb://$user:$password@nas/Work /var/lib/egroupware/default/Work’

sudo docker exec -it egroupware /usr/share/egroupware/filemanager/cli.php mount --user root_admin --password ‘xxxxxxxxx’ ‘smb://$user:$password@nas/Work /Work’

Same result

The directory /var/lib/egroupware/default/Work exists! I think the mount point should be created from the panel

image.jpg2240x568 135 KB

So I tried to create the access point. Once I entered the root credentials and typed the mount name /Work does not allow saving. Where do I am wrong?
Thank you for your help
Gabriele

Hi All,
I am still here. Thanks to the new user-interface to mount WebDAV or SMB shares our nas is now visible and within the VFS.
But now there is a problem. I am unable to create a link to a directory on the nas. The picture shows the structure of our nas (one part) where each project has a directory.

image.png1922x880 121 KB

image.png2688x230 26.7 KB

image.png1800x300 42.7 KB

Hi Ralf,
I hope the upper and lower case letters are correct:

1. nas direcory seen through EGW
   
   

   image.png1686x445 46.2 KB
2. the link creation within a project
   
   

   image.png1570x496 45.5 KB
3. the test directory does not seem to be available
   
   

   image.png1478x298 40.6 KB
   
   Any suggestions?
   Gabriele

Hi All,
No suggestions? Nobody has the same problem?
To me it would seem useful to link to a project the directory that resides on an external device directly from the project (e.g. right click VFS) and at the same time access the files with applications that cannot be used through EGW.
Gabriele

Hi SvenZ,
doesn’t seem to be anything new. I’m sad because it would allow a much more productive use of EGW. We are limited to the NAS mount, we can manage the files but we cannot create a link from a VFS folder to a specific NAS folder.
This feature would be extremely valuable, because you lose a lot of time, if you want an orderly management of projects, to encode them and then go and search in the NAS for the corresponding folder.
Probably not many users intend to use this feature, although it seems extremely important to me.
Let’s wait for
Gabriele

Hi All,
Since April 2021 we have been trying hard to solve the problem of dual access to the NAS from EGW and directly from the file manager.
Currently it is possible to mount the NAS which works fine but it is not possible to establish a link between a NAS folder and an EGW VFS folder.
If this possibility existed, it would be possible to enter the NAS folder from EGW project with a simple enter and independently access the same folder from the windows file manager or an application (e.g. Autocad).
I can’t believe no one is interested in this feature. ?
Is it really not possible?

I hope someone has some useful information
Gabriele