Connect WebDAV

Workspaces in Research Cloud are volatile: after they cease to exist, they leave nothing behind. This applies to their data as well - any data stored on the workspace itself would be gone when a workspace is gone. However, you can connect persistent storage that will outlive your workspace and will keep the data for future use. One of the features that we provide for this is to connect your WebDAV server to workspaces you start.

WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) is an extension of the HTTP protocol that facilitates collaborative editing and file management over the internet. It provides a framework for users to create, change, and move documents on a remote server, typically a web server, using a standard interface.

In the Research Cloud portal, you can establish this link by enabling your collaboration (CO) to reach your remote WebDAV server. If you want to attach your WebDAV server to workspaces started for another CO you have to link that CO through the Research Cloud portal as well.

For example in Linux based workspaces, your WebDAV server will be mounted in the “webdav” folder in your home directory. 

Linking a remote WebDAV server to a CO

Let us prepare the Research Cloud portal to receive the WebDAV information:

1. Navigate to the Research Cloud Portal.
2. In the “Profile” tab go to the CO you want to link your WebDAV to in the profile section
3. Choose the "Services" tab.
4. Activate the switch for the WebDAV service.
5. Fill in WebDAV settings, such as Username, Webdav token and URL.
6. Click “Submit” 

If all goes well, your WebDAV server is connected successfully and you will see the following message:

Please, note that after entering your credentials it may take a while before it is visible on this page. After 5 minutes it should be processed.

Example: Connect SURF Drive as a WebDAV server

You may have set up a WebDAV server by yourself or are using one of the cloud storage services, like SURFdrive, that support WebDAV connection. To connect a WebDAV server to your collaboration in Research Cloud you need to get your WebDAV credentials, such as: username, WebDAV token and URL. 

In the case of SURFdrive, you can find these credentials in your profile. You can get this as follows:

1. Open the SURFdrive portal in a new browser tab or window. The url will be https://surfdrive.surf.nl.
2. In the SURFdrive portal, go to your name on the top right of the screen and click Settings
3. From the menu on the left, choose Security
4. Scroll to the App passwords / tokens section.
5. You must then type an App name in the text box, for example “SRC” for Research Cloud
6. Press “Create new app passcode”, this will generate your webdav credentials, such as username and password/token. Below you can find the WebDAV URL.
7. Go back to Research Cloud, follow the steps described int he section above and copy the credentials to the respective fields.
8. Press “Submit”

If all goes well SURFdrive is connected and you will be able to see your SURFdrive directory in any workspace that is created in the respective collaboration.