Using The Web Disk Interface in cPanel

cPanel - Files - Web Disk

WebDAV is a set of extensions to the HTTP protocol, allowing users to collaborate while editing and managing files remotely on web servers. One reason to use this file management system instead of FTP, File Manager, or Git is to create a separate user account to avoid providing any direct cPanel access.

Web Disk Account

By default, the system creates a Web Disk account for your cPanel account and sets your home directory as the Web Disk location.
This account uses the same login information as your cPanel account and can access all of the files in your home directory.
You cannot delete this Web Disk account.

To access this account’s files, use the File Manager interface.

To view login details for the Web Disk account or download a configuration script, click Configure Client Access.

If you use Microsoft Windows Vista®, Windows® 7, Windows® 8, or Windows® 10, click Enable Digest Authentication to enable Digest Authentication, or click Disable Digest Authentication to disable it.

For more information about how to connect third-party software with your Web Disk account, read cPanel's Connect to Web Disk with Third-Party Software documentation.

Create an Additional Web Disk Account

To create an additional Web Disk account, perform the following steps:

• • Enter the desired username in the Username text box.
• • If your account includes more than one domain or subdomain you can select a domain or subdomain from the Domain menu.
• • Enter and confirm the new password in the appropriate text boxes. The system evaluates the password that you enter on a scale of 100 points. 0 indicates a weak password, while 100 indicates a very secure password. You can also click Password Generator to generate a strong password. For more information, read cPanel's Password and Security documentation.

• • Enter the Web Disk account’s home directory in the Directory text box:
• • The house icon (Home) represents the cPanel account’s home directory.
• • The Directory text box defines the new Web Disk account’s top level of directory access, relative to the cPanel account’s home directory.
• • The system automatically populates this text box with public_html/username, where username represents what you entered in the Username text box.

• • Select a Permissions setting:
• • Read-Write This setting grants this account access to all of the operations inside the directory.
• • Read-Only This setting only grants this account access to read, download, and list the files inside the directory.
• • If you use Microsoft Windows Vista®, Windows® 7, Windows® 8, or Windows® 10, select the Enable Digest Authentication checkbox.

• • Click Create. A new interface will appear.
• • To return to the main interface, click Go Back.
• • To view setup instructions for your new Web Disk account, click Configure Client Access.

Manage Additional Web Disk Accounts

The Manage Additional Web Disk Accounts table displays the following information for all of the additional Web Disk accounts that you create:

• • Account The Web Disk account username.
• • Directory The Web Disk account’s assigned directory and related actions.
• • Click the directory name to open the assigned directory in cPanel’s File Manager interface.
• • Click the edit icon (Edit) to change the account’s assigned directory.
• • Click the lock icon (Lock) to use cPanel’s Directory Privacy interface to password protect the directory, create a user to access the directory, or remove a user from the directory.

• • Actions Use the links in this column to perform the following actions:
• • Click Configure Client Access to view login details for the Web Disk account.
• • For certain devices, you can also click Download Configuration Script to download a device configuration script. For more information, read cPanel's Connect to Web Disk with Third-Party Software documentation.
• • Click Enable Digest Authentication and follow the prompts to enable Digest Authentication.
• • Click Change Password to change the Web Disk account password.
• • Click Delete and follow the prompts to delete the Web Disk account.
• • Click a permissions setting to change the account’s permissions:
• • Set Read-Write This setting grants this account access to all of the operations inside the directory.
• • Set Read-Only This setting only grants this account access to read, download, and list the files inside the directory.

Web Disk and Digest Authentication

When you change the usernames of Web Disk accounts that use Digest Authentication, you must re enable it. The /etc/digestshadow file stores the usernames of Web Disk accounts that use Digest Authentication in a password hash. When you change the account username, the system removes the password from the file.

You must enable Digest Authentication if you use Windows® Vista, Windows® 7, or Windows® 8, or Windows® 10 and you access Web Disk over a clear text, unencrypted connection. You do not need to enable Digest Authentication if you meet the following conditions:

• • The domain has an SSL certificate that a recognized certificate authority signed.
• •You can connect to Web Disk with SSL over port 2078.
• •If you use Windows XP®, Windows Vista, or Windows® 2003, you may experience errors when you attempt to connect to your Web Disk account. These operating systems require a patch that Microsoft no longer offers, and it no longer supports these operating systems.
• •If you use Windows 7, a discrepancy may exist between the amount of disk space that the system reports and the actual available disk space. This happens because the WebDAV protocol, which Web Disk uses, cannot query a server’s disk capacity. For more information, read Microsoft Support’s article about this problem.

YouTube Video - cPanel Tutorials - Web Disk