Alpha DAV and FTP server running!

brong · 30th August 2005, 11:12 PM

Exciting news, the DAV and FTP service has entered alpha testing

*WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING*

This code works by taking a duplicate of your filestorage into the new structure. This is done once - the first time you log in. After that point your 'alpha' filestorage and production filestorage are completely separate entities. Changes to one will NOT be reflected in the other. Data stored in the Alpha system may be deleted at any time. When we go live we will repeat this copy from the current state of your filestorage one final time.

Caveat the next: only a single 'website' is set up for you, and it points at your public folder regardless. This doesn't really matter because those sites are NOT live anyway - all personal websites are still using the old system and pointing at your old filestorage. It's merely there so you can experiment with the interface.

This alpha is enabled for ALL service levels, including Guest, though it's not much use to you since you only have 1Mb of storage quota!

Quotas: use of this system will not affect your File Storage quota - as well as duplicating your files, you get a brand new quota (the same amount) with the new system. Changes to one will not affect the other. You can not add more than your quota in either the old or new system.

Bandwidth: All use of the Alpha system is logged against you for bandwidth. Sorry about that, but since there are many different systems involved, it's really hard to separate out the bandwidth use. If it affects anyone, let us know and we'll give you bonus bandwidth to compensate.

----------------------

Ok - have you read and understood so far. Good. This is a full install of the new File Storage system, installed on one of our web servers and configured so that requests for DAV and FTP go directly to it, and requests through http://www.fastmail.fm/alpha/ for your domain go to it for the web interface.

Affected components of the web interface:
* detach interface in "MsgRead".
* "File Storage" attachment method in "Compose".
* The entire "Files" screen.

Some things that have changed:
* 'public' and 'private' are no longer special, and are no longer created by default for new users. You can map websites to any folder of your choice, at any depth.
* hence - there is no special 'top level' any more - new users or those who haven't used the files screen before will not get those folders created for them.
* the entire filestorage is one unified namespace:
/username.fastmail.fm/files/...
* you will see the above as {My Files} in the web interface, so
/brong.fastmail.fm/files/public through DAV and FTP is called {My Files}/public in the web interface for me. (this will allow support for sharing soon - it's already working, but some behaviours for when an account is deleted need to be ironed out!) Rob and I are sharing files read-only between ourselves already on the Alpha server

* The Websites (previouly Web Access) screen has been totally redesigned. Give it a look.
* Directories and files are presented together in the right of the screen rather than being separated, but Directories always sort to the top.
* Tricky things with zip files. You can attach an entire directory to an email message as a zip file. If you upload a zip file and also rename it, it will unzip the file into a directory of that name. You can download an entire directory as a zip file with a single click as well.

HOW TO USE

Log in to https://www.fastmail.fm/alpha/ with your entire email address (or just https://yourdomain/alpha/ with your username). You will still be using the same email system, the only thing changed is the associated file store.

Connect via WebDAV to https://dav.messagingengine.com/ (NOTE: I'm just using the mail.messagingengine.com cert here until I get the right ert installed, so you'll have to click OK to a warning - feel free to check that it is the mail.messagingengine.com cert you're getting!)

Connect via FTP to ftp.messagingengine.com (no SSL support here, use DAV if you want encryption, sorry)

In either case you can log in as username@domain or username.domain so I use brong.fastmail.fm as my login for FTP or DAV.

Explore, play, post here to let me know how you go. It's about midnight my time now, so I won't be around much longer watching - but I'll have a read of the error log in the morning, and I'll be looking for feedback here!

Bron ( *phew* - and won't I be glad to have a chance to move on to something else without feeling guilty I'm leaving you guys hanging any more! - my tasks backlog is getting a little long )

kander · 30th August 2005, 11:41 PM

Bron,

Lemme be the first to congratulate this on this feat.. haven't checked it out yet, but kudos to you for finally getting this thing out the door! I'm sure the rest of the community has similar feelings!

--K

brong · 30th August 2005, 11:42 PM

Oh I probably should just make it clear:

You can mix and match between using this interface and using the non-alpha interface at any time. Emails are still saved in the same place, and everything else should[tm] still be working on the Alpha server. Some of the FAQ links don't exist because they're broken/I haven't written that bit yet, but otherwise...

So feel free to switch back and forth, just don't rely on files uploaded to /alpha/ being there in the morning.

Bron.

brong · 30th August 2005, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kander
Bron,

Lemme be the first to congratulate this on this feat.. haven't checked it out yet, but kudos to you for finally getting this thing out the door! I'm sure the rest of the community has similar feelings!

--K

Thanks Kander - it's an enormous relief. I was hoping to do this yesterday, but got caught up trying to get the right versions of the XML library and a couple of other new tools onto a "production" server. It's a web server switched out from normal duties and dedicated entirely to this test!

Bron.

inVision · 31st August 2005, 12:09 AM

Wow! Looks very nice (features that is...) I still think FastMail really lacks a good look... (and that is possible witout using images), but that's another story...

Just one minor thing I found... the directory tree is bold... I'd like it the same as the mail folder tree (not bold).

brong · 31st August 2005, 12:34 AM

Specifically, it's bold if you have write access to the folder. It's not if you don't. You have write access to all your own stuff, but I see Rob's files non-bold.

Do you have an idea for another display techinique which might be good?

I'll have a think about it too.

Bron.

brong · 31st August 2005, 12:38 AM

By the way, in testing I found webdrive (http://www.southrivertech.com/products/webdrive/) to be quite a good WebDAV client for Windows. It's nicer to use than the Windows build-in DAV support (especially XP which is actually worse than 2000).

Konqueror people on Linux just type in webdav://dav.messagingengine.com/.

edit: or webdavs://dav.messagingengine.com/ for secure of course...

inVision · 31st August 2005, 12:47 AM

Is there also a modify right?

Prognathous · 31st August 2005, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by brong
By the way, in testing I found webdrive (http://www.southrivertech.com/products/webdrive/) to be quite a good WebDAV client for Windows. It's nicer to use than the Windows build-in DAV support (especially XP which is actually worse than 2000).

Novell NetDrive is also very nice. It comes with Novell Netware 6.0. but seems to be available for download from many colleges and universities (such as the one in the link). I'm not sure how legal it is for others to use, so if you're worried about that, check the EULA.

Anyway, it just help me map drive W:\ to fastmail, and so far, all is well.

Thanks for your hard work Bron!

Prog.

chrisjam · 31st August 2005, 07:34 AM

Quick test using Webdrive (my fave ftp / dav client)

Looks good.

The sharing thing looks cool, hope this is a feature (both for dav and imap) that gets some further attention in the future.

But for now - congrats brong

ivec · 31st August 2005, 09:00 AM

This is really great news! Many thanks Bron (and FM). Both ftp and dav work flawlessly so far.

hadaso · 31st August 2005, 09:43 AM

I posted a separate thread to discuss webdav clients for use with fastmail here.

brong · 31st August 2005, 09:49 AM

I've put in fixes for the following:

* Web Access changes were not committing to the database. They remained in the cache for a couple of hours then disappeared. Oops. I've fixed the faulty SQL.
* The initial website is now made 'Active' automatically.
* The error message if you try to download a file which you have already deleted is now nicer (yay for stale old screens)
* I've added a lot more debugging around the "Can't write to parent dir" error that some of you have been seeing, and hopefully I can track down what's causing it.

Bron.

**Sherry** · 31st August 2005, 04:21 PM

Bron,

I think I now have a big mess I need to get fixed. I decided to setup a DAV network in windows (WinME) without using a 3rd party software. It set up just fine and I could see the files in that accounts file storage. The problem is the network sets up a folder with my "real" account name.domain and it can't be renamed. With that account I only use an alias so I sure don't want that on my desktop. I deleted that DAVNetwork and reactivated an old Guest account to use. Logged into the alpha with it then setup the network on my pc using the Guest account full username and password. After it was setup up it still took me to my good accounts file storage. I searched my registry and found no references to it so my question is, do you have me permanently logged into the alpha with the first account I logged in with? If yes, can you release it so I can log in with the Guest account?
Do you need me to PM you the two account names?

Sherry

PS> When I get this straightened out I'll tell you of my confusion using the new UI that maybe you can help with.

beq · 31st August 2005, 05:37 PM

Thanks Bron, I can't wait to tell the others about this new capability for their FM Enhanced accounts...

30th August 2005, 11:12 PM	#1
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,380 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	Alpha DAV and FTP server running! Exciting news, the DAV and FTP service has entered alpha testing **WARNING WARNING WARNING This code works by taking a duplicate of your filestorage into the new structure. This is done once - the first time you log in. After that point your 'alpha' filestorage and production filestorage are completely separate entities. Changes to one will NOT be reflected in the other. Data stored in the Alpha system may be deleted at any time. When we go live we will repeat this copy from the current state of your filestorage one final time. Caveat the next: only a single 'website' is set up for you, and it points at your public folder regardless. This doesn't really matter because those sites are NOT** live anyway - all personal websites are still using the old system and pointing at your old filestorage. It's merely there so you can experiment with the interface. This alpha is enabled for ALL service levels, including Guest, though it's not much use to you since you only have 1Mb of storage quota! Quotas: use of this system will not affect your File Storage quota - as well as duplicating your files, you get a brand new quota (the same amount) with the new system. Changes to one will not affect the other. You can not add more than your quota in either the old or new system. Bandwidth: All use of the Alpha system is logged against you for bandwidth. Sorry about that, but since there are many different systems involved, it's really hard to separate out the bandwidth use. If it affects anyone, let us know and we'll give you bonus bandwidth to compensate. ---------------------- Ok - have you read and understood so far. Good. This is a full install of the new File Storage system, installed on one of our web servers and configured so that requests for DAV and FTP go directly to it, and requests through http://www.fastmail.fm/alpha/ for your domain go to it for the web interface. Affected components of the web interface: * detach interface in "MsgRead". * "File Storage" attachment method in "Compose". * The entire "Files" screen. Some things that have changed: * 'public' and 'private' are no longer special, and are no longer created by default for new users. You can map websites to any folder of your choice, at any depth. * hence - there is no special 'top level' any more - new users or those who haven't used the files screen before will not get those folders created for them. * the entire filestorage is one unified namespace: /username.fastmail.fm/files/... * you will see the above as {My Files} in the web interface, so /brong.fastmail.fm/files/public through DAV and FTP is called {My Files}/public in the web interface for me. (this will allow support for sharing soon - it's already working, but some behaviours for when an account is deleted need to be ironed out!) Rob and I are sharing files read-only between ourselves already on the Alpha server * The Websites (previouly Web Access) screen has been totally redesigned. Give it a look. * Directories and files are presented together in the right of the screen rather than being separated, but Directories always sort to the top. * Tricky things with zip files. You can attach an entire directory to an email message as a zip file. If you upload a zip file and also rename it, it will unzip the file into a directory of that name. You can download an entire directory as a zip file with a single click as well. HOW TO USE Log in to https://www.fastmail.fm/alpha/ with your entire email address (or just https://yourdomain/alpha/ with your username). You will still be using the same email system, the only thing changed is the associated file store. Connect via WebDAV to https://dav.messagingengine.com/ (NOTE: I'm just using the mail.messagingengine.com cert here until I get the right ert installed, so you'll have to click OK to a warning - feel free to check that it is the mail.messagingengine.com cert you're getting!) Connect via FTP to ftp.messagingengine.com (no SSL support here, use DAV if you want encryption, sorry) In either case you can log in as username@domain or username.domain so I use brong.fastmail.fm as my login for FTP or DAV. Explore, play, post here to let me know how you go. It's about midnight my time now, so I won't be around much longer watching - but I'll have a read of the error log in the morning, and I'll be looking for feedback here! Bron ( phew - and won't I be glad to have a chance to move on to something else without feeling guilty I'm leaving you guys hanging any more! - my tasks backlog is getting a little long )

31st August 2005, 12:38 AM	#7
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,380 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	Webdrive By the way, in testing I found webdrive (http://www.southrivertech.com/products/webdrive/) to be quite a good WebDAV client for Windows. It's nicer to use than the Windows build-in DAV support (especially XP which is actually worse than 2000). Konqueror people on Linux just type in webdav://dav.messagingengine.com/. edit: or webdavs://dav.messagingengine.com/ for secure of course...

31st August 2005, 09:49 AM	#13
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,380 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	UPDATE - some fixes added I've put in fixes for the following: * Web Access changes were not committing to the database. They remained in the cache for a couple of hours then disappeared. Oops. I've fixed the faulty SQL. * The initial website is now made 'Active' automatically. * The error message if you try to download a file which you have already deleted is now nicer (yay for stale old screens) * I've added a lot more debugging around the "Can't write to parent dir" error that some of you have been seeing, and hopefully I can track down what's causing it. Bron.

30th August 2005, 11:41 PM	#2
kander The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 4,110	Bron, Lemme be the first to congratulate this on this feat.. haven't checked it out yet, but kudos to you for finally getting this thing out the door! I'm sure the rest of the community has similar feelings! --K

30th August 2005, 11:42 PM	#3
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,380 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	Oh I probably should just make it clear: You can mix and match between using this interface and using the non-alpha interface at any time. Emails are still saved in the same place, and everything else should[tm] still be working on the Alpha server. Some of the FAQ links don't exist because they're broken/I haven't written that bit yet, but otherwise... So feel free to switch back and forth, just don't rely on files uploaded to /alpha/ being there in the morning. Bron.

31st August 2005, 12:09 AM	#5
inVision Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: fgfdg Posts: 158	Wow! Looks very nice (features that is...) I still think FastMail really lacks a good look... (and that is possible witout using images), but that's another story... Just one minor thing I found... the directory tree is bold... I'd like it the same as the mail folder tree (not bold).

31st August 2005, 12:34 AM	#6
brong The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 2,380 Representative of: Fastmail.fm	Specifically, it's bold if you have write access to the folder. It's not if you don't. You have write access to all your own stuff, but I see Rob's files non-bold. Do you have an idea for another display techinique which might be good? I'll have a think about it too. Bron.

31st August 2005, 12:47 AM	#8
inVision Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: fgfdg Posts: 158	Is there also a modify right?

31st August 2005, 07:34 AM	#10
chrisjam Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 104	Quick test using Webdrive (my fave ftp / dav client) Looks good. The sharing thing looks cool, hope this is a feature (both for dav and imap) that gets some further attention in the future. But for now - congrats brong

31st August 2005, 09:00 AM	#11
ivec Essential Contributor Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Belgrade, RS Posts: 307	This is really great news! Many thanks Bron (and FM). Both ftp and dav work flawlessly so far.

31st August 2005, 09:43 AM	#12
hadaso The "e" in e-mail Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Holon, Israel. Posts: 4,484	I posted a separate thread to discuss webdav clients for use with fastmail here.

31st August 2005, 04:21 PM	#14
Sherry Moderator Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: USA Posts: 8,686	Bron, I think I now have a big mess I need to get fixed. I decided to setup a DAV network in windows (WinME) without using a 3rd party software. It set up just fine and I could see the files in that accounts file storage. The problem is the network sets up a folder with my "real" account name.domain and it can't be renamed. With that account I only use an alias so I sure don't want that on my desktop. I deleted that DAVNetwork and reactivated an old Guest account to use. Logged into the alpha with it then setup the network on my pc using the Guest account full username and password. After it was setup up it still took me to my good accounts file storage. I searched my registry and found no references to it so my question is, do you have me permanently logged into the alpha with the first account I logged in with? If yes, can you release it so I can log in with the Guest account? Do you need me to PM you the two account names? Sherry PS> When I get this straightened out I'll tell you of my confusion using the new UI that maybe you can help with.

31st August 2005, 05:37 PM	#15
beq Cornerstone of the Community Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: USA Posts: 894	Thanks Bron, I can't wait to tell the others about this new capability for their FM Enhanced accounts...