Dear Experts,
I do not have any prior knowledge in web server, linux, PHP, MySQL, etc. You can say I am not in IT field. I am signing up here because I would like to install OpenDocMan. However it does not have .exe file. I would like to learn how to goes about installing this document management system and also learn more on web server, mySQL, etc.
Thank you,
Ben
(other information and details relevant to your question)
Hi
Number 3 in the installation instructions will be a problem
because on this hosting there is an open_basedir restriction
and it is critical to the security of our servers and all websites running on it.
Part of this security is that PHP running on websites cannot access files outside of the htdocs directory of that domain name. This means it’s not possible for PHP websites to store data or code in directories that are not web accessible.
There may be some way to modify the code so that it works
but you should consult with the developer of that software .
Dear OxyDac,
Hope you can explain a bit.
I am aware that I am asking a technical question but due to my IT knowledge (I only use windows and no linux, PHP, etc experience), this is a bit hard for me to understand. I look at number 3, first question comes to my mind is what is this datadir? What it supposed to store as Opendocman states “it is not advisable to let public see this”. However, it did not state that this cannot be done but just not advisable. Yes I saw a htdoc folder in the so call file system under control panel. I actually FTP all the installation files into the htdoc folder already (after spending one full day reading on FTP). For my experience, normally i just double click the .exe file and it will do the installation. But this type of installation and setup is very new to me. Hope someone can guide me thru.
Sincerely,
Ben
Hey Ben,
.exe files are for windows, and no other system. Majority of hosting providers use Linux systems since it is easier to maintain and upgrade. (Also, .exe files are prohibited on this hosting due to the fact that we cannot scan them for viruses)
Make the “dataDir” folder for the files to be stored in that is NOT within the websites’ Document Root
The main thing is that you can only upload files within the document root. If you want to upload files outside you it, you will either have to buy expensive hosting, or host your own site locally.
Hi Greenreader9,
Are you saying that the Opendocman installation instruction is for linux system?
What is this Datadir folder?
Can I still install Opendocman if I create this datadir folder in the htdoc folder?
Sincerely,
Ben
Hi,
No. You can install OpenDocMan in any AMP (Apache + MySQL + PHP) environment.
According to their requirements list, you can even install it in IIS which is made by Microsoft for Windows only.
Let me give you an example.
Let’s say you install an AMP environment on Windows (like XAMPP, for example) to run OpenDocMan in your computer.
You will have a public folder, open for the Internet, where you place your site’s files and folders to make them available to the world. Let’s imagine that the folder is C:\xampp\htdocs\.
For security reasons, OpenDocMan saves the documents in a non-public folder. A folder that is not directly accessible from the user’s browsers. So, you will have your OpenDocMan site’s files in the folder C:\xampp\htdocs\ for your users to be able to navigate the site but the documents are “hidden” in, for example C:\xampp\documents\ which is not directly accessible from the outside.
When someone asks OpenDocMan for a document, if they’re allowed to see/download it, OpenDocMan grabs that file and makes it available for the user requesting it.
InfinityFree, however, has a security measure in place that disallows all programs/sites to access files outside the htdocs folder. For this reason, OpenDocMan wouldn’t work in InfinityFree, because it wouldn’t be able to grab the documents from outside this folder.
If, somehow, you could change the datadir (the folder where the documents are kept) path to be inside the htdocs folder, your problem would be solved. But, according to their installation instructions, it seems that OpenDocMan doesn’t allow that.
That’s why you won’t be able to have a working OpenDocMan in InfinityFree.
Like explained above, I believe it is the folder where OpenDocMan saves the documents that you upload to the website.
Like explained above, you can, if OpenDocMan allows you to. But I don’t think it will.
You can try or even ask their support team/comunity, though.
Hi Alexvf,
Based on what you mentioned, this infinityfree does not seems to be suitable for document management system. Since doc mgt system is normally for company, it make sense to store company document in a non-public folder where only company can access. Am I right? If I am going to upload all company documents into infinityfree\htdoc to which is the only folder I am allowed, public can access this. Am I right?
Hopefully you can confirm my understanding to your saying.
Thank you very much.
Regards,
Ben
Exactly.
If you want your documents to be accessed only by a few people, the best way to ensure it is not placing them in a publicly accessible directory.
There are ways to secure that access, even in publicly accessible folders, but can be bypassed by exploits in the software’s code. That’s why OpenDocMan uses a directory outside the public one. It’s more safe.
If you’re dealing with your company’s documents, I would avoid hosting them in a free hosting service.
Hi Alexvf,
Seems like you are very knowledgeable or at least 100x better than me. Even though OpenDocMan has an installation guide which has shown to me, I just can’t make sense out of it due to zero knowledge in Linux or I should say I never install programs to linux. So how can I install this OpenDocMan? I try to find a few and it seems like Opendocman is free and sounds good. What are the things I need to learn in order to make sense of the installation guide?
Sorry if it sounds funny to you but I am a non-IT professional.
Sincerely,
Ben
We would never make fun of someone who doesn’t have as much knowledge as we do, we still try our best to help out. I’m pretty sure that you can go on cPanel and search for “Directory Privacy” and there you can secure a folder with a username and password.
You will probably have to pay for hosting, as most free hosts run using a system similar to ours. Just run a google search for “ opendocman hosting”.
Not much, just that you have to find a host that allows file saving outside the /htdocs folder.
Dear YT_Xaos,
Yes I found the Directory Privacy and the system prompts me to enter the folder for password protection, i.e. The default path stated by system is http://aligent-spring.infinityfreeapp.com/
But when I type in http://aligent-spring.infinityfreeapp.com/htdocs, system states no such file can be found. May I know how do I check the directory path for any folder? In windows, it is easy. Just need to right click the file and it will show the path e.g. c:\folder\filename
Simply saying: How do I password protect this htdocs folder?
Sincerely,
Ben
I am not sure if you can protect that folder, but try leaving the input field blank (as typing “/htdocs” makes it try and find yoursite.com/htdocs. If it does not let you do that, create a new folder, name it whatever, and move your files there. You can always setup a 301 redirect for the site root to that new folder if you want.
OpenDocMan is available through Softaculous. So you could just find in in the Softaculous Apps Installer in the control panel and install it from there.
Hi Greenreader9,
Super Thanks. Will try that out after working.
Sincerely,
Ben
Hi YT_Xaos,
Super Thanks. Will try that out as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Ben
Dear Admin,
OK sure. I just want to try the difficult way as a way of learning SQL and normal installation process. But your given answer is like an insurance. It means OpenDocMan confirm can be installed in here.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Ben Lee
Hi Admin,
I follow your instruction and found this (as attached). However, may I know whether this will be installed in htdocs folder and all my company documents that upload to it is viewable by the public?
Also if I follow the long way of installing according to the opendocman instructions, can I install in another folder and use 301 to reroute the path as suggested by Greenreader9?
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Ben Lee
Because of the way the software is designed, it probably won’t make the files public, but have them protected in some way. I would try installing it and uploading a few fake documents to see how it works. I believe softacoulous has access outside of the /htdocs folder, but I am unsure of it will allow installed applications to access it. I would give downloading it a shot.
I would think that 301 would redirect people even if they were actually allowed to see the document.
If you don’t want to bother with OpenDocMan, you can use the directory privacy feature in the control panel to password protect a folder or folders. This way is super secure because of the say .htaccess is protected here.
Thanks!
