Share folders on an iShare Windows Server

Owned by Simon Chapman
Last updated: 10 Aug, 2017 by Kim Stimpson

Shared folders provide a convenient way to enable access to files and folders on a Windows Server across a network.

 

While shared folders is a standard Windows feature, they should be created with caution.
The process of sharing an existing folder can lead to Windows removing permissions from the folder and it's child folders and files. This can stop applications such as iShare and MapServer accessing directories and files they require to function.

Step-by-step guide

  1. When feasible, consider creating a new folder to share. This should sit outside of the current directories that may already have explicit permissions applied (such as permissions for iShare and MapServer). Then copy the data you wish to share in to this new folder.

  2. When sharing an existing folder that contains files used by iShare or one of it's components, first check and make note of the identities that the iShare and MapServer Application Pools are running as in IIS, also make note of the explicit permissions set on the folder in question.
     
  3. Once a share has been created, recycle the Application Pools and test that iShare is working as expected.
     
  4. Generally issues arise when either the permissions for the identities that the Application Pools are running as are removed, or read permissions for the local Users group are removed. Should this be the case, reinstating the missing permissions on the folder and it's children normally resolves the issue.

 Note: In order to test changes to permissions you may need to refresh the relevant Application Pools in IIS.