1. Introduction

The Objective of this document is to setup a Apache based WebDAV server that can authenticate against a LDAP server. You will learn how to install, configure, run, maintain and fine-tune a Apache-based WebDAV server. This document will provide the basic groundwork for setting up a WebDAV server. It will also provide information on fine tuning and maintaining the server.

Note: If you encounter any problems installing Apache or any of the modules please feel free to contact me.

WebDAV Support and Discussion Forum

This document is not a HOWTO on setting up LDAP server. For setting up a LDAP server please visit http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/LDAP-HOWTO-1.html

1.1. Copyright and License

This document is Copyright 2001 by Saqib Ali. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license is available at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

1.2. What is WebDAV

WebDAV stands for Web enabled Distributed Authoring and Versioning. It provides a collaborative environment for users to edit/manage files on web-servers. Essentially DAV is an extension to the http protocol.

1.3. How does WebDAV work?

text goes here...

1.4. What do we need?

The tools needed to achieve this objective are:

NOTE: All of these packages are free and are available for download on the net.

We will compile all the above mentioned packages to produce binaries for the Web Server. The WebDAV and LDAP module will be compiled statically into Apache. Static compilation results in faster execution times. Apache was chosen, because it is the most versatile web server ever to exist. Market Shares for Top Web Servers shows that Apache has the largest web server market share.

Apache is also being used by:

1.5. Assumptions

This document assumes that you have the following already installed on your system.

  1. gzip or gunzip - available from http://www.gnu.org

  2. gcc and GNU make - available from http://www.gnu.org

The document also assumes there is a LDAP server installed elsewhere which will be used for the authentication.

1.6. Opinions and Suggestions

If you have any questions about the information available on this document, please contact me on the following email address:

If you have commentaries and/or suggestions, please let me know as well!