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HOWTO
FILESYSTEM
WEBDAV ON APACHE

Published: 20201003

Tested on:
* Ubuntu Server 20.04.1 on a VMware VM.
* Ubuntu for IoT 20.04.1 arm64 was tested on a RPi 4B 4G.

Just small notes on how to install WebDAV on Apache 2.4.
If you wonder what WebDAV is... It's like a samba share but from a webserver.

INDEX
01. Requirements
02. Installing the WebDAV server
03. Mounting a WebDAV filesystem on Linux
04. Mounting a WebDAV filesystem on Windows 10
05. Other ways of using WebDAV

Requirements

If you want all of this to be encrypted, you have to do this on https.
This HOWTO assumes you know how to setup https on Apache.
It also assumes you have setup an Apache Virtual Host called test.example.com.

Installing the WebDAV server

Create a dir for your webdav share:

$ sudo mkdir -p /home/webdav/share1
$ sudo chown www-data /home/webdav/share1
$ sudo chgrp www-data /home/webdav/share1
$ sudo chmod 0700 /home/webdav/share1

If you choose another user for the dir, you need to make sure that the apache service can both read and write to this dir.

Edit your virtual host configuration:

$ sudo vi /etc/apache2/sites-available/test.example.com-ssl.conf

Add the lines between the two comments:

<VirtualHost *:443>
  ServerAdmin   webmaster@example.com
  DocumentRoot  /home/wwws/test.example.com
  ServerName    test.example.com
     
  SSLEngine on
  SSLProtocol all -SSLv2 -SSLv3 -TLSv1 -TLSv1.1
  SSLCertificateFile      /etc/letsencrypt/live/test.example.com/cert.pem
  SSLCertificateKeyFile   /etc/letsencrypt/live/test.example.com/privkey.pem
  SSLCACertificateFile    /etc/letsencrypt/live/test.example.com/fullchain.pem
     
  CustomLog     /var/log/apache2/test.example.com-ssl-access.log combined
  ErrorLog      /var/log/apache2/test.example.com-ssl-error.log
  <Directory    /home/wwws/test.example.com>
    AllowOverride all
    Require all granted
  </Directory>
     
  # WebDAV configuration starts here
  Alias /webdav-share1 /home/webdav/share1
  <Location /webdav-share1>
    DAV on
    SSLRequireSSL
    Options None
    AuthType Basic
    AuthName WebDAV
    AuthUserFile /home/webdav/share1-htpasswd
    <RequireAny>
      Require method GET POST OPTIONS
      Require valid-user
    </RequireAny>
  </Location>
  # WebDAV configuration ends here
     
</VirtualHost>

Create the htpasswd file by adding its first user:

$ sudo htpasswd -c /home/webdav/share1-htpasswd alice
New password:
Re-type new password:
Adding password for user alice
$

Activate the WebDAV Apache modules:

$ sudo a2enmod dav*
Enabling module dav.
Considering dependency dav for dav_fs:
Module dav already enabled
Enabling module dav_fs.
Enabling module dav_lock.
To activate the new configuration, you need to run:
  systemctl restart apache2
$ sudo systemctl restart apache2
$

Done!

Mounting a WebDAV filesystem on Linux

You need to specify which user will "own" the mounted dir.
If you don't know your UID and GID you can use this command:

$ id
uid=1000(ubuntu) gid=1000(ubuntu) groups=1000(ubuntu)
$

How to mount WebDAV:

$ sudo apt install davfs2
$ sudo mkdir /mnt/webdav-dir1
$ sudo mount -t davfs -o uid=1000,gid=1000 https://test.example.com/weddav-share1 /mnt/webdav-dir1
Please enter the username to authenticate with server
https://test.example.com/webdav-share1 or hit enter for none.
  Username: alice
Please enter the password to authenticate user alice with server
https://test.example.com/webdav-share1 or hit enter for none.
  Password:
$

How to unmount:

$ sudo umount /mnt/webdav-dir1

WARNING For some odd reason, Ubuntu 20.04 can't unmount WebDAV, the process segfaults. Basically you need to restart your machine to unmount. The bug is tracked here.

It works fine on Raspberry Pi OS, so the bug is Ubuntu specific. (Maybe even just Ubuntu 20.04 specific.)

Mounting a WebDAV filesystem on Windows 10
- Open up File Explorer
- Right-click "This PC"
- Left-click "Add a network location"
- You'll now get a popup window, press "Next"
- The option "Choose a custom network location" should be marked, press "Next".
- In the empty file dunder "Internet or network address:" type in: https://test.example.com/webdav-share1/ and then press "Next"
- Give your network location (share) a name, then press "Next"
- You will now get a gray popup window called "Windows Security", here you enter the username and password that you typed into the htpasswd file. If you check the box "Remember my credentials", your WebDAV credentials will be stored on your windows machine.
- You'll now be back to your previous popup, where you gave the share a name. Press "Next"
- You'll now get a last message saying that you've succeeded.
- Press "Finish".
Your WebDAV share is now usable.

Next time you boot Windows 10, the share name will be visible, but it will not be usable. This is due to how Windows establishes WebDAV connections. You have to delete the share and mount it again, or use some kind of WebDAV client. If you saved the credentials, at least you wont have to enter them again.

If you stored the credentials and need to delete them, then search (in the Windows 10 search bar) for "Manage Windows Credentials". Here you can delete the stored credentials. After that you need to reboot Windows for the changes to take effect. Because... Windows.

Other ways of using WebDAV

I've successfully tested this WebDAV setup with:
- FolderSync Pro on Android
- Joplin on Android
- Documents by Readdle on iOS
- floccus
It likely work with a thousand apps more, but I think you get the idea...
You can replace "cloud storage" with hosting your online data yourself.