Open WebDAV for NAS, and the iOS File App will have 4 more T’s in a row

Last month, my daughter-in-law was on a business trip and wanted to watch a movie that was stored on the NAS at home. WeChat couldn't transfer such a large file, and a network disk transfer required a membership. I remotely commanded her to make a few clicks in the "Files" app that comes with her iPhone, and the NAS at home was hung on the sidebar of her phone. She selected a movie and dragged it directly to the local computer, and a 2G original disk was downloaded in half a minute. She asked me what kind of black magic this was, and I said it wasn't black magic, it was WebDAV. Your NAS has been using this service for two years, but it has never been used.

What is WebDAV: SMB is a dialect, it is Mandarin

Let’s first break it down with SMB. When you "map a network drive" on your computer and drag files to your NAS, you most likely use SMB. This protocol is fast, but it basically only works in a local area network. It stops when you go out, and mobile phones support it. WebDAV is different. It is a file protocol that runs on HTTP. The path you use to browse the web is used to transfer files. There are only two benefits: Mobile phones naturally recognize it, and cross-network networks also naturally recognize it.

My own understanding is: SMB is the dialect within the community. No one outside this LAN can understand it. ； WebDAV is Mandarin and can be spoken anywhere with access to the Internet. Therefore, in any scenario where "mobile phones need to touch the NAS" or "people need to touch the NAS outside", WebDAV is almost always the first choice. I have written an article before about troubleshooting when the computer cannot connect to SMB sharing. Troubleshooting when the computer cannot connect to the NAS shared folder , that’s what’s said in the house ； This article talks about words that can be used when going out.

How to open it on Synology: Package Center in three minutes

Take my cousin’s second-hand Synology. Open DSM, search for WebDAV in the "Package Center", install the package called WebDAV Server, open it after installation, and there will be two check boxes.: 「Enable WebDAV" and "Enable WebDAV HTTPS". The port checked on the former is 5005 (HTTP), and the latter is 5006 (HTTPS). Once you install it, it's open. It's almost like installing an app. Some versions of DSM7 have moved this entry to the file service in the control panel. If you search in both places, there will always be one.

There is a pit here that is particularly easy to get mixed up in.: The two ports 5005, 5006 and the Synology management page are completely different. The Synology backend you usually type in your browser is 5000 (HTTPS is 5001), which controls the entire machine. ； 5005 is the door of the file protocol. Don't get confused and forward the wrong port on the router. On my first trip, I filled in 5000 in the router port forwarding box and forwarded it all.

There is another step that novices often miss: Simply opening the service is not enough, the account must have permissions. Don't use a FamilyBucket account like admin to connect, go to the control panel to create a separate account, and only give it read and write permissions to the one or two shared folders it needs. I have written an article before about the complete idea of ​​permissions. How to set permissions on NAS shared folders , the same logic applies to opening NAS accounts for family members at home. WebDAV exposes file entries. The narrower the account permissions are, the smaller the loss will be when something goes wrong.

How to drive on Feiniu: Conveniently, I also used the external network for free.

My main model is Feiniu, the N100 dual-disk machine. Feiniu's file service includes WebDAV. Just find the word WebDAV in the file service-related settings of the control panel and open it. The menu location is slightly different in different versions. If you can't find it, search for it in the settings. Don't look in the file management, it is not there.

The real beauty of Feiniu is on the external network. If Synology wants external mobile phones to connect to WebDAV, it must either have a public IP with DDNS, or go through the internal network penetration. Feiniu's own FN Connect is a free relay. You can register an FN ID and directly use the domain name of the FN ID to connect to WebDAV when you are out. No public IP or port forwarding is required, and the configuration amount is approximately zero. The speed is limited by the relay, so it is not fast to drag large files, but it is completely sufficient for low-traffic scenarios such as reading documents and synchronizing notes. When I set up remote access for my mother's old device, I also gave priority to this kind of official channel. How do you connect to your home NAS from outside? , the degree of worry is not of the same magnitude.

iPhone File App direct connection: 256G mobile phone turns into 4T in seconds

Back to the opening scene. The iOS "File" App supports WebDAV natively in the system, and the operation only requires four steps.: Open the File App, click "⋯" in the upper right corner, select "Connect to Server", and enter http://192.168.31.10:5005 (Replace with the IP and port of your NAS), select "Registered User" in the pop-up login box, and fill in the account password. After connecting, there will be an additional server in the sidebar. Click on it to see the shared directory of the NAS. Browse, download, upload, and create folders can all be operated directly on your mobile phone. My NAS photo library has more than 3 terabytes of storage capacity. If you mount a 256G iPhone on it, it is like carrying a 4 terabyte warehouse with you.

Two pitfalls mentioned in advance. First, don’t type the address as https to save trouble and go to 5006: Most of the NAS has self-signed certificates, and iOS will directly refuse the connection. The solution is to visit it first using Safari https://192.168.31.10:5006 , choose continue and trust when the certificate warning pops up, and then the file app can connect. If it's too troublesome, just use plaintext port 5005 in the intranet environment, since the traffic doesn't leave the house anyway. Second, the IP of the NAS needs to be nailed down. Once the DHCP lease is changed, the address will drift, and the connection stored in the mobile phone will become invalid. Assign a static IP to the NAS. I have learned this lesson a long time ago. Bind a static IP to the device , all paths saved on the mobile phone and computer will not be invalidated.

By the way, the electronic photo frame at home, which was made from an old tablet, also relies on this road.: For photo frame apps, use WebDAV or SMB to connect to the NAS photo library. Old tablet converted into electronic photo frame , the photos are updated on the NAS, and they are automatically displayed in the photo frame. There is no need to import the photos to the tablet.

Mobile note synchronization: Joplin connects to WebDAV, no need to recharge for one penny membership

The scenario where I really can't live without WebDAV is taking notes. Use Joplin to write things, it is free and open source, and multi-end synchronization relies on a WebDAV address. Configured in Joplin's synchronization settings: Select WebDAV as the synchronization target, fill in the NAS address as the URL and add a directory path specially created for notes, such as http://192.168.31.10:5005/notes , fill in the account password, click to check the configuration, and you are done. I have more than 900 notes with picture attachments totaling 1.4G. They are synchronized on mobile phones, computers, and iPads. The speed depends on Wi-Fi. In a gigabit environment at home, the synchronization is basically invisible.

Two must-do actions. First, create a separate directory for your notes. Don’t point the synchronization URL to the root of the shared folder. Otherwise, hundreds of sync lock files will be mixed with your movies and photos in the same directory, which will look terrible and cause trouble if you accidentally delete them. Second, the "Fail-safe" switch in Joplin settings must be turned on. It is to prevent disasters such as "the remote directory is empty, the client thinks you have deleted all the local data, and backhand clears the local data as well." Accidental deletion of synchronization tools will lead to contagion. I have stepped on this issue once. Accidental deletion of synchronization tools can be contagious , the feeling of watching the files become less and more, whoever has experienced it knows.

Go out and connect outside: Three roads, plus a red line

I have no problem connecting to the intranet IP at home, but how can I connect when I go out? The three roads are ranked according to the degree of difficulty: With a public IP , configure DDNS on the router to configure port forwarding, and connect with domain name. How to check if you have a public IP? If not, how to get it? I have written How to check if you have a public IP ； There is also a complete article on how to configure DDNS on the router. How to set up router DDNS ； No public IP , use networking tools such as Tailscale, connect your mobile phone and NAS to the same virtual network, and change the address connected in the file app to the virtual network IP. It is equivalent to opening a dedicated line for yourself. Router and VPN to go home remotely ； For Feiniu users , direct FN ID, as mentioned before, zero configuration.

There is only one red line: Don’t leak plaintext port 5005 to the public network . For WebDAV over HTTP, the account and password are in clear text, and this port is scanned too frequently. I previously looked through the router logs to find out why a device at home was uploading like crazy in the middle of the night. What are the signs that your router has been hacked? , if you read too many records of knocking on the door from various strange IPs, you will understand that there are no corners on the public Internet, only that it is not your turn yet. If you really want to expose it to the public network, use HTTPS, change the port to a high number, and make the password at least 16 characters. Don't skip any of these three things. The blackmail article mentioned harsher consequences. The more exposed the NAS is, the better it will be to sleep more soundly. Will NAS be targeted by ransomware? .

The order is also arranged for you.: First assign a static IP to the NAS, then open WebDAV and create a narrow-privilege account. Connect the mobile file app to try it out. Synchronize notes and confirm that Fail-safe is turned on. Leave it to the external network to figure out. In my home, the order was reversed. I first struggled with external network penetration for a whole night, and finally found that the only thing that stuck me was that the IP had drifted, and my work was in vain.