Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-15 Thread Christopher Schultz
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Dean,

On 9/14/2011 1:14 PM, Dean Hoover wrote:
> I am running Tomcat 5.5 in support of a internal-use only JSPWiki
> site.

Time to upgrade. It's 7.0.21 time.

> To consolidate, I decided to move our internal calendars (using the
> iCal .ics extension) from our very old Win2k server to the root
> directory of Tomcat as well.
> 
> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
> calendar entries) after the move.  We can read them just fine.

You should look at your old configuration to see what was enabling the
writes to those files. I suspect that WebDAV is involved. Tomcat does
support WebDAV:
http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/api/org/apache/catalina/servlets/WebdavServlet.html


> I figure there is an issue of permissions, and have Googled many
> sites that tell me to change the catalina.policy file and add the
> ability for that directory to have read and write access.  I've
> even used the AllPermissions setting, but with no success.

catalina.policy is only for use with a SecurityManager.

You may still have a file and/or directory permissions problem.

Something I would also caution you about: if you undeploy your webapp,
Tomcat will delete all the files in the deployment directory, probably
including your calendar files. So maybe you want to put those
somewhere else when you configure WebDAV.

- -chris
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Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-15 Thread André Warnier

I forgot to add :
Since previously the application was running on a Win2K server, it may be that this Win2K 
server just "shared" (windows-like) the directory where the .ics files were located, and 
this being in a local LAN, that the client were just writing the files there via a Windows 
network file mechanism (and nothing to do with HTTP thus).

That sounds quite unsafe and limited, but in a small intranet may be acceptable.
If such was the case (and again the client setup should contain a hint), then maybe all 
that's missing is to "share" the new directory under Tomcat where you put the files.
Tomcat won't be involved in the writing part, so it should not stand in the way, at least 
as long as when a client writes there, the permissions don't prevent Tomcat from reading 
the files (for the "download" part).


Don't take this as a recommendation of how to do it.

André Warnier wrote:

Right.
There should be some setting/parameter corresponding to the Thunderbird 
plugin, which indicates /how/ it is trying to write files to the server.

In Options..Advanced..Config Editor ?
I find some traces there in my Thunderbird setup, of parameters starting 
with "SyncKolab".. (That may be something else though)


The point which several people were trying to make here is :
Any "sane" webserver setup will never allow a user to /upload/ files to 
the server, just by specifying their URL. That is because it is 
potentially a very big security hole.
(One generally does not want the first miscreant around to deface one's 
server by loading his own pages or applications)


It is /possible/ to allow this (and there are even special HTTP commands 
to do that), but you need to add something to the server, in terms of 
additional modules to handle such uploads, and a special (and careful) 
configuration to go with it.
It is not sufficient to just put the files somewhere where they can be 
seen and retrieved by a browser, and make them writeable.  Thankfully.
(Note that all this is not specific to Tomcat. Any reasonable webserver 
is like that.)



One such fairly standard server add-on, in the case of Tomcat, is the 
DAV application. It is available on the Tomcat website, but not as part 
of the standard download (I think), and it is certainly not installed by 
default.


It is not the only way, and maybe this particular plugin expects the 
webserver to run an application which comes along with the plugin.  But 
again, you'd need to install it on the server, it will not be there by 
default.


In any case, one would expect, either in the plugin documentation or in 
the parameters somwhere on the client, to find a hint as to how the file 
upload to the server is supposed to happen.



Dean Hoover wrote:

Fair enough, Chuck.

I don't know exactly what writes the file, but since we are using the
Lightning add-on from Thunderbird, I would assume that Lightning is doing
the work.

As far as how it used to work, everyone would read from the .ics 
calendar on
the old server from Lightning via a web link.  Those with the proper 
access

were able to write to it for adding/updating/deleting calendar entries.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the feedback.  It seems that this is a
little more involved than I thought, which is fine.  I see there are
open-source alternatives, so I will pursue those.

It's all good.  Thanks again.

Dean




On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 9:47 AM, Caldarale, Charles R <
chuck.caldar...@unisys.com> wrote:


From: Dean Hoover [mailto:kb7...@gmail.com]
Subject: Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.
But what _writes_ the files?  Unless you have your own servlet to do 
this,
or use DAV or a similar file upload mechanism, nothing cause an 
update of

data on the server.


It was running on an old Win2k server using an even
older Apache web service before.

Perhaps if you explained more fully how the prior mechanism worked, we
could suggest an alternative for use with Tomcat.  So far, we've 
really got

nothing to go on.

 - Chuck


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Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-15 Thread André Warnier

Right.
There should be some setting/parameter corresponding to the Thunderbird plugin, which 
indicates /how/ it is trying to write files to the server.

In Options..Advanced..Config Editor ?
I find some traces there in my Thunderbird setup, of parameters starting with 
"SyncKolab".. (That may be something else though)


The point which several people were trying to make here is :
Any "sane" webserver setup will never allow a user to /upload/ files to the server, just 
by specifying their URL. That is because it is potentially a very big security hole.
(One generally does not want the first miscreant around to deface one's server by loading 
his own pages or applications)


It is /possible/ to allow this (and there are even special HTTP commands to do that), but 
you need to add something to the server, in terms of additional modules to handle such 
uploads, and a special (and careful) configuration to go with it.
It is not sufficient to just put the files somewhere where they can be seen and retrieved 
by a browser, and make them writeable.  Thankfully.

(Note that all this is not specific to Tomcat. Any reasonable webserver is like 
that.)


One such fairly standard server add-on, in the case of Tomcat, is the DAV application. It 
is available on the Tomcat website, but not as part of the standard download (I think), 
and it is certainly not installed by default.


It is not the only way, and maybe this particular plugin expects the webserver to run an 
application which comes along with the plugin.  But again, you'd need to install it on the 
server, it will not be there by default.


In any case, one would expect, either in the plugin documentation or in the parameters 
somwhere on the client, to find a hint as to how the file upload to the server is supposed 
to happen.



Dean Hoover wrote:

Fair enough, Chuck.

I don't know exactly what writes the file, but since we are using the
Lightning add-on from Thunderbird, I would assume that Lightning is doing
the work.

As far as how it used to work, everyone would read from the .ics calendar on
the old server from Lightning via a web link.  Those with the proper access
were able to write to it for adding/updating/deleting calendar entries.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the feedback.  It seems that this is a
little more involved than I thought, which is fine.  I see there are
open-source alternatives, so I will pursue those.

It's all good.  Thanks again.

Dean




On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 9:47 AM, Caldarale, Charles R <
chuck.caldar...@unisys.com> wrote:


From: Dean Hoover [mailto:kb7...@gmail.com]
Subject: Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.

But what _writes_ the files?  Unless you have your own servlet to do this,
or use DAV or a similar file upload mechanism, nothing cause an update of
data on the server.


It was running on an old Win2k server using an even
older Apache web service before.

Perhaps if you explained more fully how the prior mechanism worked, we
could suggest an alternative for use with Tomcat.  So far, we've really got
nothing to go on.

 - Chuck


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Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-15 Thread Dean Hoover
Fair enough, Chuck.

I don't know exactly what writes the file, but since we are using the
Lightning add-on from Thunderbird, I would assume that Lightning is doing
the work.

As far as how it used to work, everyone would read from the .ics calendar on
the old server from Lightning via a web link.  Those with the proper access
were able to write to it for adding/updating/deleting calendar entries.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the feedback.  It seems that this is a
little more involved than I thought, which is fine.  I see there are
open-source alternatives, so I will pursue those.

It's all good.  Thanks again.

Dean




On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 9:47 AM, Caldarale, Charles R <
chuck.caldar...@unisys.com> wrote:

> > From: Dean Hoover [mailto:kb7...@gmail.com]
> > Subject: Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5
>
> > We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.
>
> But what _writes_ the files?  Unless you have your own servlet to do this,
> or use DAV or a similar file upload mechanism, nothing cause an update of
> data on the server.
>
> > It was running on an old Win2k server using an even
> > older Apache web service before.
>
> Perhaps if you explained more fully how the prior mechanism worked, we
> could suggest an alternative for use with Tomcat.  So far, we've really got
> nothing to go on.
>
>  - Chuck
>
>
> THIS COMMUNICATION MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL AND/OR OTHERWISE PROPRIETARY
> MATERIAL and is thus for use only by the intended recipient. If you received
> this in error, please contact the sender and delete the e-mail and its
> attachments from all computers.
>
>
> -
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscr...@tomcat.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: users-h...@tomcat.apache.org
>
>


RE: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-15 Thread Caldarale, Charles R
> From: Dean Hoover [mailto:kb7...@gmail.com] 
> Subject: Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

> We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.

But what _writes_ the files?  Unless you have your own servlet to do this, or 
use DAV or a similar file upload mechanism, nothing cause an update of data on 
the server.

> It was running on an old Win2k server using an even 
> older Apache web service before.

Perhaps if you explained more fully how the prior mechanism worked, we could 
suggest an alternative for use with Tomcat.  So far, we've really got nothing 
to go on.

 - Chuck


THIS COMMUNICATION MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL AND/OR OTHERWISE PROPRIETARY 
MATERIAL and is thus for use only by the intended recipient. If you received 
this in error, please contact the sender and delete the e-mail and its 
attachments from all computers.


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Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-15 Thread Dean Hoover
We are not using DAV, just simple iCalendar (.ics) files.

It was running on an old Win2k server using an even older Apache web service
before.  Was just hoping to be able to move the files over and allow write
permissions in Tomcat.

If that's not possible, I will pursue another option to make it work.
 Thanks everyone for your comments.

Dean


On Thu, Sep 15, 2011 at 8:05 AM, Pid  wrote:

> On 15/09/2011 13:28, André Warnier wrote:
> > Pid wrote:
> >> On 15/09/2011 02:08, Dean Hoover wrote:
> >>> We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client).  The
> >>> error we
> >>> get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to
> >>> permissions to
> >>> the .ics file.
> >>>
> >>> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid  wrote:
> >>>
>  On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
> > The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
>  calendar
> > entries) after the move.
>  How are you trying to update them?
> >>
> >> So you are trying to execute a write operation on the file over HTTP?
> >> It is not possible to simply write to files published on web servers
> >> over HTTP, as if they are on an accessible file system.
> >
> > Unless that thing uses DAV, and the server is configured to support it
> > of course. I have a vague recollection that this is what this plugin
> > expects.
>
> Correct, but then that is not a 'simple' write to the file...
> The OP hasn't mentioned DAV yet.
>
>
> p
>
>


Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-15 Thread Pid
On 15/09/2011 13:28, André Warnier wrote:
> Pid wrote:
>> On 15/09/2011 02:08, Dean Hoover wrote:
>>> We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client).  The
>>> error we
>>> get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to
>>> permissions to
>>> the .ics file.
>>>
>>> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid  wrote:
>>>
 On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
 calendar
> entries) after the move.
 How are you trying to update them?
>>
>> So you are trying to execute a write operation on the file over HTTP?
>> It is not possible to simply write to files published on web servers
>> over HTTP, as if they are on an accessible file system.
> 
> Unless that thing uses DAV, and the server is configured to support it
> of course. I have a vague recollection that this is what this plugin
> expects.

Correct, but then that is not a 'simple' write to the file...
The OP hasn't mentioned DAV yet.


p



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Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-15 Thread André Warnier

Pid wrote:

On 15/09/2011 02:08, Dean Hoover wrote:

We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client).  The error we
get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to permissions to
the .ics file.

On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid  wrote:


On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:

The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove

calendar

entries) after the move.

How are you trying to update them?


So you are trying to execute a write operation on the file over HTTP?
It is not possible to simply write to files published on web servers
over HTTP, as if they are on an accessible file system.


Unless that thing uses DAV, and the server is configured to support it of course. I have a 
vague recollection that this is what this plugin expects.




Is there an access log configured, and if so, what are the log lines
that show access attempts to those files?


p





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Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-15 Thread Pid
On 15/09/2011 02:08, Dean Hoover wrote:
> We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client).  The error we
> get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to permissions to
> the .ics file.
> 
> On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid  wrote:
> 
>> On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
>>> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
>> calendar
>>> entries) after the move.
>>
>> How are you trying to update them?

So you are trying to execute a write operation on the file over HTTP?
It is not possible to simply write to files published on web servers
over HTTP, as if they are on an accessible file system.

Is there an access log configured, and if so, what are the log lines
that show access attempts to those files?


p




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Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-14 Thread Dean Hoover
We're using Lightning (add-on from Thunderbird email client).  The error we
get is MODIFICATION_FAILED, which from some review points to permissions to
the .ics file.

On Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 4:34 PM, Pid  wrote:

> On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
> > The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove
> calendar
> > entries) after the move.
>
> How are you trying to update them?
>
>
> p
>
>


Re: Using calendar .ics files over Tomcat 5.5

2011-09-14 Thread Pid
On 14/09/2011 18:14, Dean Hoover wrote:
> The problem I am having is that we are unable to modify (add/remove calendar
> entries) after the move.

How are you trying to update them?


p



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