Maintenance

Webmin GUI (On-Premise)

Webmin GUI

For an on-premise installation of FileWave the Webmin GUI can help you set some options on the centOS operating system. Note that this does not exist for servers hosted by FileWave. It’s especially important to set the root password as seen below.

For Webmin on Debian know that you will need to go to Webmin -> Webmin Configuration -> Operating System and Environment and make sure it's set to Debian 12.4 (Or whatever version we are at when you set up your system. You can see this with cat /etc/debian_version on the server.

  1. At the login screen note the URL to remotely manage the server, ex: https://myorg.filwave.net:10000

    • If there is no IP address specified because DHCP is not available on the subnet for your FileWave Linux Appliance, login with the username "root" with password "filewave".

    • Run "nmtui" at the command prompt to launch the Network Manager Text UI so you can configure the networking for the FileWave VM appliance. You'll need to reload the IP stack with "service network restart". Skip the network configuration steps later in the Webmin.

  2. Browse to this URL and log in with username "root" and password "filewave". We will change this password later.

  3. Browse to Hardware > System Time on the left, pick the Change timezone tab on the right, pick your time zone and click Save. North American time zones all start with "America".

  4. Switch to the the Time server sync tab, enter "pool.ntp.org" in the Timeserver hostnames or addresses field, set Synchronize on schedule? to "Yes, at times below", and click the Sync and Apply button.

  5. Go to System > Change Passwords on the left and select the "root" account on the right from the list of usernames. Enter a new root password, confirm it, and click Change. Note that this will change the default password for the root account used to log into the server from "filewave" to whatever you choose so enter a secure password that is easy for you to remember.

  6. Choose Networking > Network Configuration on the left, and Network Interfaces on the right. Click the blue link labeled "ens160" or "ens32" for the Ethernet adapter. Change the IPv4 address settings to "Static configuration", enter a static IP, enter a subnet mask, and click Save and Apply at the bottom_._

  7. You will no longer be able to access the Webmin UI for the FileWave servers via its old DHCP IP address. Change the address in your browser's address bar to use the new static IP address for the FileWave server that you configured in the previous step. Browse to Networking > Network Configuration on the left, and Hostname and DNS Client on the right. Enter the IP address for your DNS server and click Save.

  8. Select Networking > Network Configuration on the left, and Routing and Gateways on the right. Pick "ens160" or "ens32" from the Default routes pull-down, enter the default gateway address for the subnet the FileWave server is hosted on, and click Save.

  9. Go to S_ystem > Bootup and Shutdown_ on the left, scroll to the bottom on the right, and click the Reboot System button. When asked to confirm if you want to reboot the system with "shutdown -r now" click the Reboot System button again.

FWServerTZ.png

ntp_server.png

FWServerPwd.png

FWServerStaticIP.png

FWServerDNS.png

FWServerDefaultGateway.png

FWServerReboot.png

Webmin GUI - Changing the root password (On-Premise)

What

Webmin is included in the FileWave appliances to allow you to easily configure the system. This is only relevant if you run a FileWave server yourself on-premise. For customers who have their server hosted by FileWave you do not need to worry about these steps.

When/Why

The first important thing is to not allow any traffic to TCP 10000 on your server except from networks you will connect to it from. There is no reason to expose this port to the Internet. The second item is to be sure you change the root password on your appliance from the default. This is mentioned in FileWave Server Setup but this step is very important.

How

  1. At the login screen note the URL to remotely manage the server, ex: https://myorg.filwave.net:10000

    • If there is no IP address specified because DHCP is not available on the subnet for your FileWave Linux Appliance, log in with the username "root" with the password "filewave".

    • Run "nmtui" at the command prompt to launch the Network Manager Text UI so you can configure the networking for the FileWave VM appliance. You'll need to reload the IP stack with "service network restart". Skip the network configuration steps later in the Webmin.

  2. Browse to this URL and log in with username "root" and password "filewave".

  3. Go to System > Change Passwords on the left and select the "root" account on the right from the list of usernames. Enter a new root password, confirm it, and click Change. Note that this will change the default password for the root account used to log into the server from "filewave" to whatever you choose so enter a secure password that is easy for you to remember, but it should be a long and complex password or you should take steps to configure SSH to only allow connections with a certificate. The FileWave server is a full Linux OS and can be managed like any other.

Expanding the Disk on a FileWave Appliance - Debian

This article provides steps for extending the root partition residing in a logical volume created with Logical Volume Manager (LVM) in a virtual machine running on Debian.

Step-by-step guide for Debian

The commands to expand the disk on Debian are as follows. Perform the commands as root or use sudo before each command and know that these are meant for the FileWave Appliance images. If you use your own Debian install you can still expand your partitions but the names of the disks and partitions will differ so you'll need to adjust the commands used. 

# Make sure the tools are present
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y cloud-guest-utils

# Extend the partitions
sudo growpart /dev/sda 2 || true

# Older Appliances will use the next 2 lines
# If you get an error for them then you should
# try the next 2 lines.
sudo growpart /dev/sda 5 || true
sudo pvresize /dev/sda5

# Newer Appliances will use the next 2 lines
# Do these if the prior 2 lines showed an error
# There is no harm in running the prior lines and these
sudo growpart /dev/sda 3 || true
sudo pvresize /dev/sda3

# Next lines are for all appliances
sudo lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/mapper/filewave--vg-root
sudo resize2fs /dev/mapper/filewave--vg-root
sudo reboot

Store the FileWave Server/Booster Data on a Separate Volume

Requirements

Summary

Many customers have asked us if there's a way to store their Server's data on a non-startup volume or on network shares.

Here you will find instructions for linking the Server's Data Folder to another location on macOS/Linux. You may follow these same steps for the Booster, accounting for small differences in folder names.

Having DB folder on a different Volume(symlink) slows the admin performance, please do not move the Database.

Before making any changes, please ensure you have a backup. If you're using a VM, please stop services and take a snapshot of the VM. If you're not able to take a snapshot, use the Backup script. You can find more information, and the script, here: Automated Backup

macOS/Linux

Step One: Stop the FileWave Server

Whenever doing any manipulation of the Server's Data Folder, you will need to stop FileWave's services first. You can do this by using the 'fwcontrol' command-line tool.

Command:
sudo fwcontrol server stop

Step Two: Move your Data Folder to another Volume

Move the Data Folder to your destination/mount point:

Command
sudo mv /usr/local/filewave/fwxserver/Data\ Folder /Path/to/Destination/

For those doing this with a Booster, the Booster data folder is in /var/FileWave/FWBooster.

Booster data folder on 15.4.2+ is in /var/FWBooster.

Step Three: Create a link to your new data folder

Here we're creating a symlink to the recently moved Data Folder back to the original location. The FileWave processes will still look at the original location for the Data Folder and the symlink will redirect it to the new location.

sudo ln -s /Path/To/Destination/Data\ Folder /usr/local/filewave/fwxserver/

Step Four: Check the Link

cd /usr/local/filewave/fwxserver

Then view details about that destination

ls -lha

You should see the Data Folder symlink, which is the Data Folder directory with an arrow pointing to the 'real' location

For example:

data-seperate-share.png

Step Five: Start the Server

Restart FileWave Services

sudo fwcontrol server start

Now you're all set!

Windows Booster

Step One: Stop the Booster Process

Go to Control Panels -> Administrative Tools -> Services. Find the FileWave services and stop all of them.

Step Two: Move the Data Folder

The Booster’s Data Folder is in the following location:

C:\ProgramData\FileWave\FWBooster\Data Folder

Move this folder to the partition that you'd like to store the folder (eg: D: ). Rename/remove the original.

Step Three: Create a Junction

Similar to Mac OS, you can create a junction from the Command Prompt using the "mklink" command.

If you are creating a link to a local volume follow these steps:

  1. Run your Command Prompt as Administrator (right-click -> run as Administrator)

  2. In your command prompt type: 


    mklink /j "C:\ProgramData\FileWave\FWBooster\Data Folder" "D:\YOUR_PATH\FWBooster\Data Folder" 
  3. Test your Junction by double-clicking the link in "C:\ProgramData\FileWave\FWBooster\Data Folder " and the target folder should be opened.

It is not recommended to create a link to a folder on a network-based share.

Step Four: Start the Server

Go back to the Services panel and start the Booster services back up. You’re all set!

Upgrading to FileWave 13+ from older Versions on Systems where Port 443 is used

Description

FileWave 13 introduced a Web Admin interface.  By default this uses port 443.  Attempts to install on systems that have another service using this port will prevent the installation of FileWave.

To resolve this, remove or adapt the contending process or FileWave to use a different port.

Directions

Configuring FileWave to use a different port before the upgrade may be archived as follows:

Mac / Linux

Edit the /usr/local/filewave/apache/conf/httpd.conf file as follows : 

# Putting the last character in brackets is a trick to prevent Apache from issuing a warning if the file does not exist.
IncludeOptional conf/httpd_webadmi[n].conf

Create the /usr/local/filewave/apache/conf/httpd_webadmin.conf with the following content : 

Define WEB_ADMIN_PORT 20440

Restart Apache Service 

sudo fwcontrol apache restart

Then Upgrade as normal by running the FileWave Server Installer 13+  

Windows (Legacy)

Windows 

Edit the C:\Program Files (x86)\FileWave\apache\conf\httpd.conf file as follows : 

# Putting the last character in brackets is a trick to prevent Apache from issuing a warning if the file does not exist.
IncludeOptional "C:\Program Files (x86)\FileWave\apache\conf\httpd_webadmi[n].conf"

Create the C:\Program Files (x86)\FileWave\apache\conf\httpd_webadmin.conf with the following content : 

Define WEB_ADMIN_PORT 20440

Restart Apache Service in a cmd or powershell window run as Administrator : 

fwcontrol apache restart

Then Upgrade as normal by running the FileWave Server Installer 13+