000c5f76 featured anyx admin resourcesshares

The Shares pages (routes /shares-overview and /shares-new) manage file shares. A share takes a directory on a local server and makes its contents available to any user, over HTTPS and WebDAV, without a virtual private network and without a client. See Resources (concepts) and End-user experience for where shares fit in the platform.

Purpose

A share names a directory on the machine running the connector and exposes it through the platform. Users browse the files in a browser or mount the share in a file manager using WebDAV, and their access is governed by the permissions you assign: Viewer (read), Editor (modify) or Owner (add, modify and delete). Access is audited like every other resource.

The Shares overview lists every share, its local directory, file-level permission setting, connector and policies, and lets you create, edit and delete shares. The New Share wizard steps through the connector, share name, local directory, a review and a done step.

Why use it

Give users access to a directory on an internal server with no inbound ports and no public address. See Zero trust architecture.
Share documents and files across the organisation without a virtual private network or a separate file transfer service.
Let applications reach shared files over WebDAV, and let users browse the same files in a browser.
Control access precisely with three permission levels: Viewer, Editor and Owner.

When to use it

When a team needs shared files that live on a server inside your private network.
When an application expects to read and write files over WebDAV.
Whenever you add, change or remove a share, or change who can read, edit or own its files.

Prerequisite: permission to administer shares (an owner or administrator role). Without it, the page shows a no permissions message.

How to use it

Shares overview

Open Resources > Shares > Overview from the left navigation.

The table lists every share with its name, local directory, file-level permission setting, connector, policies and an actions menu. The name and local directory cells are editable inline. Use the search box to filter the table, and the toolbar buttons to ADD SHARE or delete selected rows.

Open the more menu on a share row for the row actions:

Search in Audits: jumps to the audit subsystem filtered to this share.
Configure Policies: attaches policies to the share.

Open Resources > Shares > New. The wizard has five steps: Select connector, Share name, Local directory, Apply, and Done.

#### Step 1: Select connector

Choose the connector that fronts the machine holding the directory. If you have not created one, use Resources > Connectors > New first, then return and select it.

#### Step 2: Share name

Enter the share name. The tooltip explains that this name will show up in audit records in this system and elsewhere, and that it can be the same as the path.

#### Step 3: Local directory

Enter the local directory being shared. This is the absolute directory on the machine running the connector. It must be locally accessible and the connector must have group access to it. For example /home/files/X on Linux or C:\users\my-user\to_share on Windows.

#### Step 4: Apply

Review the summary, which restates the connector, share name and local directory. The step notes that you will need to assign permissions to use the share: shares have three basic permissions (Viewer, Editor, Owner), and some applications do not work well with Editor because they expect to create a temporary file or lock file in the same directory.

Select APPLY to create the share. Creation runs asynchronously; the wizard advances to Done automatically when it succeeds.

#### Step 5: Done

The Done step confirms the share was created and offers to add it to resource groups, assign permissions, and add it to policies.

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flowchart TD
    U["User in a browser or file manager"] -->|HTTPS / WebDAV| AP["Identity-aware proxy"]
    AP -->|sign in + authorisation| AU["Permissions: Viewer, Editor, Owner"]
    AP -->|outbound-only tunnel| C["Connector at your site"]
    C --> D["Local directory"]
    D -->|files| C
    C -->|HTTPS / WebDAV response| AP
    AP -->|files| U

The proxy authenticates the user, checks their permission level for the share, and proxies WebDAV requests to the connector, which reads and writes the local directory. Every request is audited. See Zero trust architecture for the full theory.

Fields and controls reference

Control	Purpose	Required	Default	Valid values	Notes
Name	The share’s name	Yes	n/a	Any text	Shows in audit records; can be the same as the path
Local directory	The directory being shared	Yes	n/a	An absolute path	Must be accessible to the connector with group access
Connector	Connector fronting the share	Yes	n/a	A configured connector	Runs on the machine holding the directory
File Level Perm	File-level permission setting	No	Unchecked	Checked or unchecked	Shown on the overview
Policies	Policies attached to the share	No	n/a	Configured policies	Set from Configure Policies
Permission level	Per-user access to the share	No	n/a	Viewer, Editor, Owner	Viewer reads, Editor modifies, Owner adds and deletes; see Resource permissions

Dialogs and popups

Configure Policies dialog: the two-pane policy assignment dialog shared by all resources. See Policies.
Path validation dialog: if you paste a path containing unexpected quotes into the local directory field, a dialog asks you to confirm or correct the path before it is accepted.

Confirmation dialog: deleting a share confirms before acting.

Configuration versus diagnostics versus confirmation

Configuration: creating shares, inline edits, and the file-level permission setting are persistent configuration.
Diagnostics: use Search in Audits from the row menu to see who accessed the share and what they did.
Confirmation: deleting a share is permanent and removes access to its files. Confirm before proceeding.

Pagination and async behaviour

The Shares overview pages at 25 rows per page; the paginator shows the current page and totals. The demo organisation had no shares when captured.
Share creation runs asynchronously. After selecting APPLY, wait a few seconds; the wizard advances to Done automatically. New shares appear on the overview shortly after creation.
Inline cell edits save when you blur the field; wait a few seconds and reload to confirm the change.

Troubleshooting

The share will not create: check the name and local directory are present, the directory is an absolute path, and a connector is selected. Validation errors appear on the relevant step.
Users cannot see the share: assign permissions first. Shares need at least a Viewer permission before anyone can read them. Check Resource permissions.
An application fails to write: applications that need to create temporary or lock files should get Owner, not Editor. See the note on the Apply step of the wizard.
Files do not appear: confirm the connector can read the local directory and that the path is correct. Check Connector diagnostics.

Shares