FileRun administrator's guide

Each FileRun user can have a home folder, which is an actual folder on the server's file system. Users do not have more than one home folder, but they can access other folders and files shared by other users. The user's home folder is assigned using the “Home folder path” field available under the “Permissions” tab, when adding or editing the user accounts.

The user is able to browse all the subfolders available in his home folder.

Two users with the exact same “home folder” path will access the same files. To prevent the users from seeing each other's files, make sure the users have different “home folder” paths.

Important: make sure the users' home folders are located outside the public area of your web server. In other words, files that users upload to their home folders should not be accessible directly by accessing your website's address like this: http://www.your-site.com/filerun/users-folder/private-file.txt So, make sure the home folder paths do not contain any of the words “public_html”, “html”, “www”, “inetpub” or “your-domain.com”.

Guest users cannot have home folders, but they can access files shared by other users. Read more about guest users

The most common setup keeps the users' access separate while allowing the admin users or superuser to access everything. To achieve that, make sure you create the users' home folders inside the same root folder and assign the root folder as the home folder for the admin users. Here's an example:

User A's home folder: /storage/files/users/user_a/

User B's home folder: /storage/files/users/user_b/

Admin's home folder: /storage/files/users/ (The admin can access all the users files)

Superuser's home folder: /storage/files/ (The superuser can access even folders one level higher - to store files which other admin users cannot access)

To allow the user to access files located outside his home folder, you need to use the folder-sharing system. Log in with a user account that has access to another location (usually an admin account), right-click the desired folder, and select Share → With users. The shared folders will appear for the users under their home folder. To make the shared folders appear on the same level as My Files, check the option Share anonymously, available under the Options tab when sharing.

The superuser is the first account that is automatically created at FileRun installation. Its default username is “superuser”.

Along with the administrative tasks the other admin users can do, he is the only user who can:

1. Change the system's configuration.
2. Install software updates.
3. Install license upgrades.

The superuser account cannot be deleted or deactivated. It can however be renamed.

Admin users can:

1. Manage user accounts, except their own and other admins' accounts.
2. Manage roles.
3. Manage user groups.
4. Manage e-mail notification settings.
5. Browse users' activity logs.
6. Manage metadata settings.
7. Check users’ storage usage.
8. Oversee users’ online activity.
9. List and delete web links users have created.

When configuring the admin's permissions, you can choose:

1. What administrative section he is allowed to access.
2. Which groups of users he can see and manage.
3. Whether he will be able to define the path of the users' home folder, or if he will be limited to a specified folder.

Independent admin users can:

1. See and manage only user accounts, roles and groups created by themselves.
2. See and manage only his e-mail notification settings.
3. Browse his own users' activity logs.
4. Manage his own metadata settings.

When configuring the independent admin's permissions, you can choose:

1. How many user accounts he will be able to create.
2. Whether he will be able to define the path of the users' home folder, or if he will be limited to a specified folder. If you define a “Home folder template path” for the independent admin user, he will not have any home folder-related options when adding a new user. If you leave the field blank, all the users he creates will have their home folders automatically created inside the admin's own home folder.

Also, an independent admin user is required to configure space and traffic quotas for the users he creates. He cannot assign more space and traffic than it was assigned for its own account.

Please read here about this special type of user.

To create a new user account follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Users”.
3. Click “Add new”.
4. Fill in the form:
5. Required fields:
   • Username
   • Name
   • Home folder
6. Click “Submit” to create the user with the specified options.

To assign a user’s home folder, type in the path to a folder on your server. This will become the user's personal working space.

Please use only forward slashes (/) when setting up paths, even if you are running a Microsoft Windows server.

If you are not sure how the path should look like, look at your own home folder path which is displayed on the form, inside the read-only field “Your personal home folder is”.

A common example of what the path might look like is “/user-files/your_username”. Make sure to replace ‘your_username’ with the specific username of the user. Use the “Check path” button to verify that the path written points to an existing folder. If the folder does not already exist, you can simply create it by using the “Create folder now” button.

To edit a user account follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Users”.
3. Select the user you want to edit.
4. Click “Edit user”.
5. Make the appropriate changes in the form.
6. Click “Submit” to save the changes.

To delete a user account follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Users”.
3. Select the user you want to remove.
4. Click “Delete user”.
5. Click “Delete” to confirm the user's deletion.

Deleting a FileRun user account does not remove the user's home folder or its activity log entries. Unless you specifically choose to do so, by clicking on the “Permanently delete the users’ home folders” option in the “Delete users” confirmation window.

What gets deleted in the process:
- the user's “Trash” folder
- the Web links created by the user
- the file/folder sharing information

Tip: Select multiple users in the list by holding the Ctrl/Command key. You can delete them all at once.

To deactivate a user account follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Users”.
3. Select the user you want to deactivate.
4. Click “Deactivate user account”.

This can be used to temporarily disable one user's access to FileRun.

Deactivating a user account does not make any changes to the user's data.

To reactivate a user account follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Users”.
3. Select the user you want to reactivate.
4. Click on “Edit”.
5. Check the “This user account is active” option located in the “Login” panel.
6. Save the change.

Groups can be used for:

1. Sharing a folder with multiple users at the same time. (You can also configure a user's permissions so that it can only share folders with certain groups of users.)
2. Configuring e-mail notifications: adding notification rules involving multiple users at the same time.
3. Setting up admin users that can manage only certain groups of users.

To create a new group follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Groups”.
3. Click “Add new”.
4. Fill in the form:
5. Required field:
   • Group name
6. Click “Submit” to create the group with the specified details.

To add or remove a user from a group follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Users”.
3. Select the user you want to add to a group or remove from one.
4. Click “Edit user”.
5. In the “Groups” panel, choose the “Add groups” or “Remove selected” option.
6. Click “Submit” to save the changes.

Alternatively: Select “Groups” from the control panel → Select a group → Click “Edit” → Choose the “Add users” or “Remove selected” option.

To change a group's name follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Groups”.
3. Select the group that you want to rename.
4. Click “Edit group”.
5. Make the appropriate changes in the form.
6. Click “Save” to save the changes.

To delete a group follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Groups”.
3. Select the group you want to remove.
4. Click “Delete group”.
5. Click “Delete” to confirm the group's deletion.

Deleting a group does not delete the users contained.

Roles can be used to easily apply sets of permissions to multiple users at the same time.

If you select a role for a user, you will no longer be able to set individual permissions and settings for that user.

To create a new role follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Roles”.
3. Click “Add new”.
4. Fill in the form:
5. Required fields:
   • Role name
6. Click “Submit” to create the role with the specified details.

To edit a role follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Roles”.
3. Select the role you want to edit.
4. Click “Edit role”.
5. Make the appropriate changes in the form.
6. Click “Submit” to save the changes.

To delete a role follow these steps:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select “Roles”.
3. Select the role you want to remove.
4. Click “Delete role”.
5. Click “Delete” to confirm the role's deletion.

Deleting a role will not delete any user account.