This article applies to a self-hosted ownCloud version 7.0.1 which is hosted through a Zpanel on Windows Server 2008 R2, and for which you have remote desktop admin access to the server.

Configuring the External USB and FTP.

Connect USB drive to USB port on the Server.  Check Windows Explorer to see if it is present as Drive (X):\ (where “X” is the drive letter assigned by Windows,  usually drive E:\).  In Windows Explorer, on the USB drive, create a new folder path on the X:\ drive, such as E:\owncloud\external_storage.

Setup the FTP Account in Zpanel.  Log into your Zpanel hosting account to setup an FTP account credential leading to the external USB drive path.  Click on “File Management” and select “FTP Accounts.” Create a new FTP account by entering a username and password.  The access type should be read and write – full access.  Select the radio button to Create a new home directory.  The new home directory will be the same name as the username chosen above.  Click the Create button.

Access Windows Server via Remote Desktop to Adjust the FileZilla FTP Account to Point to the external USB drive file path.  Since Zpanel only creates an FTP within the Directory Path configured for the Zpanel User Account, usually on  “C:\zpanel\hostdata\[Zpanel_username]\External_Storage_username” drive, you need to create an alternate FTP path to the USB Drive storage path.  How?  Log into the Windows Server using Remote Desktop access, and click the Start button, select All Programs, then Zpanel, Management, and open the FileZilla Console.  In the Filezilla console, Select the pre-configured FTP user account that you just established within Zpanel file management.  How? In FileZilla console select Users and select the particular FTP user account you just established.  Select Shared Folders, and you should see the original Home directory path that you pre-configured under Zpanel.  For the same FTP user account, click the “Add” button and add a new directory path leading to your USB file folder path, such as E:\owncloud\external storage.  Select this new path with your mouse and click the button to “Set as home directory,” in order to set this “External Storage” path as the new “Home” default folder.  Make sure for “Files” that you check each checkbox to select all -> read, write, delete, append, and check each check box under Directories to select all -> create, delete, list, +Subdirectory, to ensure these authorizations are granted.  You can leave the existing pre-cofigured Zpanel directory in place. For now, it is no longer the Home directory for the FTP path for this FTP user account. Click OK to exit the zpanel configuration.  You can now exit the FileZilla console.

Enable External Storage in your Owncloud Admin Account.  Log into your administrator account for ownCloud.  Select Apps from the left menu.  Select External Storage Support from the list.  Under the heading External Storage Support 0.2.1, internal app, Mount external storage sources, click the Enable button.

Configure External Storage Via FTP.  Remain logged in under ownCloud Administrator Account.  Select “Admin” from the Menu. Within Admin, under the heading for “External Storage,” click the drop down menu on the button for “Add storage” and select “FTP.”

Change the Folder Name to your desired folder name, such as “Ext” and, under configuration, you probably need to type in localhost (for ftp server location), enter your pre-configured FTP username and your FTP password.  Under “Available For” you can select ALL USERS or a particular user or particular group.

When you open your ownCloud desktop client or your web interface and login, you should see the new folder named “Ext” in your folder list. If you copy a file to that folder, it will syncronize from the server to all webdav and desktop connected devices.

Enjoy!

How to updgrade iRedAdmin (Open Source Edition) eMail Server Administrator Panel from version 0.2.2 (or earlier version) to version 0.3 (or the Latest stable release) on Ubuntu/Debian Server:

Download the latest iRedAdmin (open source edition) here:

http://iredmail.org/yum/misc/  .  For example: iRedAdmin-0.3.tar.bz2.

Upload this downloaded package to your iRedMail server which has the older version running.  Assume it’s /root/iRedAdmin-0.3.tar.bz2.

Uncompress it to correct directory, set correct file owner and permission, convert config file to python file format, restart Apache web server.

Terminal:

# —- On Debian/Ubuntu —-
#

• # tar xjf /root/iRedAdmin-0.3.tar.bz2 -C /usr/share/apache2/
• # cd /usr/share/apache2/
• # cp -p iRedAdmin-0.2.2/settings.ini iRedAdmin-0.3/
• # cd iRedAdmin-0.3/
• # bash tools/convert_ini_to_py.sh settings.ini     # <– This step is required if you’re upgrading from iRedAdmin-0.2.2 or earlier release.
• # rm -f settings.ini
• # cd ../
• # chown -R iredadmin:iredadmin iRedAdmin-0.3
• # chmod -R 0555 iRedAdmin-0.3
• # chmod 0400 iRedAdmin-0.3/settings.*
• # rm -i iredadmin         # <- Remove old symbol link
• # ln -s iRedAdmin-0.3 iredadmin       # Create a new symbol link
• # /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Source of this Information — iRedMail.org Wiki:
http://www.iredmail.org/wiki/index.php?title=IRedMail/FAQ/Upgrade.iRedAdmin.Open.Source.Edition

SEE: http://support.zen.co.uk/kb/Knowledgebase/How-to-disable-authenticated-SMTP-in-MS-Exchange-2003?Keywords=server where this Article is Originally Published. Full credit for original authorship of this knowledge base Article goes to whoever published it at that URL. All copyrights remain with the original author. This article will be immediately removed from here on notice from support.zen.co.uk.

Aim of this article:

This article provides instructions on disabling authenticated delivery of e-mail over the SMTP protocol to a Microsoft Exchange 2003 Server, in order to prevent yourserver from being used as a relay for fraudulent e-mail.

Background

Out of the box MS Exchange 2003 is not an open relay, but it can be used as a relay if the spammer has usernames and passwords for users on your network. This authenticated relay is the most common way that spammers get MS Exchange to send their junk.
In an ideal world this would not be a problem because users would have complex passwords that cannot be guessed by using brute force, continuously attempting log in using possible passwords until a valid one is found. However, users will use as easy to remember a password as they can, thus making brute force password guessing very effective.
By disabling authentication when not on the office network, even if a network password is known, spam cannot be sent through the Exchange server, although other services exposed to the Internet may be exploited – remote desktop etc.
Note: most smartphones do not use SMTP for sending and receiving e-mail so disabling aSMTP in this way should not affect remote employees that use their phones to access e-mail.

Accessing Virtual SMTP server Properties

On the Exchange server, open Server Management, then in the left hand trees view expand the following:
Advanced Management > Domainname (Exchange) > Servers > ServerName > Protocols > SMTP
Right click and select properties of the Default SMTP Virtual Server

Select Access from the tabs at the top, and then click the button named Relay

The Relay Restrictions window should open. By default under the Add button, a checkbox will be ticked. This “Allow all computers…..” checkbox is what allows someone with a valid password to send mail through your server from anywhere on the Internet. Un-tick this box.
Next click the button named Users…

Ensure Authenticated Users only have Submit Permission ticked.
Selecting Relay Permission here will override removing the tick from the previous window.
To finish, click OK until all the properties boxes are closed.

End of Article = = = = = = =

MY COMMENTARY:

I am not sure whether it is necessary or advisable to grant relay access to the localhost at 127.0.0.1 nor the local IP bind to the network interface of the 2k3 exchange server. In other words, if your exchange server is located at 192.168.2.2, for example, it might not be wise to grant that either. It is, however, important to grant access to the exchange smtp relay from any perimeter smart host that you may use to forward email to your exchange server on your LAN.

FURTHER COMMENTARY IF YOU USE A SMART HOST OUTSIDE THE EXCHANGE LAN PERIMETER:

The smart host might have several separate email boxes:

user1 @ myDomain.com
smart host configured to keep a copy of each msg received, and redirect each message to user1 @ ExchangeServer.MyDomain.com

On the other hand, you may merely set the smart host to receive all mail for MyDomain.com) and forward it to ExchangeServer.MyDomain.com where the exchange server will sort the mail by account and deliver it to the appropriate mail box accounts.

Configure the MX records of both the perimeter smart host and the exchange server with the appropriate priorities.  The following, for example, will ensure that attempted delivery will be made first to the smart host (standard priority 10) and, if the smart host is offline, then secondary delivery will be made directly to the exchange server (priority 12).

smtp.smarthost.somedomain.com.  MX 10
smtp.exchangeserver.MyDomain.com MX 12

Q — Will shutting off relay to anyone other than the smart host and the local.lan prevent reception of internet mail destined for delivery (secondary priority) on the local 2k3 exchange server?

• Install FolderSync Lite (for Android) from Google Play
• Launch the App
• Select “Accounts” from the menu
• Select “ADD ACCOUNT”
• Select “WebDAV” as the Account Type
• Choose a Unique Name For Your Account:  MyOwnCloud
• Protocol:  http:  or https:  (Whichever your server is setup to use)
• Server Address:  www.yourownclouddomain.com
• Start Folder:  owncloud/remote.php/webdav
• Port:  <Leave Blank – Unless there is a Non-default port>
• Use expect-continue:  Leave this box checked
• Login Name:  [use the account name that you setup for your private owncloud]
• Password:  [Only you know this]
• Press: TEST CONNECTION
• If it connects [Display would show “Login Succeeded”], then Press SAVE

SEE: http://www.mkyong.com/apache/how-to-enable-webdav-in-apache-server-2-2-x-windows/

While installing “ownCloud” web services, the post installation checklist noted that WebDAV services did not appear to be enabled, check configuration instructions.  Consequently, the installation would not conclude.

I googled and found the above article and proceeded to enable each LoadModule and the Include for httpd-dav.conf file as shown in Step 1. Load WebDav in Apache Server, and Step 4. Restart the Apache Service.   It was unnecessary to perform  steps 2, 3, and 5 shown in the article.

STEP 1. Load WebDav In Apache Server. WebDAV comes with Apache server 2.x, you just need to enable it. Edit “%APACHE_PATH%/conf/http.conf“, un-comment the following load and include statements by removing the leading # hashtags.  Use Notepad++ to edit the file: http.conf

LoadModule alias_module modules/mod_alias.so
LoadModule auth_digest_module modules/mod_auth_digest.so
LoadModule authn_file_module modules/mod_authn_file.so
LoadModule dav_module modules/mod_dav.so
LoadModule dav_fs_module modules/mod_dav_fs.so
LoadModule dav_lock_module modules/mod_dav_lock.so
LoadModule setenvif_module modules/mod_setenvif.so

# Distributed authoring and versioning (WebDAV)
Include conf/extra/httpd-dav.conf

Before installing Zpanel on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, there are several prerequisites shown in the Zpanel installation instructions.  More precisely, there are several prerequisites to install before using the Zpanel install script to install and configure the WAMP Stack (Apache, MySql, and PHP) on the Windows Server.

FIRST: Install or Enable .Net Framework 3.5.1 which must be done by enabling the “FEATURE” of .Net Framework 3.5.1 rather than downloading it from Microsoft.  Here are the instructions to enable this Feature.  Why is it necessary to enable rather than install this version of .Net Framework? Because the executable installation file will not install.  Version 3.5.1 of .Net is already included as a “Feature” in Server 2008 R2.  To install it, you must merely enable this Feature from the server.

NEXT: The Zpanel installation instructions tell us to download and install the latest Visual Studio C++ 2010 Redistributables for your own particular OS (either x86 32bit or x64 64bit architechture).  This is not necessarily correct, but hold that thought for now. Also, there is an additional installation file that Zpanel Instructions offer, which contains several 2005, 2008 and 2010 Visual Studio C++ Redistributables for both x86 and x64.  Running this file seems to install all the necessary .dll files for those various VS C++ Redistributables. However, there may be a missing version regarding 2005.  Hold that thought too.

It appears that the Zpanel uses one of the 2008 x86 32bit disbributables and corresponding.dll’s for purposes of the PHP version 5.3.20 and/or Apache web server version that is installed by the Zpanel stack script.

After installing Zpanal, when you access the zpanel admin console and select “Server Admin” and select “PHP Info” you will find something like this:

PHP Version 5.3.20

System (Windows Whatever Version)
Build Date (And Whatever Build date it is)
Compiler MSVC9 (Visual C++ 2008)
Architecture x86
Configure Command cscript /nologo configure.js “–enable-snapshot-build” “–disable-isapi” “–enable-debug-pack” “–without-mssql” “–without-pdo-mssql” “–without-pi3web” “–with-pdo-oci=C:\php-sdk\oracle\instantclient10\sdk,shared” “–with-oci8=C:\php-sdk\oracle\instantclient10\sdk,shared” “–with-oci8-11g=C:\php-sdk\oracle\instantclient11\sdk,shared” “–enable-object-out-dir=../obj/” “–enable-com-dotnet=shared” “–with-mcrypt=static” “–disable-static-analyze”
Server API Apache 2.4 Handler Apache Lounge
Virtual Directory Support enabled
Configuration File (php.ini) Path C:\Windows
Loaded Configuration File C:\zpanel\bin\php\php.ini

However, NSLOOKUP from the Windows Command line was not working and the zpanel BIND and DIG were not working properly.

Upon running NSLOOKUP from the windows command line, the error message seemed to indicate a cross dependence error of some sort.

Running NSLOOKUP from the windows command line yielded a SideBySide error in the Event Viewer Application Log, as follows:

Log Name: Application
Source: SideBySide
Date: 2/8/2014 10:12:52 AM
Event ID: 33
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: SVR.MYSERVER.COM Description: Activation context generation failed for “C:\zpanel\bin\bind\bin\nslookup.exe”. Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC80.CRT,processorArchitecture=”x86″,publicKeyToken=”1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b”,type=”win32″,version=”8.0.50727.6195″ could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.

Event
Provider Name=”SideBySide”
EventID Qualifiers=”49409″ 33
Level 2
Task 0
Keywords 0x80000000000000
TimeCreated “2014-02-08T15:12:52.000000000Z” EventRecordID 1084
Channel Application
Computer SVR.MYSERVER.COM

Microsoft.VC80.CRT,processorArchitecture=”x86″,publicKeyToken=”1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b”,type=”win32″,version=”8.0.50727.6195″

C:\zpanel\bin\bind\bin\nslookup.exe

= = = = = = = SOLUTION = = = = = = = =

The win32 version 8.0.50727.6195 of the .DLLs of the 2005 C++ redistributable that must be downloaded, run and installed to fix the problem is located HERE: “Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Service Pack 1 Redistributable MFC Security Update.”

When you click the Download Link, you must choose one of three files to download:

Choose the download you want
File NameSize

• vcredist_x86.EXE 2.6 MB (CHOOSE THIS ONE TO INSTALL)
• vcredist_IA64.EXE 6.3 MB
• vcredist_x64.EXE 3.0 MB

If you lookup Knowledge Base KB2538242 from Google or the Microsoft Support Site, then this will reveal the matching / missing version 8.0.50727.6195 and the link to where to download the correct “vcredist_x86.exe” (NOT vcredist_x64.exe).  You are given a choice of 3 different vcredist.exe files to download and install.  Choose the x86 (32bit) version regardless of whether your Win server’s operating system is x86 (32bit) or x64 (64bit).  Here is why:

IT DOES NOT MATTER WHETHER YOUR WIN OS IS 64-BIT.  IT MATTERS WHAT BUILD OF VISUAL STUDIO WAS USED TO CREATE THE PARTICULAR ZPANEL APPLICATIONS, AND IF THE AUTHOR BUILT 32-BIT APPLICATIONS, THEN TO RUN THAT 32 BIT APPLICATION IT REQUIRES THE PARTICULAR 32-BIT DLL’S SHOWN IN THE VISUAL STUDIO ASSEMBLY MANIFEST.

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How to install .Net framework 3.5.1 on Server 2008 or Server 2012

NOTE: Installing the .Net framework 3.5.1 on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2012 is a very easy process, but can be difficult to find.

1. Navigate to “Programs and Features” from the Control Panel.
2. Go to the “Featured” section in 2008, or “page” on 2012.
3. Locate and select “.Net Framework 3.5.1” from the list and check the box beside it.
4. Click “Next” and let it install.