How to set up apache with WebDav to allow local users to access their home folders?

Heya,

To set up Apache with WebDAV to allow local users to access their home folders on Ubuntu 22.04, you need to configure:

1. mod_dav and mod_dav_fs for WebDAV support.
2. mod_authnz_pam for PAM-based authentication.
3. mod_rewrite or mod_userdir to rewrite /webdav to the corresponding home folder.
4. mod_proxy_fcgi with fcgiwrap to allow Apache to run as the authenticated user. Install Required Packages

sudo apt update
sudo apt install apache2 libapache2-mod-authnz-pam libapache2-mod-dav webdav fcgiwrap

Enable necessary modules:

sudo a2enmod dav dav_fs dav_lock authnz_pam userdir proxy_fcgi rewrite
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Configure WebDAV Directory Create the WebDAV directory in each user’s home:

mkdir -p /home/$USER/webdav
chmod -R 755 /home/$USER/webdav

Ensure ownership is correct:

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /home/$USER/webdav

Configure Apache Virtual Host

Edit or create a new Apache configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/webdav.conf

Add the following:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName yourserver.com

    # Allow WebDAV
    AliasMatch ^/webdav/([^/]+) /home/$1/webdav
    <Directory /home/*/webdav>
        DAV On
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride None

        # PAM authentication
        AuthType Basic
        AuthName "WebDAV Server"
        AuthBasicProvider PAM
        AuthPAMService apache
        Require valid-user

        # Ensure the authenticated user can access their own home folder
        <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
            RewriteEngine On
            RewriteCond %{LA-U:REMOTE_USER} (.+)
            RewriteRule ^/webdav/(.*)$ /home/%1/webdav/$1 [L]
        </IfModule>
    </Directory>

    # Run as the authenticated user
    <IfModule mod_proxy_fcgi.c>
        <Directory /usr/lib/cgi-bin>
            Require all granted
        </Directory>
        ProxyPassMatch ^/cgi-bin/(.*)$ fcgi://localhost/usr/lib/cgi-bin/$1
    </IfModule>
</VirtualHost>

then Enable the Site and Restart Apache:

sudo a2ensite webdav.conf
sudo systemctl restart apache2

Next is to Adjust PAM for Apache Authentication

Modify /etc/pam.d/apache2:

sudo nano /etc/pam.d/apache2

Add:

auth required pam_unix.so
account required pam_unix.so
session required pam_unix.so

This enables per-user WebDAV home directory access with PAM authentication while ensuring Apache serves files as the authenticated user. Let me know if you need further refinements! 🚀