Remote file access

Configuring access to documents on remote file systems

By default, the BlackBerry® MDS Connection Service can search your organization's Windows® network for any documents that users might want to access from the BlackBerry devices.

In BlackBerry® Enterprise Server version 5.0 or later and BlackBerry® Device Software version 5.0 or later, if you want to permit users to access specific documents that are not located on the Windows network (for example, documents that are located on a Linux® network) from the BlackBerry devices, you must configure the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service to search the remote file system where the documents are located and provide the authentication credentials to users or the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service. For remote file systems that require authentication, you can provide the credentials to the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service so that users do not need to provide the credentials when they access the documents.

To configure the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service to search the remote file system, you must define how the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service communicates with the remote file system, add the communication information to a BlackBerry MDS Connection Service configuration set, and assign the configuration set to one or more BlackBerry MDS Connection Service instances.

Configure the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service to communicate with a remote file system

To permit the BlackBerry® MDS Connection Service to communicate with a remote file system, you specify the URL for the remote file system and the type of access (Linux® or Windows®) that the domain of the remote file system supports. You can also provide credentials for the domain so that BlackBerry device users do not need to provide the credentials when they access the documents.

Before you begin: If the file system requires the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service to authenticate to the remote file system, create an account on the remote file system that the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service can use to authenticate when the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service receives requests for documents.

In the BlackBerry Administration Service, on the Servers and components menu, expand BlackBerry Solution topology > BlackBerry Domain > Component view.
Click MDS Connection Service.
Click Edit component.
On the File tab, in the Name field, type a name for the communication method that you want to configure.
In the Service URL field, type the UNC path to the remote file system using the following format: /<computer_name><fs_path>, where <computer_name> is the FQDN or IP address of a computer or the virtual view of the shared folders (for example, the DFS Namespace in Windows Server®) and <fs_path> is the optional directory path that can include a specific filename. When you type the UNC path, you can use an asterisk (*) to represent a sequence of arbitrary characters (including blank spaces), a question mark (?) to represent a single arbitrary character, and a backslash (\) to represent an escape character. You cannot type a URL that can search all of the computers in a Windows domain.
If the file system requires the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service to authenticate with the remote file system, perform the following actions:
- In the User name field, type the name of the account that you want the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service to use to authenticate to the remote file system.
- In the Authentication domain field, type the domain for the user account.
- In the Password and Confirm password fields, type the password for the user account.
- In the Network provider drop-down list, click the network provider that BlackBerry MDS Connection Service should use to access the file system.
Click Save all.

Examples for step 5

To access a specific file on a computer, you can type /test.company.net/docs/presentation.ppt. To access the shared folders on a specific computer, you can type /10.10.10.10. To access all of the content on the computers in a specific domain, you can type *.test.company.net/*.

After you finish: Add communication information to a BlackBerry MDS Connection Service configuration set.

Add communication information to a BlackBerry MDS Connection Service configuration set

A BlackBerry® MDS Connection Service configuration set is a set of service configurations that the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service instances in your organization can use to communicate with a remote file system, an LDAP server, a DSML server, a CRL server, an OCSP server, or a certification authority. You must add the communication information that the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service requires to communicate with servers to a configuration set so that a BlackBerry MDS Connection Service instance can communicate with the servers after you assign the configuration set to the instance.

In the BlackBerry Administration Service, on the Servers and components menu, expand BlackBerry Solution topology > BlackBerry Domain > Component view.
Click MDS Connection Service.
Click Edit component.
On the Configuration sets tab, perform one of the following actions:
- To create a configuration set, in the Configuration set name section, type a name and description for the configuration set. Click the Add icon.
- To change an existing configuration set, click the Edit icon.
In the Priority Service group drop-down list, click the name of the service that you want to configure the communication method for.
In the Service (Name : Description) drop-down list, click the name of the communication method that you want to configure.
Click the Add icon.
To specify the communication method that the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service should try to connect to the server with first , click the Up and Down arrows. The BlackBerry MDS Connection Service resolves conflicts by applying communication methods in the order that you specify. The order of that you specify for LDAP, DSML, or file communication applies to each communication method separately. The order permits the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service to resolve conflicts between domains if you created multiple communication methods for a specific URL.
Perform one of the following actions:
- To add a new configuration set, click the Add icon.
- To update an existing configuration set, click the Update icon.
Click Save all.

After you finish:

To confirm your changes, click the View icon.
Assign the configuration set to a BlackBerry MDS Connection Service.

Assign a BlackBerry MDS Connection Service configuration set to a BlackBerry MDS Connection Service instance

You can assign a BlackBerry® MDS Connection Service configuration set to a BlackBerry MDS Connection Service instance so that BlackBerry device users can access documents on remote file systems from devices, the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service can search for certificates and check for the status of the certificates from LDAP servers, DSML servers, CRL servers, or OCSP servers, and the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service can send certificate requests to a certificate authority.

In the BlackBerry Administration Service, on the Servers and components menu, expand BlackBerry Solution topology > BlackBerry Domain > Component view > MDS Connection Service.
Click the instance that you want to change.
Click Edit instance.
On the Component configuration sets tab, in the Available component configuration sets section, in the Service configuration sets drop-down list, click the configuration set that you want to assign to the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service instance.
Click Save all.
To restart the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service instance, on the Instance information tab, in the Status list, click Restart instance.
To assign the BlackBerry MDS Connection Service configuration set to another BlackBerry MDS Connection Service instance, repeat steps 3 to 7.