FAQ: Shares

Q: How can I save ImageAdmin output files on remote shares?

A:

There are many ways to set up ASP.NET so that it can save its output on remote shares...

Quick start

Here are insructions for how to implement the simple 'Mirrored local accounts' method as specified by Microsoft. This method does not rely on any domain/trust relationships between servers, and so is likely to work in the widest set of circumstances.

The example assumes ImageAdmin is running on a local server called machineX, and should save its output to a remote server called machineY.

Setting up your servers

1. Set the password for the ASPNET account of the local machine (machineX) to a known password (e.g. YourPassword).
2. In the machine.config file for the local machine, find the processModel tag and change password="Autogenerate" to password="YourPassword". E.g:

   <processModel enable="true" userName="machine" password="YourPassword"/>
   

   IMPORTANT - If you don't perform this step, the ASPNET account will cease to work and will cause web sites on this server to malfunction!
3. On your remote server (machineY), create an ASPNET account (if it doesn't have one already) and set it's password to YourPassword.
4. IMPORTANT - If the remote machine is a web server, you'll also need to edit its machine.config as in step 2.
5. Set up a share (e.g. YourShare), and add the ASPNET user to the Share Permissions. Ensure that the ASPNET user has the rights 'Change' and 'Read'.

Setting up ImageAdmin

Here are some examples of saving ImageAdmin's output to a share:

• Set the OutputDirectory property of ImageAdmin to: \\machineY\YourShare.
  Call ImageAdmin.SaveOutput() to save output files in the specified share on the remote server.
• Set the OutputFile property of ImageAdmin to: \\machineY\yourshare\yourfile.jpg.
  Call ImageAdmin.SaveOutput() to save yourfile.jpg in the specified share on the remote server.
• Call this method:

  ImageAdmin.SaveToDirectory(@"\\machineY\yourshare\")
  

• Call this method:

  ImageAdmin.SaveToFile(@"\\machineY\yourshare\yourfile.jpg")
  

Microsoft's documentation

Microsoft have a helpful guide detailing ASP.NET security. You should read this guide for instructions on setting up domain based security, including impersonation.