Is there a File and FTP manager for Drupal?
Hi I am looking for a file manager which enable users to perform file management tasks such as
1. Browse the entire Drupal installation directory tree (not just restricted to "sites/default/files")
2. Create directories
3. Create/Edit/Save files (e.g css files in theme folders)
4. Delete files
directly on the server.
Anyone familiar with Joomla!s eXtplorer, NinjaXplorer or JoomlaXplorer will have some idea about what am seeking. I will be quite happy though with just the features listed above.
I am currently testing the Web Filemanager module and as far as I am aware it does not offer the features that I seek. I have also had a brief read through the IMCE modules and it does not appear to provide those features natively either.
eXtplorer offers a standalone version but this defeats the whole purpose of trying to avoid using external tools to manage files within the Drupal installation root.
Any suggestions?
Dangerous
Any wide-open file manager that runs under the webserver's UID is a potential security nightmare. You should manage files using a secure protocol, running under a UID different from that of the webserver. This is why the Web Filemanager module isn't wide-open, and can't modify Drupal files.
If you install Drupal properly, the Drupal process will not be able to modify any of its own files, because they will not be owned or writable by the webserver process.
Drupal also is configured so that no executable files can be placed in any of the directories it uses for uploaded data (images, audio, video, file attachments).
I won't comment about whether certain other systems are secure other than to suggest that you be careful with them.
Your safest bet is to use a proper sftp program and/or a text editor that handles sftp natively.
Thanks for the response I am
Thanks for the response
I am aware of the potential security risks associated with the path that I itended to follow. However, I am currently working on a practice site hosted on a remote server (just to make a localhost v remote host comparison) and just wanted the convenience of doing most things via the admin back-end instead. It can sometimes be a bit trouble to constantly flip over to an FTP client or cPanel. Ultimately though, it is reassuring to discover that Drupal does not really facilitate the usage of such tools at the server level. As you indicated, this is inherently more secure. I reckon I will jsut have to get used to to the idea of utilizing cPanel or a standalone FTP client more often :).
Cheers
I LOVE cpanel-11 because it
I LOVE cpanel-11 because it can unpack/pack zipped archives.
I don't think FTP protocol supports that operation.
Also, I use FireFTP plugin for firefox; it saves having to install a dedicated FTP client.
It is just as good and reliable as any FTP client you could download.
Lastly, I bought an editor that has ftp capability, so I can seamlessly edit remote files.
It does everything in your list of requirements: http://www.blumentals.net/webuilder
However, there are many 'editors with ftp capability' to choose from.
Unfortunately, there are only a couple of free ones, and they aren't very good.
> I am aware of the potential security risks associated with the path that I intended to follow
Yes. I let a student install joomla on our school server. He installed one of the file managers
and it let him break out of his joomla folder and surf around in the server root. Not good.
His joomla site was deleted ASAP.