How to use the WebDav with Gnome Files?

Seafile Client
1

Hello, I managed to get the desktop client installed for my university Seafile instance, however there are lot of stuff there that I would like to access “rarely” without sync the whole bunch, so I was thinking to couple the sync stuff for the lib that I use more often with a webdav access using Gnome Files.

In the browser I have set a webdav password, but my issue is that my seafile username is like myname@myuniversity.fr and my university seafile is https://seafile.myuniversity.fr, so I have tried several combination on the location bar ( like davs://seafile.myuniversity.fr/seafdav/, https://seafile.myuniversity.fr/seafdav/, davs://myname@myuniversity.fr@seafile.myuniversity.fr/seafdav/…), but I got a HTTP error “Moved Permanently” or other HTTP errors…

EDIT: I see that Seafile provides a specific drive mount, can I not just use davfs (I already have it installed for other projects) or one has to use the specific SeaFile drive client ? Is there some advantage using it over a “generic” webdav mount ?

2

First you need to make sure your University’s Seafile instance enabled WebDAV feature. Ensure you can see the WebDAV password configuration in your profile page (In avatar → settings).

Then, to use WebDAV with Gnome Files (Nautilus) for your Seafile instance, you should follow these steps:

Connection URL and Format

For Gnome Files, you should use the davs:// protocol (for HTTPS) or dav:// (for HTTP). The correct URL structure is: davs://seafile.myuniversity.fr/seafdav/

Note on Username: If your username contains an @ symbol (e.g., myname@myuniversity.fr), it can sometimes cause issues in the address bar if you try to include it in the URL. It is best to enter the base URL first; Gnome Files will then prompt you for your username and password in a separate dialog.

WebDAV Password

Ensure you are using the WebDAV password you set in the Seafile web interface (under Settings), not your main university SSO or Seafile login password.

Troubleshooting “Moved Permanently”

The “Moved Permanently” error often occurs due to missing trailing slashes or proxy configuration issues on the server side:

  1. Trailing Slash: Always ensure you include the trailing slash: /seafdav/.
  2. Server Config: This error can also happen if the Seafile administrator hasn’t configured the Nginx/Apache rewrite rules correctly for the WebDAV extension.

WebDAV vs. Seafile Drive Client

Regarding your question about using davfs2 vs. the Seafile Drive Client:

  • Seafile Drive Client: This is generally recommended over a generic WebDAV mount. It is optimized for the Seafile protocol, handles “virtual files” (placeholders) more efficiently, and provides better performance for browsing large libraries without syncing everything to your disk.
  • WebDAV (davfs2 / Gnome Files): While convenient because it’s “generic,” WebDAV is often significantly slower for Seafile. This is because every file operation requires individual commits, and local file managers often send many unnecessary requests to fetch file attributes, leading to latency.

If you prefer a native Linux mount, davfs2 works, but you should disable locks in /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf by setting use_locks 0 for better compatibility. However, if you want the best “rare access” experience without full sync, the Seafile Drive Client is the superior tool for Linux.