How to Setup WebDAV Server with Nginx on Linux - Complete Guide

While NFS excels at Linux-to-Linux file sharing and Samba provides excellent cross-platform compatibility, there are scenarios where you need secure, web-based file access that works through firewalls and NAT. This is where WebDAV (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) shines.

In my home server setup with the N100 Intel mini PC, I use WebDAV alongside NFS and Samba to provide secure remote access to files when I’m away from home. Unlike traditional file sharing protocols, WebDAV works over standard HTTP/HTTPS ports, making it perfect for accessing your home server files from anywhere with just a web browser or WebDAV client.

This comprehensive guide will walk you through setting up a robust WebDAV server using Nginx on Linux, complete with SSL encryption and advanced security features.

Understanding WebDAV

Key Advantages of WebDAV

WebDAV vs Other File Sharing Protocols

Feature	WebDAV	NFS	Samba/SMB	FTP
Remote Access	Excellent	Poor	Poor	Good
Security	Excellent (HTTPS)	Moderate	Good	Poor
Firewall Compatibility	Excellent	Poor	Poor	Moderate
Web Browser Access	Yes	No	No	Limited
Mobile Support	Excellent	Poor	Good	Good
Performance (LAN)	Moderate	Excellent	Very Good	Good
Setup Complexity	Moderate	Simple	Moderate	Simple

Prerequisites and Planning

Before setting up WebDAV with Nginx, ensure you have:

WebDAV Architecture Overview

Step 1: Installing and Configuring Nginx

Install Nginx with WebDAV Module

First, check if Nginx is already installed and whether it includes the WebDAV module:

# Check if Nginx is installed
nginx -v

# Check for WebDAV module
nginx -V 2>&1 | grep -o with-http_dav_module

If Nginx isn’t installed or lacks the WebDAV module, install it:

# Ubuntu/Debian - Install Nginx with extra modules
sudo apt update
sudo apt install nginx nginx-extras -y

# CentOS/RHEL - Enable EPEL repository first
sudo dnf install epel-release -y
sudo dnf install nginx nginx-mod-http-dav-ext -y

# Alternative: Compile Nginx with WebDAV support
# (Only if package doesn't include WebDAV module)

Create WebDAV Directory Structure

Set up the directory structure for your WebDAV shares:

# Create WebDAV root directory
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/webdav

# Create subdirectories for different purposes
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/webdav/documents
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/webdav/media
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/webdav/projects
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/webdav/shared

# Set ownership to www-data (Nginx user)
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/webdav

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/webdav

Configure SSL Certificate

For secure remote access, set up SSL using Let’s Encrypt:

# Install Certbot
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

# Obtain SSL certificate (replace with your domain)
sudo certbot --nginx -d webdav.yourdomain.com

# Verify certificate renewal
sudo certbot renew --dry-run

Step 2: Configuring Nginx for WebDAV

Create WebDAV Configuration

Create a dedicated Nginx configuration file for WebDAV:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/webdav

Add the following comprehensive configuration:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name webdav.yourdomain.com;

    # Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name webdav.yourdomain.com;

    # SSL Configuration
    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/webdav.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/webdav.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;
    ssl_protocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
    ssl_ciphers ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:DHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA512:ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384;
    ssl_prefer_server_ciphers off;
    ssl_session_cache shared:SSL:10m;
    ssl_session_timeout 10m;

    # Security Headers
    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains" always;
    add_header X-Content-Type-Options nosniff;
    add_header X-Frame-Options DENY;
    add_header X-XSS-Protection "1; mode=block";

    # WebDAV Configuration
    location / {
        root /var/www/webdav;

        # Enable WebDAV methods
        dav_methods PUT DELETE MKCOL COPY MOVE;
        dav_ext_methods PROPFIND PROPPATCH LOCK UNLOCK;
        dav_access user:rw group:rw all:r;

        # Create directories automatically
        create_full_put_path on;

        # Client body settings for large file uploads
        client_body_temp_path /tmp/nginx_client_temp;
        client_max_body_size 10G;
        client_body_timeout 300s;

        # Authentication
        auth_basic "WebDAV Access";
        auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;

        # Additional WebDAV headers
        add_header DAV "1, 2" always;

        # Handle WebDAV PROPFIND method
        if ($request_method = PROPFIND) {
            add_header Content-Type "application/xml; charset=utf-8";
        }

        # Logging
        access_log /var/log/nginx/webdav_access.log;
        error_log /var/log/nginx/webdav_error.log;
    }

    # Disable access to hidden files
    location ~ /\. {
        deny all;
        access_log off;
        log_not_found off;
    }

    # Handle large file uploads
    location /upload {
        root /var/www/webdav;
        dav_methods PUT;
        create_full_put_path on;
        client_max_body_size 50G;
        client_body_timeout 600s;

        auth_basic "WebDAV Upload";
        auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd;
    }
}

Create WebDAV Users

Set up authentication for WebDAV access:

# Install apache2-utils for htpasswd
sudo apt install apache2-utils -y

# Create password file and first user
sudo htpasswd -c /etc/nginx/.htpasswd webdavuser

# Add additional users
sudo htpasswd /etc/nginx/.htpasswd john
sudo htpasswd /etc/nginx/.htpasswd mary

# Secure the password file
sudo chmod 640 /etc/nginx/.htpasswd
sudo chown root:www-data /etc/nginx/.htpasswd

Advanced User Management

For more sophisticated user management, create different access levels:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/webdav-advanced

# Advanced WebDAV configuration with multiple user levels
server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name webdav.yourdomain.com;

    # ... SSL configuration (same as above) ...

    # Admin access (full WebDAV methods)
    location /admin {
        alias /var/www/webdav/admin;
        dav_methods PUT DELETE MKCOL COPY MOVE;
        dav_ext_methods PROPFIND PROPPATCH LOCK UNLOCK;
        dav_access user:rw group:rw all:r;
        create_full_put_path on;

        auth_basic "Admin WebDAV";
        auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd-admin;
    }

    # User access (limited methods)
    location /users {
        alias /var/www/webdav/users;
        dav_methods PUT DELETE MKCOL;
        dav_ext_methods PROPFIND PROPPATCH;
        dav_access user:rw group:rw all:r;
        create_full_put_path on;

        auth_basic "User WebDAV";
        auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd-users;
    }

    # Public read-only access
    location /public {
        alias /var/www/webdav/public;
        dav_methods off;
        autoindex on;
        autoindex_exact_size off;
        autoindex_localtime on;
    }
}

Enable and Test Configuration

# Test Nginx configuration
sudo nginx -t

# Create symbolic link to enable site
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/webdav /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

# Remove default site if needed
sudo rm -f /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default

# Restart Nginx
sudo systemctl restart nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

# Check status
sudo systemctl status nginx

Step 3: Client Configuration for Different Platforms

Windows Clients

Method 1: Native Windows WebDAV

# Map WebDAV as network drive
net use W: https://webdav.yourdomain.com /user:webdavuser

# Or using File Explorer:
# 1. Open File Explorer
# 2. Right-click "This PC" → "Map network drive"
# 3. Enter: https://webdav.yourdomain.com
# 4. Check "Connect using different credentials"
# 5. Enter username and password

Method 2: Third-Party Clients

Popular Windows WebDAV clients:

Client	Type	Features
WinSCP	GUI	SFTP, WebDAV, file sync
NetDrive	Drive mapping	Multiple protocols
WebDrive	Commercial	Advanced caching
BitKinex	GUI	Multi-protocol support

Linux Clients

Command Line Access

# Install davfs2 for WebDAV mounting
sudo apt install davfs2 -y

# Create mount point
sudo mkdir /mnt/webdav

# Mount WebDAV share
sudo mount -t davfs https://webdav.yourdomain.com /mnt/webdav

# Create credentials file for automatic mounting
sudo nano /etc/davfs2/secrets

# Add line:
https://webdav.yourdomain.com webdavuser your_password

# Secure credentials file
sudo chmod 600 /etc/davfs2/secrets

Permanent Mounting

Add to /etc/fstab for automatic mounting:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

# Add line:
https://webdav.yourdomain.com /mnt/webdav davfs _netdev,user,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0

GUI Clients

# Install Nautilus (GNOME)
sudo apt install nautilus -y

# In Nautilus: Other Locations → Connect to Server
# Enter: davs://webdav.yourdomain.com

# Install Dolphin (KDE)
sudo apt install dolphin -y

# In Dolphin: Network → Add Network Folder → WebDAV

macOS Clients

Native macOS Support

1. Open Finder
2. Press Cmd + K (Connect to Server)
3. Enter: https://webdav.yourdomain.com
4. Enter credentials when prompted

Command Line (macOS)

# Mount WebDAV share
mkdir ~/webdav
mount_webdav https://webdav.yourdomain.com ~/webdav

# Unmount
umount ~/webdav

Mobile Clients

iOS Applications

App	Features	Price
WebDAV Nav+	Full WebDAV client	Paid
FE File Explorer	Multi-protocol support	Freemium
Documents by Readdle	Document management + WebDAV	Free

Android Applications

App	Features	Price
Solid Explorer	Dual-pane file manager	Paid
Total Commander	With WebDAV plugin	Free
FX File Explorer	WebDAV support	Freemium

Step 4: Advanced Configuration and Security

Enhanced Security Configuration

IP-Based Access Control

# Restrict access by IP range
location / {
    allow 192.168.1.0/24;
    allow 10.0.0.0/8;
    deny all;

    # ... rest of WebDAV configuration ...
}

Rate Limiting

# Add to http block in nginx.conf
http {
    limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=webdav:10m rate=10r/m;

    # Apply in server block
    location / {
        limit_req zone=webdav burst=5 nodelay;
        # ... WebDAV configuration ...
    }
}

Two-Factor Authentication Integration

For enhanced security, integrate with external authentication:

# Example with auth_request module
location /auth {
    internal;
    proxy_pass http://your-auth-service;
    proxy_pass_request_body off;
    proxy_set_header Content-Length "";
    proxy_set_header X-Original-URI $request_uri;
}

location / {
    auth_request /auth;
    # ... WebDAV configuration ...
}

Performance Optimization

Caching Configuration

# Add caching for static content
location ~* \.(jpg|jpeg|png|gif|ico|css|js|pdf)$ {
    expires 1y;
    add_header Cache-Control "public, immutable";
    access_log off;
}

# Enable gzip compression
gzip on;
gzip_types text/plain text/css application/json application/javascript text/xml application/xml application/xml+rss text/javascript;

Large File Handling

# Optimize for large file uploads
client_max_body_size 50G;
client_body_buffer_size 128k;
client_body_timeout 300s;
client_header_timeout 300s;
keepalive_timeout 300s;
send_timeout 300s;

# Use sendfile for large file downloads
sendfile on;
sendfile_max_chunk 1m;
tcp_nopush on;
tcp_nodelay on;

Integration with Home Server Setup

Media Server Integration

For integration with your media server setup:

# Create symbolic links to existing media directories
sudo ln -s /srv/samba/media /var/www/webdav/media
sudo ln -s /srv/nfs/documents /var/www/webdav/documents

# Ensure proper permissions
sudo chown -h www-data:www-data /var/www/webdav/media
sudo chown -h www-data:www-data /var/www/webdav/documents

Backup Integration

Combine with your backup strategy:

#!/bin/bash
# webdav-backup.sh
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_DIR="/var/www/webdav/backups"

# Create timestamped backup directory
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE"

# Backup important configurations
cp /etc/nginx/sites-available/webdav "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE/"
cp /etc/nginx/.htpasswd "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE/"

# Backup WebDAV content
rsync -av /var/www/webdav/documents/ "$BACKUP_DIR/$DATE/documents/"

Docker Integration

For Docker container access:

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'
services:
  file-manager:
    image: filebrowser/filebrowser
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - /var/www/webdav:/srv
    environment:
      - FB_BASEURL=/files

  webdav-nginx:
    image: nginx:alpine
    ports:
      - "443:443"
    volumes:
      - /var/www/webdav:/var/www/webdav
      - /etc/nginx/sites-available/webdav:/etc/nginx/conf.d/default.conf
      - /etc/letsencrypt:/etc/letsencrypt

Step 5: Monitoring and Maintenance

Log Analysis and Monitoring

# Monitor WebDAV access logs
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/webdav_access.log

# Check for errors
sudo tail -f /var/log/nginx/webdav_error.log

# Analyze WebDAV usage
sudo awk '{print $1}' /var/log/nginx/webdav_access.log | sort | uniq -c | sort -nr

# Monitor file upload/download activity
sudo grep -E "(PUT|GET)" /var/log/nginx/webdav_access.log | tail -20

Performance Monitoring Script

#!/bin/bash
# webdav-monitor.sh

echo "=== WebDAV Server Monitor ==="
echo "Date: $(date)"
echo

echo "Nginx Status:"
sudo systemctl status nginx --no-pager -l
echo

echo "SSL Certificate Status:"
sudo certbot certificates
echo

echo "Active Connections:"
sudo netstat -an | grep :443 | grep ESTABLISHED | wc -l
echo

echo "Disk Usage:"
df -h /var/www/webdav
echo

echo "Recent Access (Last 10 entries):"
sudo tail -10 /var/log/nginx/webdav_access.log

Automated Maintenance

Create a maintenance script for regular tasks:

#!/bin/bash
# webdav-maintenance.sh

# Rotate logs
sudo logrotate /etc/logrotate.d/nginx

# Clean temporary files
sudo find /tmp/nginx_client_temp -type f -mtime +1 -delete 2>/dev/null

# Check SSL certificate expiration
DAYS_UNTIL_EXPIRY=$(sudo certbot certificates 2>/dev/null | grep "VALID" | head -1 | grep -oP '\d+(?= days)')
if [ "$DAYS_UNTIL_EXPIRY" -lt 30 ]; then
    echo "SSL certificate expires in $DAYS_UNTIL_EXPIRY days. Consider renewal."
fi

# Update file permissions
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/webdav
sudo find /var/www/webdav -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /var/www/webdav -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

Troubleshooting Common Issues

WebDAV-Specific Problems

Diagnostic steps:

# Test WebDAV connectivity
curl -X OPTIONS https://webdav.yourdomain.com/ -u webdavuser:password -v

# Test PROPFIND method
curl -X PROPFIND https://webdav.yourdomain.com/ -u webdavuser:password -H "Depth: 1" -v

# Test file upload
curl -X PUT https://webdav.yourdomain.com/test.txt -u webdavuser:password -d "test content"

Authentication Issues

# Check password file
sudo cat /etc/nginx/.htpasswd

# Test authentication
curl -X GET https://webdav.yourdomain.com/ -u webdavuser:password -v

# Reset user password
sudo htpasswd /etc/nginx/.htpasswd webdavuser

SSL/TLS Problems

# Test SSL configuration
openssl s_client -connect webdav.yourdomain.com:443 -servername webdav.yourdomain.com

# Check certificate validity
sudo certbot certificates

# Renew certificate if needed
sudo certbot renew --force-renewal -d webdav.yourdomain.com

Performance Issues

Slow Upload/Download Speeds

1. Increase buffer sizes:

client_body_buffer_size 256k;
large_client_header_buffers 4 256k;

2. Optimize worker processes:

worker_processes auto;
worker_connections 1024;

3. Enable HTTP/2:

listen 443 ssl http2;

File Permission Issues

# Fix ownership issues
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/webdav

# Check SELinux context (CentOS/RHEL)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1
sudo semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_exec_t "/var/www/webdav(/.*)?"
sudo restorecon -R /var/www/webdav

Security Best Practices

Access Control Best Practices

# Install and configure fail2ban
sudo apt install fail2ban -y

# Create WebDAV jail configuration
sudo nano /etc/fail2ban/jail.local

[webdav]
enabled = true
port = 443
filter = webdav
logpath = /var/log/nginx/webdav_error.log
maxretry = 5
bantime = 3600
findtime = 600

# Create WebDAV filter
sudo nano /etc/fail2ban/filter.d/webdav.conf

[Definition]
failregex = ^<HOST> -.*"(GET|POST|PUT|DELETE|PROPFIND|PROPPATCH|MKCOL|COPY|MOVE|LOCK|UNLOCK)" .* (401|403) .*$
ignoreregex =

Backup and Recovery

#!/bin/bash
# webdav-backup-config.sh

BACKUP_DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)
BACKUP_ROOT="/backup/webdav-config"

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_DATE"

# Backup Nginx configuration
cp /etc/nginx/sites-available/webdav "$BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_DATE/"

# Backup authentication files
cp /etc/nginx/.htpasswd* "$BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_DATE/"

# Backup SSL certificates
cp -r /etc/letsencrypt "$BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_DATE/"

# Create restoration script
cat > "$BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_DATE/restore.sh" << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
sudo cp webdav /etc/nginx/sites-available/
sudo cp .htpasswd* /etc/nginx/
sudo cp -r letsencrypt /etc/
sudo systemctl restart nginx
echo "WebDAV configuration restored"
EOF

chmod +x "$BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_DATE/restore.sh"
echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_ROOT/$BACKUP_DATE"

Use Cases and Integration Examples

Remote Work Setup

For remote access to your home server files:

# Dedicated remote work location
location /work {
    alias /var/www/webdav/work;

    # Enhanced security for work files
    auth_basic "Work Files Access";
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd-work;

    # Restrict to specific hours (9 AM to 6 PM UTC)
    access_by_lua_block {
        local hour = tonumber(os.date("%H"))
        if hour < 9 or hour > 18 then
            ngx.status = 403
            ngx.say("Access restricted to business hours")
            ngx.exit(403)
        end
    }

    dav_methods PUT DELETE MKCOL COPY MOVE;
    dav_ext_methods PROPFIND PROPPATCH LOCK UNLOCK;
    create_full_put_path on;
}

Photo Backup from Mobile

Configure automatic photo backup from mobile devices:

location /photos {
    alias /var/www/webdav/photos;

    # Allow large image uploads
    client_max_body_size 100M;

    # Organize by date
    try_files $uri $uri/ @create_date_folder;

    dav_methods PUT MKCOL;
    create_full_put_path on;

    auth_basic "Photo Backup";
    auth_basic_user_file /etc/nginx/.htpasswd-photos;
}

location @create_date_folder {
    # Auto-create date-based folders
    access_by_lua_block {
        local date = os.date("%Y/%m/%d")
        ngx.var.uri = "/photos/" .. date .. ngx.var.uri
    }
}

Integration with Home Server Ecosystem

Combine WebDAV with your existing home server setup:

# Create unified access point
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/webdav/unified
sudo ln -s /srv/nfs/media /var/www/webdav/unified/media-nfs
sudo ln -s /srv/samba/documents /var/www/webdav/unified/docs-samba
sudo ln -s /var/lib/docker/volumes /var/www/webdav/unified/container-data

# Set permissions
sudo chown -h www-data:www-data /var/www/webdav/unified/*

This creates a single WebDAV endpoint that provides access to files from your NFS, Samba, and Docker container setups.

Conclusion

Setting up WebDAV with Nginx provides a powerful, secure, and flexible solution for remote file access that complements your existing file sharing infrastructure. Unlike NFS which excels in local networks, or Samba which provides excellent cross-platform local sharing, WebDAV shines in scenarios requiring secure remote access through firewalls and NAT.

In my N100 Intel mini PC home server setup, WebDAV serves as the perfect bridge for accessing files remotely while maintaining the security and performance benefits of local protocols for internal network access. The combination of all three protocols creates a comprehensive file sharing ecosystem that handles every use case from high-performance local media streaming to secure remote document access.

The key to successful WebDAV implementation lies in proper SSL configuration, thoughtful authentication setup, and regular maintenance. Start with basic functionality and gradually add advanced features like rate limiting, fail2ban protection, and custom access controls as your needs evolve.

For additional insights on building a complete home server solution, explore my guides on server monitoring and best mini PCs for home servers.

Deploy Your WebDAV Server