Mapping an Alfresco space to a drive

Alfresco allows you to map a space to a drive on your computer, which allows you to work offline.
Before you begin, you must know your computer name.

A shared network drive (network share) is a folder on a network computer that you have mapped to a virtual drive on your own computer. If you have the correct permissions, working with files on the shared drive is no different from working with files on your local drive. In exactly the same way, Alfresco allows you to map a space to a drive on your computer. If you insert a file into any of the directories on the mapped drive and then refresh your browser, the inserted file will also appear in the corresponding space. If you then delete the file in Alfresco, the file is simultaneously deleted from your mapped drive.

This feature allows you to work offline. You can also keep several computers synchronized using Microsoft Briefcase.

  1. In Windows Explorer, click Tools > Map Network Drive.

    The Map Network Drive dialog box appears.

  2. In the Drive list, select an unused drive letter.
  3. In the Folder box, type:

    \\YourMachineName_a\alfresco\Users\YourSpaceName

  4. Select the Reconnect at logon check box.
  5. Click Finish.
  6. Type your user name and password when prompted.

    If you open the various directories, you will find that the contents are identical to the contents of corresponding spaces in Alfresco, with a single exception: Windows Explorer has an additional item in each directory, __AlfrescoClient. This is a direct link to the Alfresco space that corresponds to the directory. If you click this link, a new tab or a new browser window will open, containing the corresponding Alfresco space.

    Note: If you are unable to map your drive, contact your system administrator or refer to the topic Setting up the CIFS server in the Installation Guide.
Related tasks

Finding a computer name