Setting the base URL for generating links to FileHold

FileHold provides the option to create a link to a document in an email or other area external to FileHold, send workflow, Courier, external signatures, and other notifications with links to the FileHold server. These links use the server name that was configured when the system was installed. It may be desirable to change this name after FileHold has been installed. This typically happens if the name is an internal server name and not resolvable with an external domain name server (DNS) or when a web client only server has been installed. You should choose a value that will be accessible to users that will receive the link. For example, an internal server name would not be useful to an external person that received an email with the internal link.

This does not affect the URLs in the metadata panel on the web client. Those always take the value from the server where the client is currently connected.

There is a parameter in the Library Manager web.config file that can be used to set this address to an externally resolvable value. The parameter is in the <appSettings> portion of the web.config file in the key UrlForDownloads. Set this value to match the server name you want to include in your links. A similar value is available for the links generated for Courier emails with the key CourierBaseUrl. The library manager web config can typically be found on your FileHold server in:

C:\Program Files\FileHold Systems\Application Server\LibraryManager\web.config

This is an advanced setting. You should be a skilled Windows administrator and able to correctly edit an XML file to make this change. Make sure to create a backup copy of the web config file before changing it. When you save a web config file the related application pool will be automatically recycled. This will mean your changes will take effect automatically it also means that new requests to the application pool will take slightly longer than normal as application bindings must be re-cached.

The following example shows the original setting for an internal server name.

<add key="UrlForDownloads" value="http://myFileHoldServer.local/FH/FileHold/WebClient/"/>

For this example your domain has been registered as example.com and Courier users will come through your firewall using the HTTPS protocol.

<add key="CourierBaseUrl" value="https://myFileHoldServer.example.com/FH/FileHold/Courier/"/>

The CourierBaseUrl parameter can be left blank. FileHold automatically replaces the "WebClient" part of the UrlForDownloads parameter with "Courier".

For external signature, the example URL is

<add key="ExternalSignatureBaseUrl" value="https://myFileHoldServer.example.com/FH/FileHold/WC2/"/>

The ExternalSignatureBaseUrl  may also be left blank. FileHold automatically replaces the "WebClient" part of the UrlForDownloads parameter with "WC2".

Changing these values do not make your FileHold server accessible on the internet.