Bridge Any WebDAV Server to the Modern Cloud

How to connect a generic WebDAV server to CloudsLinker

Generic WebDAV uses URL + username + password authentication.

Before you start

Gather the connection details from your WebDAV server admin:

• WebDAV URL (e.g. https://files.example.org/webdav or https://nas.local/dav)
• Username for an account with access to the files
• Password — or app password if 2FA is enabled
• TLS support — the URL should start with https:// for any production deployment

If the WebDAV server has a dedicated CloudsLinker connector (Nextcloud, ownCloud, IceDrive, Fastmail, OpenDrive, PikPak, 4shared), prefer that connector — it pre-fills correct paths and handles vendor-specific quirks.

Connection steps

1. In CloudsLinker, click Add Cloud → choose WebDAV (generic).
2. Enter a display name (e.g. “Custom Apache WebDAV”).
3. Enter the WebDAV URL including protocol (https://).
4. Enter the username and password (or app password if 2FA is on).
5. Click Confirm — CloudsLinker validates with a PROPFIND request and shows the connection ready.

Server-side prerequisites

For Apache (mod_dav):

LoadModule dav_module modules/mod_dav.so
LoadModule dav_fs_module modules/mod_dav_fs.so
DavLockDB /var/lib/dav/lockdb

<Location /webdav>
    Dav On
    AuthType Basic
    AuthName "WebDAV"
    AuthUserFile /etc/apache2/webdav.passwd
    Require valid-user
</Location>

Don’t forget to raise nginx/Apache upload limits (client_max_body_size 16G in nginx) so chunked uploads don’t fail at small thresholds.

Revoke access

Two paths to revoke:

• Standard auth: change the user’s password on the WebDAV server.
• App password (2FA setups): delete the app password from the server’s security settings.

Either action invalidates CloudsLinker’s connection immediately.

WebDAV upload & download limits you should know

WebDAV is a protocol — limits depend on the server you’re connecting to:

• RFC standard: RFC 4918 (June 2007), extends HTTP/1.1.
• Default ports: 80 (HTTP) / 443 (HTTPS). Use HTTPS for production.
• Maximum file size: no protocol cap. Practical limits: server filesystem (16 TiB+), reverse-proxy client_max_body_size, destination cloud’s per-file cap.
• Chunked upload (server-dependent): Nextcloud / ownCloud default 100 MiB chunks. Bypasses reverse-proxy size limits.
• Authentication: HTTP Basic Auth (username + password, or app password). Some servers support Digest Auth or NTLM.
• Encryption in transit: HTTPS (TLS 1.2+) only — never use plain HTTP for any WebDAV exposed publicly.
• Single port: uses port 80 or 443 only — far more firewall-friendly than SMB (445) or FTP (21+passive range).
• Performance: faster than FTP on average, slower than SFTP for bulk operations due to per-file HTTP overhead.
• Locking: WebDAV supports server-side file locks (LOCK / UNLOCK methods) for collaborative editing — not used in CloudsLinker’s migration flows.
• Bandwidth: server-side configurable; no protocol-level cap.
• Concurrent connections: server-side configurable; typically 5–50 per user.
• Compatible servers: Apache mod_dav, nginx (via webdav module), IIS, all major NAS implementations, Nextcloud, ownCloud, IceDrive, Fastmail, OpenDrive, PikPak, 4shared.

Sources: RFC 4918: HTTP Extensions for WebDAV, Wikipedia: WebDAV, Nextcloud: Big File Upload Configuration, SFTPCloud: SFTP vs WebDAV comparison.