Sun Microsystems Portal Server 6 - Manual (Page 45)

NetFile
Chapter 2 Portal Server Secure Remote Access Architecture 45
• NetFile servlet(s) . Two NetFile servlets are present in the web container, one
for each kind of NetFile applet. The servlets are responsible for connecting to
different types of file systems, carrying out the operations that NetFile is
configured to handle, and sending the information back to the applets for
display.
NetFile is internationalized and provides access to file systems irrespective of their
locale (character encodings).
NetFile uses Access Manager to store its own profile, as well as user settings and
preferences. You administer NetFile through the Access Manager administration
console.
Initialization
When a user selects a NetFile link in the Portal Server Desktop, the NetFile servlet
checks if the user has a valid SSO token and permission to execute NetFile. If so, the
applet is rendered to the browser. The NetFile applet connects back to the servlet to
get its own configuration such as size, locale, resource bundle, as well as user
settings and preferences. NetFile obtains the locale information and other user
information (such as user name, mail ID, and mail server) using the user’s SSO
token. The user settings include any settings that the user has inherited from an
organization or role, settings that are customized by the user, and settings that the
user has stored upon exit from a previous NetFile session.
Validating Credentials
NetFile uses the credentials supplied by users to authenticate users before granting
access to the file systems.
The credentials include a user name, password, and Windows or Novell domain
(wherever applicable). Each share can have an independent password, therefore,
users need to enter their credentials for every share (except for common hosts) that
you add.
NetFile uses UNIX Authentication from the Access Manager to grant access to NFS
file systems. For file systems that are accessed over FTP and jCIFs protocols,
NetFile uses the methods provided by the protocol itself to validate the credentials.