The Web-based file system browser doesn't work/failsafter a short duration .: 3SP Knowledgebase

If you are having problems with the Web-based filesystem browser this article may help.

If you cannot browse using the filesystem browser, you'll probably find you can access machines if you use the full host path, e.g. /fs/cifs/MYWORKSTATION.

This may be because of one of the following:

1. SSL Explorer is installed on a Windows machine that is part of WORKGROUP, but no other hosts are willing to be a master browser (i.e. no Windows domain server, Samba server or anything else that can act as a master browser), or it is on its own isolated network.

2. SSL Explorer is installed on a Windows that is part of WORKGROUP but is on a different subnet to where the master browser is. This means a broadcast wont be heard by the Master. There is a netmask option in SSL-Explorer to help with this. Check the jCIFS docs. WINS is supposed to be used for these circumstances.

I couldnt get it to fail at all when the box is part of a domain.

Notes:
When SSL Explorer is installed on a different box to the Windows server that is setup as a WORKGROUP, It works and you browse the network neighbourhood and shares. This might possibly be because the Windows box doesnt accept broadcasts from itself when it is in WORKGROUP mode?

If you notice that you are able to browse shares for a certain amount of time before the failure - this is quite common when you start getting into 'Master browser' territory. At specific intervals (15 minutes?) all the hosts that are capable of being master browsers all decid amongst themselves who is going to take the job on. In my experience this is very error prone, a slight network misconfiguration can throw the whole thing into chaos.

Google for the 'master browser election' process for more information.

The Web-based file system browser doesn't work/failsafter a short duration

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