Linking to large files on Synology NAS

[Johan Mutsaerts]

Hi, 

On my Confluence (Cloud) pages, I need to link to files stored on my Synology NAS. 

Importing/Uploading these files as attachments to the pages is impractical/not an option. 

When file:// stopped working, I switched to ftp:// ..... As browsers now recently also removed ftp:// support, this also stopped working.

When I click the link, I expect the browser to download the file so I can open it with the locally installed application registered for the corresponding file extension, say Adobe Acrobat for .pdf's. 

What is a simple man to do nowadays to do make something simple like this work ? 

TIA,
Johan

[Diego · Accepted solution]

Hello @Johan Mutsaerts !

As I understand, you need support for non-standard URL protocols so you can download files directly from your NAS by clicking them. Currently, this is not natively supported in Confluence.

And, as you pointed out, browsers are dropping support for the older protocols. You could try to setup an HTTP file server and then use that to download the files. Apache does support the mapping of URLs to filesystem locations:

• [Apache] Mapping URLs to Filesystem Locations

I was actually unable to find anything specific for this objective in our marketplace. All I could find was software that aims to integrate cloud file services such as OneDrive, Box and google drive with Confluence.

What I was able to find was this report about custom URL protocols in Confluence Cloud:

• [Confluence Cloud] Ability to insert custom (non-standard) URL protocols

I hope this clarifies the situation!

[Johan Mutsaerts]

Hi Diego,

and thanks for helping out searching for options.

I have indeed solved my problem using a web server on my Synology NAS. 

In case anyone else needs a kick-start on getting this to work: I installed and configured 'nginx' to listen to a virtual host URL, serving files & folders from /Volume1/web/DMS. 

I had to extend my TLS certificate to include the new virtual host in the SAN section.

I had to open my firewall(s) to allow https traffic to come into my LAN. 

Obviously you need to be aware that moving files around the DMS folders on the NAS will break the links on Confluence. Nothing can be done about that AFAIK. 

Kind Regards, 
Johan 

[repi]

@Johan Mutsaerts 

There are definitely plugins, apps from third parties.