Web Site Publisher

FAQ: Can I publish to a network share instead of an FTP server?

Yes, you can use Web Site Publisher to publish to a network share or to a mapped drive instead of an FTP server.

You will need to ensure that you have the necessary rights to access the network share that you wish to publish to. After that, configuring Web Site Publisher for this is very easy - but be aware that the prompts in the "New web site Wizard" and in "Publication Properties" are all worded as if you are publishing to an FTP server. Here is what to do:

Firstly, in place of the FTP address, use the full UNC address of the share. So, assuming you are configuring this using the web site wizard, on the FTP Server tab you would enter something like:

\\MyServer\share\MyWeb

Alternately, if you are publishing via a mapped drive then this might be something like:

S:\MyWeb

Next, for Username and Password, the wizard requires an account/user name. The username and password should be valid for the share that you are using. If you are publishing to a mapped drive then the account name and password are not used, but the wizard still requires you to enter a name - you can use anything, "blank" or "name" would seem reasonable choices.

The Internet Connection type should be "Any/LAN connection". Do not use "LAN only" because that will prevent you from updating the web site should you have an active dial up network connection.