WWW and FTP Virtual Directories Are Not Displayed in Directory Listings (247376)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Internet Information Server 2.0
- Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0
- Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0
- Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
- Microsoft Internet Information Services version 6.0
This article was previously published under Q247376 We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. IIS 6.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site: SYMPTOMS When you use Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS),
no virtual directories are displayed when browsing a WWW folder with directory
browsing enabled or displaying directory contents on an FTP site.
CAUSE This behavior is by design. Physical directories appear in
directory listings, and virtual directories do not. IIS "hides" virtual
directories. This is true for both WWW and FTP sites.
Hiding virtual
directories has tremendous security advantages because users are required to
know the virtual path that they want to access. WORKAROUND To display a WWW or FTP virtual directory in a folder,
create an empty physical directory of the same name. When a request is made to
the directory, the virtual directory is returned, instead of the physical
directory. MORE INFORMATION If you create an FTP virtual directory of the same name as
a user's name on a server, when the user logs on through an FTP client, the
user is automatically redirected to the virtual directory, based on their user
name. Needless to say, if you have multiple users on a server, each with their
own virtual directory, it can be quite advantageous to not display the virtual
directories, because it also compromises user names on the server.
| Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 6/22/2005 |
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| Keywords: | kbpending kbprb KB247376 |
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