Hosting websites > Using FileMaker WebDirect
 
Using FileMaker WebDirect
Note  The following information is for server administrators.
You can use FileMaker WebDirect to quickly and easily publish layouts from your database. Anyone with compatible web browser software and access to the Internet or an intranet can connect to your FileMaker WebDirect solution to view, edit, sort, or search records, if you give them access privileges.
For information on developing a FileMaker Pro database that works well with FileMaker WebDirect, see FileMaker WebDirect Guide.
To host a website using FileMaker WebDirect:
1. In FileMaker Pro, open the database and edit the privilege set for the account that will access the database. Enable the extended privilege Access via FileMaker WebDirect.
Note  If your FileMaker database solution uses more than one FileMaker database file, all
of the database files using FileMaker WebDirect must have the extended privilege Access via FileMaker WebDirect enabled.
2. In FileMaker Server Admin Console, use the Deployment assistant to enable support for FileMaker WebDirect, if you haven’t already.
Choose Server menu > Edit Deployment. In the Deployment assistant, confirm your settings and click Next until you reach the Enable Web Publishing Technologies step. See Enabling technologies for data sharing and web publishing.
3. In Admin Console, configure the settings on the Web Publishing > FileMaker WebDirect tab. See FileMaker WebDirect settings.
4. Prepare databases for FileMaker WebDirect. See FileMaker WebDirect Guide.
5. Upload the database file to FileMaker Server. See Uploading database files using FileMaker Pro.
Note  If your FileMaker database solution uses more than one FileMaker database file, all of the database files must be on the same computer.
6. If you’re using static HTML pages, images, or other externally referenced files with your FileMaker database, you need to move those files to the root folder of the web server software. Make sure the relative path is preserved.
Windows: [drive]:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server\HTTPServer\conf
macOS for HTTP URLs: /Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/htdocs
macOS for HTTPS URLs: /Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/htdocs/httpsRoot
7. Test that your database is being published with FileMaker WebDirect by entering the following URL in a web browser:
http://<host>/fmi/webd
where <host> is the IP address or the domain name of your FileMaker Server deployment. For a multiple-machine deployment, you can use the IP address or the domain name of the master machine or a worker machine. The web server will forward the URL to the FileMaker WebDirect Launch Center. (Use the IP address or domain name for a machine that the Status pane’s Web Publishing Engine information shows as running. See Web Publishing Engine information.)
Note  If you use SSL for database connections, <host> must be the fully qualified domain name specified in the SSL certificate being used on the web server machine instead of the IP address.
8. (Optional) You can replace the default FileMaker WebDirect Launch Center that web users see when they log out of a session or when the session times out. See FileMaker WebDirect Guide.
Related topics 
General web publishing settings
Hosting websites