Restricting attachment file types in Wikis

Restrict the types of files that users can upload as attachments in wiki pages.

Before you begin

To edit configuration files, you must use the IBM® WebSphere® Application Server wsadmin client. For more information, see Starting the wsadmin client.

About this task

You can create a list of denied file extensions and prevent users from uploading files with those extensions. Or you can create a list of allowed file extensions and only allow users to upload files with those extensions.

Restricting file types affects users uploading new files, or changing the extensions of existing files. (Users cannot change existing files to a denied type.) But existing documents with denied extensions are not affected. For example, if you deny the .xls extension, users cannot upload .xls files or change existing files to have the .xls extension. But existing .xls files are not affected, and users can still upload new versions of them.

This is not intended as a security application. Files are not analyzed to determine their type, only the file name is read to allow or deny (with an error) the upload. This is only to help you restrict the types of files you store in your environment.

Perform the following steps to restrict file types in Wikis:

Procedure

Start the wsadmin client.
Start the Wikis Jython script interpreter.
1. Use the following command to access the Wikis configuration files:
```
execfile("wikisAdmin.py")
```
  If you are asked to select a server, you can select any server.
2. Check out the Wikis configuration files using the following command:
  WikisConfigService.checkOutConfig("working_directory", "cell_name")
  where:
  - working_directory is the temporary working directory to which the configuration XML and XSD files are copied. The files are kept in this working directory while you make changes to them.
    Note: AIX® and Linux™ only: The directory must grant write permissions or the command will not run successfully.
  - cell_name is the name of the WebSphere® Application Server cell hosting the HCL Connections application. This argument is required. If you do not know the cell name, you can determine it by typing the following command in the wsadmin command processor:
    print AdminControl.getCell()
  For example:
```
WikisConfigService.checkOutConfig("/opt/my_temp_dir", "CommServerNode01Cell")
```
Open wikis-config.xml.
In the <restrictions> element in the <file> section, specify the enabled attribute as true.
In the <restrictions> element in the <file> section, specify the mode attribute as one of the following values:
- A value of allow means the extensions in the list are the only ones allowed to be uploaded.
- A value of deny means the extensions in the list are the only ones not allowed to be uploaded.
In the <restrictions> element, add an <extensions> element, and within the <extensions> element add one or more <extension> elements, each containing a file extension to allow or deny.
Check in the configuration file.
Note: You must check in the file during the same wsadmin session in which you checked it out. For more information, see Applying Wikis property changes.

Example

<file>
 ....
 <restrictions enabled="true" mode="allow">
  <extensions>
	 <extension>odt</extension>
	 <extension>odp</extension>
	 <extension>ods</extension>
  </extensions>
 </restrictions>
</file>

In the previous example, .odt, .odp, and .ods IBM® Lotus® Symphony™ extensions are the only extensions users can upload. Case is ignored, and you can use values with or without periods. For example, odt, .odt, and ODT are all valid.

Use an empty <extension> element to allow or deny files without extensions, or with extensions that exceed the platform limit of 16 characters.