Using FileMaker WebDirect

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 Pro database solution uses more than one FileMaker Pro database file, all of the database files using FileMaker WebDirect must have the extended privilege Access via FileMaker WebDirect enabled.

2. In Admin Console, configure the settings on the Connectors > Web Publishing tab. See FileMaker WebDirect settings.

3. In Admin Console, make sure the Web Publishing Engine is running on the primary machine and on the secondary machines, if you are using secondary machines.

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 Pro database solution uses more than one FileMaker Pro 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 Pro 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

   • Linux for HTTP: /opt/FileMaker/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/htdocs

   • Linux for HTTPS: /opt/FileMaker/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/<database name>

   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 primary machine or a secondary machine. The web server will forward the URL to the FileMaker WebDirect Launch Center. (The Launch Center URL is shown on the Connectors > Web Publishing tab.)

   Note  If you have a custom SSL certificate installed, when you use a host name, it should be a valid, fully qualified host name as supported by the custom SSL certificate installed on the primary machine.

   <database name> is the name of the hosted database file without the .fmp12 file extension. If a database name contains spaces or other special characters, replace the characters with the corresponding encoded values required for valid URLs. For example, replace a space character with %20.

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.

9. (Optional) If you have installed FileMaker Server on Linux and have configured an Nginx load balancer, you can enter Nginx Load Balancer URL on the Connectors > Web Publishing tab. See FileMaker WebDirect settings.

Related topics 

• Web publishing settings