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How to Test a Shared Folder on the Mapped Drives Screen

Test, on the Mapped drives screen under Administration in the ABM Service menu, checks whether ABM Service can read a shared folder, and says in a sentence beside the line what it found. Use it when you map a drive letter, and whenever office staff report that linked files will not open.

How do I check that ABM Service can read a shared folder?​

On the Mapped drives screen, select Test on the line whose folder you want to check. Checking… appears beside the line, and the answer replaces it, usually at once and never more than about eight seconds later.

  1. Open the menu and, under Administration, select Mapped drives.
  2. Type the folder in the line's Shared folder box, or leave the one that is there.
  3. Select Test on that line.
  4. Read the answer beside the line.

Test tries the folder exactly as it is typed, so you can test a line before you save it, and testing saves nothing. Changing the folder clears the old answer. The groups under Linked files, by where they are kept have a Test too, on each shared folder and on each letter already on your list, which tries the shared folder that group's files are read from.

Who does the reading matters. In a browser, the answer is the ABM server's, the computer ABM Service runs on, because that is what opens linked files for everybody using a browser. In the ABM Service desktop app, the answer is your own PC's, reading as you, because that is what opens linked files in the desktop app. To check what office staff using a browser will get, test in a browser.

Test only looks inside the folder to see that it can be read. It does not open or change any file in it, and ABM Service never writes anything to a linked folder.

What do the answers from Test mean?​

Each answer from Test on the Mapped drives screen is a sentence naming the folder, with The ABM server in a browser or This PC in the ABM Service desktop app:

  • The ABM server can read the folder — all is well. Files kept under it can be opened, provided each file is still where it was kept.
  • Type the shared folder first. — the line's Shared folder box is empty.
  • Write it as \\server\share — a drive letter must stand for a shared folder on the network. — what is typed is not a shared folder: perhaps a folder on one computer, such as D:\Exports, which Test does not try, or a name with something missing.
  • was not found. Check the computer name and the folder name. — after the folder: the computer answered, but has no shared folder of that name, or the folder inside it does not exist. Check the spelling against a computer where the drive is mapped.
  • cannot be read — permission was refused. — after the folder, and followed by the sentence naming the Windows account that needs permission. The folder is there, but that account is not allowed to read it.
  • did not answer. The computer it is on may be switched off, or the ABM server cannot reach it. — after the folder: no answer came within about eight seconds, or the computer could not be found on the network at all. The computer may be off, a firewall may be in the way, or the computer's name may be misspelt: a computer name that does not exist gets this answer too, not was not found, so check its spelling.

If Test itself could not be carried out, for example because the connection to ABM Service dropped, the reason is shown beside the line in the same place; select Test again.

A folder written as \\server\share, with two backslashes, the computer's name, a backslash and the share's name, is the only kind Test tries.

How do I fix "permission was refused" on the Mapped drives screen?​

The shared folder's permissions must let in the Windows account that ABM Service reads it as, and the Test answer names that account. Whoever looks after the computer the folder is on adds that account with permission to read, to both the share and the folder, and you then select Test again. Nothing in ABM Service needs to be restarted.

Which account it is depends on where you test:

  • The ABM server running as one of Windows' own accounts, as it usually does, reaches other computers as the server computer's own account: the server computer's name followed by a dollar sign, so for a server called ABMSRV, the account is ABMSRV$. The answer says The ABM server opens shared folders as the server computer's own account, then its name. When adding it to a folder's permissions in Windows, tick Computers under Object Types, or Windows will not find it.
  • The ABM server running as a named Windows account says The ABM server opens shared folders as the Windows account, then the account; give that account permission.
  • The ABM Service desktop app says This PC opens shared folders as you, then your Windows account; that is the account that needs permission, and each person using the desktop app reads as themselves.

Read permission is enough: ABM Service only ever reads linked files. The same sentence about the account is at the end of the explanation under Drive letters, so you can see which account to use before you test anything.

Why does Test say yes, but a file still will not open?​

Test on the Mapped drives screen checks a folder, not each file in it, so a file can still fail when its folder can be read. The usual reasons:

  • The file has gone. Office staff are told This file is no longer where it was kept. It may have been moved or deleted. Somebody moved, renamed or deleted it in the folder.
  • A folder inside has its own permissions. Test reads the top of the shared folder; a folder further in may refuse the same account. Office staff are told ABM is not allowed to open the folder this file is kept in. Your system administrator can give ABM access to that folder.
  • The file is kept on another letter. The note in the file's details panel names the drive the file is on; check that this letter is the one you mapped.
  • You tested in the desktop app. There, This PC answered, as you. People using a browser depend on the ABM server, which may not be allowed in. Test again in a browser.
  • The line is not saved yet. Test tries what is typed, but files are only read through a line once you select Save.

More on each message office staff can see: Why Can't a Linked Attachment Be Opened?