kallasoft

AjaXplorer is quite a unique tool, and if you haven’t heard of it you might want to check out the latest 2.3.8 version. Essentially, AjaXplorer creates a web-based file manager using, you guessed it, Ajax. You can upload and view files, edit text files, create folders, and move or rename files and folders. Standard stuff maybe, but the beauty is that it can all be done from within your web browser at home, at work, or on the road. The setup is pretty easy, all you need is a working Apache server with PHP support. From Ubuntu you can enter:

~$ sudo apt-get install php5 apache2 libapache2-mod-php5

Then, go grab the latest version. Then you will need to unzip the contents of the file and put it into the Apache web folder.

~$ unzip ajaxplorer-core-2.3.8-dist.zip
~$ sudo mv AjaXplorer-2.3.8/ /var/www/explorer

We need to change some permissions on the files folder and on the server folder. These folders need to be writable, and we’ll restart apache to make sure everything is in place.

~$ sudo chmod -R 777 /var/www/explorer/files
~$ sudo chmod -R 777 /var/www/explorer/server
~$ sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Now you can check to make sure it is here by clicking http://localhost/explorer. As soon as the AjaXplorer loads you should be prompted to change your default admin password from ‘admin’. After doing that you can start to setup your repositories and users. Now this setup might be good enough for an internal trusted network, but I would recommend that anything done over the open web should be encrypted. Luckily AjaXplorer also kept this in mind and has a bit of documentation on how to set that up in section 8.7 of their F.A.Q. You will also need to be sure to restrict access to

/var/www/explorer/server/conf

and

/var/www/explorer/server/users

as soon as you have completed your configuration. According to the website, AjaXplorer uses .htaccess files to protect these directories. The interface is pretty easy to navigate, though there are still a few interface bugs.  You can see some screenshots below of my tests using Firefox 3, Camino 1.6.5, and Safari 3.2.

One of the coolest features is the ability to use a MySQL database as your ‘repository’.

If you are creative there are a lot of great things you can do with this, like manage a dynamic photo album’s pictures or even use the explorer as a type of collaboration tool. Check it out and let us know what you think!