CODEWITHSUNDEEP
drupaldrupal-7
davey_b
davey_b

Reputation: 3

Hide/encrypt or otherwise change path to mp4 file in drupal

I have video files (mp4's as I want people to be able to view them on ipads etc.) that I serve to users. However some of these videos are only available to users who have a certain number of user points. I have that working in that if a user doesn't have enough user points they can't view the node. All users have the same role (video viewer) and the problem is that it is possible for someone who has enough user points to view the node, grab the url of the video and then give it to someone who has the video viewer role but doesn't have enough user points and then that person can directly download that mp4.

Just looking for a way to limit access to the mp4 file if a user does not have access to the node or hide the path to the file somehow. I have the mp4's stored in a private file system but this hasn't solved the problem as the users have the same role.

I've got this (http://www.ioncube.com/html_encoder.php) working on static pages in my webspace (non drupal pages) but can't get it working in my drupal setup. When I include the php code in my node to include the php file it just gives me a blank page.

Many thanks

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1401

Answers (1)

HaleFx
HaleFx

Reputation: 857

There's not much I could say about this that the Drupal documentation doesn't already.

http://drupal.org/documentation/modules/file#access

Managing file locations and access

When you create a file field, you can specify the sub-directory of the site's file system where uploaded files for this content type will be stored. The site's file system paths are defined on the File system page (Administer > Configuration > Media: File system).

You can also specify whether files are stored in a public directory or in a private file storage area. Files in the public directory can be accessed directly through the web server; when public files are listed, direct links to the files are used and anyone who knows a file's URL can download the file. Files in the private directory are not accessible directly through the web server; when private files are listed, the links are Drupal path requests. This adds to server load and download time, since Drupal must resolve the path for each file download request, but allows for access restrictions.

The best practice for public files is to store them in the multi-site directory like: sites/default/files

The default way to securely add a private directory for your files is to use a directory that can not be accessed directly by your web server, but can be accessed by Drupal. Ideally this directory should be located outside of your Drupal root folder.

The simple way to add a private directory for your files is to create a sub-directory under the public directory like: sites/default/files/private

When you specify the private directory in admin/config/media/file-system it will automatically create the sub-directory & create a simple .htaccess file with Deny from all. This stops Apache from serving files from this directory. Make sure that you test this by adding file to that directory and verifying that you can't browse there directly. If this isn't working, all files in this directory will be accessible to anyone who can guess the URL! Note that non-Apache web servers may need additional configuration to secure private file directories.

Accessing Private Files

Once configured, files stored in the private directory are inaccessible via a direct link; however, if Drupal constructs a link to the file, the file will be accessible to anyone who can see the link.

For example: you have created a new content type with a file field which stores files in your site's private file directory. Next you create a node from this new content type and attach two new files. When the node is published links to both attached files are visible and anyone who can view the node may download the files. Now, if you unpublish the node, all attached files become inaccessible for download even if you use the direct link to the files that worked when the node was published.

Re-publish the node, and disable the "display" checkbox for one of the files. Save the node. Now one file is accessible for public download and the other is not accessible--even if you have the direct URL for the file that is not listed you will not be able to download this file.

For finer grained control of who can see/download attached files you will need an additional access control module. You may write a module yourself, or use a contributed module such as Content Access.

Upvotes: 1

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