VanDyke Software

Index

How to Customize the VShell User Web Interface

VShell Enterprise Edition with HTTPS allows end users to connect to the VShell HTTPS server to transfer files easily using their web browser. This documentation provides detailed instructions on how to customize the VShell User Web Interface, including its title, colors, logo, and more.

In short, if a configuration file named custom.cnf exists in a directory named custom\ located in the VShell installation folder under HttpsFiles\, VShell will use the settings in the file to determine the look and feel of the web interface. Therefore, the VShell User Web Interface can be customized with the following steps.

1. Edit the VShell Web User Interface Configuration (custom.cnf) file.
2. Copy desired image files to the custom_example\ folder.
3. Rename the custom_example\ folder to custom\.
4. Connect with your Internet browser to see the effect.

The following sections provide details on each step.

Step 1: Edit the VShell Web User Interface Configuration (custom.cnf) file

Navigate to the example VShell Web User Interface customization directory that is included with the HTTPS files in the VShell installation.

On Windows, the default location is:

C:\Program Files\VanDyke Software\VShell\HttpsFiles\custom_example\

On Linux/macOS, the default location is:

/usr/local/etc/HttpsFiles/custom_example/

Before you begin, save a copy of the default example custom.cnf file in case you need to restore the original look and feel of the web interface.

Next, edit the custom.cnf file using the following guidelines to get the effect you want.

The example custom.cnf file that comes with the VShell installation is shown below.

// VanDyke Software, Inc.
// VShell User Web Interface Configuration File
//

titleText: VShell File Server
frameColor: #527a7a
bodyColor: #e0ebeb
titleBarColor: #94b8b8
buttonColor: #2e7d45
serverLogoImage: myserverlogo.png
favIcon: myfavicon.ico
companyLogoImage: mycompanylogo.png
tagLine: Powered by VShell® - VanDyke Software

Available Settings

The VShell Web User Interface consists of the login page and the main page.

The two diagrams below illustrate which areas on each of these pages is affected by the different custom.cnf file settings.

Comments

Two slashes at the beginning of the line indicate a comment.

You can add text to document your settings or negate the effect of any setting in the file by inserting "//" at the beginning of the line.

Title Text

Use the titleText setting to specify the string that will appear at the top of the login page, the top of the main page, the top of prompts, and the top of the help section.

No quotes should be used to delimit the string. Standard HTML character codes must be used for symbols.

For no title at all, set the tag line to nothing, as follows:

titleText:

Colors

Colors for web pages are specified in RGB (Red/Green/Blue) hexadecimal values. For more details on how colors work, see the Microsoft page HTML Color Table. Note that the color names mentioned on these pages are not used by VShell because they may not be interpreted correctly by all browsers.

The page referenced above provides a table with a number of predefined colors. Alternatively, it may be helpful to use a HTML color picker such as the one provided by w3schools.com at https://www.w3schools.com/colors/colors_picker.asp.

Tagline

Use the tagLine setting to specify the string that will appear at the lower right of the VShell User Web Interface.

No quotes should be used to delimit the string. Standard HTML character codes must be used for symbols.

If no tag line is desired, set the tag line to nothing, as follows:

tagLine:

Step 2: Copy desired image files to the custom_example\ folder

Images

Images must be *.png files. For best results:

• The server logo image should be square, between 30x30 and 40x40 pixels in size.
• The company logo image should be no more than 30 pixels in height.

If you do not want one of the images, specify none for that image.

Icons

The icon image must be a *.ico file.

• The icon should be square, 16x16 pixels in size.

Images in other formats can be converted into *.ico files using various applications, for example Windows Paint.

Step 3: Rename the custom_example\ folder to custom\

The custom.cnf file is only used when is located in a folder named "custom".

Therefore, to put your customization in place, rename the custom_example\ folder to custom\.

If you want to temporarily suspend the use of the custom configuration, simply rename the folder.

Step 4: Connect with your Internet browser to see the effect

This step assumes you have already set up VShell so that the HTTPS service is running and you can successfully connect to VShell with your Internet browser.  

Important Note: If the appearance of the VShell User Web Interface does not change, it is likely because you need to clear your browser cache. In other words, may need to delete cookies and temporary Internet files that your browser has stored on your computer for faster web page display.

Repeat Steps 1-4 until you achieve the desired effect.