Adding a New Connection to M-Files Server

Note: This content is no longer updated. For the latest content, please go to the user guide for M-Files Online. For information on the supported product versions, refer to our lifecycle policy.

To set up a new connection to M-Files server in M-Files Admin, select Connections to M-Files Servers in the left-side tree view. In the task area, click New Connection to M-Files Server.

Note: If the connecting computer is using Windows Server 2012 and the server computer has been set to only accept Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 connections, TLS 1.2 must be enabled on the client computers by following the instructions in Enabling TLS 1.2 on Windows Server 2012 Computers.


Name

First assign a name to the connection.

Connection / Server Name

Enter the network name or IP address of the server on which M-Files Server has been installed and that contains the document vault.

Connection / Port Number

The server was specified in the previous field, and in this field you specify the port to connect to on the server. Enter the server port number to connect to. M-Files uses port 2266 by default.

Connection/Protocol

Specify the protocol to be used for the network connection. The following protocols are available:

  • gRPC
  • Local gRPC
  • TCP/IP
  • SPX
  • Local Procedure Call (LPC)
  • HTTPS
Note: When you use the gRPC protocol for connections between the M-Files server and M-Files clients, a valid TLS certificate must be in use on the server for connection security and encryption. For instructions, see Managing Server Certificates.

Encrypted connection

Activate this option to enable RPC encryption between M-Files Admin and M-Files Server.

The option is available for the TCP/IP protocol only. If the protocol is HTTPS, the connection is always encrypted at the HTTPS protocol level. For connections from outside the organization's internal network, HTTPS or VPN should still be used, as RPC communication to the default TCP port, 2266, is often blocked by firewalls.

Note: For RPC encryption to work, the user as well as the computer must be able to authenticate to the server computer. In practice, this requires that the client computer belongs to the Windows domain and that the user is a domain user.

For more information on encrypted connections and for instructions on how to configure the server to require encrypted connections, refer to Protecting Data in Transit with Encryption in M-Files.

Connection / Test Connection

You can test the operation of the connection to M-Files server with the Test Connection button.

Authentication

Specify the method M-Files Server is to use for authenticating the user. The authentication options are Current Windows user, Specific Windows user and M-Files user.