Server Security Update 2004-12-02 modifies the Web Server configuration file. If the update is successful, files named ".DS_Store" will be blocked (unavailable to Web browsers or WebDAV clients). Please see article 300422 for the technical details. This improves security but can degrade the experience for WebDAV users who are working in the Finder. Similar to a read-only volume, client metadata for folders on mounted WebDAV volumes, such as icon positions and view options, will not be persistent from one login to the next.
WebDAV users who use the Finder to copy a folder that contains a .DS_Store file may see this alert message:
"The item <folder-name> contains one or more items you do not have permission to read. Do you want to copy the items you are allowed to read?"
In this case, instruct your users to click Continue to direct the Finder to copy the folder. All files except for the .DS_Store files should be copied.
When such clients access WebDAV volumes, expect to see many entries like this in the Apache error log:
[Tue Nov 16 13:15:26 2004] [error] [client 192.0.34.166] client denied by server configuration: /Library/WebServer/Documents/dav/.DS_Store
Such errors are harmless and can be ignored.