Site

Site

A site represents a mapping of the server files to the local filesystem. Normally each computer has a site associated with it. A site has the following attributes:

• A site name

• A host name

• The path to a folder on the filesystem (a.k.a., "root directory")

• Path filters (optional)

Root directory

The root directory is the essential attribute of a site. It denotes where all files from the vault server will be mapped to the local disk. Everything inside the root directory can potentially be uploaded to the vault server and shared with other team members.

The vault server cannot manage files located outside the root directory. However, this limitation is straightforward to overcome: create a symbolic link (or, on Windows, a junction point) from the root directory to the directory of your choice. This will make the target of the symbolic link visible as part of the root directory.

The vault server keeps track of each site's state: what files have been downloaded to the local disk, what files have been checked out for editing, etc. This simplifies the housekeeping tasks, especially for big repositories with millions of files. Even for them, downloading the latest files or reconciling the local disk with the server, are almost instantaneous.

The host name is a security feature that prevents from using a site on a wrong computer. Since the server keeps track of the files downloaded to each site, using a wrong site may lead to an inconsistent mapping between the server and local disk. However, if the user does not want this protection, it is possible to erase the host name in the site definition.

Sites can be edited from the "Sites" view.

Path filters

By default all server files are visible, but for servers that manage gigabytes of data this can be problematic: it may be undesirable for users to download all files to their local computer.

Site filters provide a mechanism that lets users restrict the set of files their IDA Teams client works with. Users who want to work on some specific projects can set a filter that restricts the visibility only to selected subdirectories.

Each site has its own filters, that con be modified at any time. Filters do not directly affect any files on the local disk, or on the server: they are strictly about visibility.

WARNING: Site filters are meant simplify a user's life by letting them focus on specific projects. Since they can be modified by users, they should not be considered a security measure: that would be the role of the permissions system, which can only be managed by vault_server administrators.

NOTE: The purpose of site filters is to create a subset of the full set of files provided by the server. Site filters don't directly affect what locally-available files (i.e., present in the site's rootdir, but not tracked by the server) are visible by IDA Teams clients.

There is another mechanism to specify what files should not be added to the vault. See .hvignore for more info.

Examples

An empty filter

$ cat empty_filter.txt
$

Hide all files, except those in malware/

$ cat only_malware.txt
malware/
$

Show all files, except those from the pentesting team

$ cat hide_pentest.txt
!pentesting/
$

Show all files but those from the pentesting team, except their produced documents

$ cat hide_pentest_but_docs.txt
!pentesting/
pentesting/research_docs/
$

The registry

On Microsoft Windows, IDA with Teams will store certain bits of information in the registry (host name, user name, site name.)

On macOS and Linux, it will use a pseudo-registry file, located at $HOME/.idapro/hvui.reg.