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I had to upload some *.exe-Files in Sharepoint 2007. Now we are upgrading to Sharepoint 2010 and I got the following problem:

I tried to upload these files into a document library. After I allowed the file extension "exe" in the Application Management that worked. But now I can't open these files in my browser. But I am able to download a copy of them when I'm looking at my document library settings.

Can you tell me what I have to do to set direct links to these exe-files to open them automatically in the webbrowser? If I click right now on one exe file (even in my document library) I always get the message "Website could not be found" in my internet explorer.

Any suggestions?

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Why are you uploading .exe files to SharePoint? – Kit Menke♦ May 4 '11 at 17:08
I'm uploading *.exe files to SharePoint because we have a software which you can use to create tutorials. And these tutorials should be available on our Sharepointserver – Tanja May 5 '11 at 12:49
Ok, SharePoint is not designed to store exe files. I had the same problem with a screen saver stored in an exe file, to be published in SharePoint. I will use a classic IIS directory to store this exe. Thanks for your information. – user5732 Nov 21 '11 at 9:10

5 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

SharePoint isn't a file share, it's web application.

If you need a program to run from clicking in the browser, you will need to re-develop your application which currently resides as an exe to something more suited to web applications, like Silverlight.

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There is no way to make an executable (EXE file that is) run directly from SharePoint like it was a file share. Even when you open with Windows Explorer view (like a file share), Windows won't let you run it from there. – John Chapman May 9 '12 at 15:43
up vote 1 down vote

Try and change the Browser File Handling option on the Web application from strict to permissive if you can accept the additional security risk. Go to Central Administration -> Manage web applications -> General settings to find the option.

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I changed this setting and made an "iisreset" afterwards but I still get the same error. – Tanja May 4 '11 at 6:55
up vote 1 down vote

When you view an EXE file in a SharePoint view, it provides you with a drop down menu that includes 'Send To'-->'Download a Copy'. When this is selected, my IE 9 browser prompted me if I wanted to save a copy of the file. Using fiddler I found that this option is calling the URL /_layouts/download.aspx with parameters for where to get the file from for download. You can take this URL (with parameters) and paste it into your own links.

I hope this helps give you an alternative to 'don't do it'.

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up vote 1 down vote

It's been said a few times, that it is not a good idea and can expose your users to significant risks.

However, you can use a "wrapper", and say deploy an XBAP applicaiton that can download and execute the .exe. This requires some work to get around the sandbox limitations (browser security, not share point sandbox).

You could also utilize custom feature receivers to alter the context menu based on file type. You could also accomplish this via JavaScript / JQuery.

I typically block executable from being downloaded, and most farms I've worked on are deployed on domains that enforce policies that do not allow them to execute in the browser context. Where there is a requirement, we have the users ZIP the files. It pretty much ensures that the users are executing them directly, and are not unaware of the action.

Also, if you are accessing these internally only, you could keep them on a file share and just link to them from the SP site. This will execute outside of the browser instance in this case, but wont work for outside users, unless you publish file shares via something like UAG (Unified Access Gateway).

I'm curious which software package you would be utilizing, most "screen / video" captures allow you to output to multiple formats, of which any native video file would be a better option.

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up vote 0 down vote

You would need to set the exe up with an activex control or create a Java applet for it. You should keep it the way it is with downloading a copy of the exe. It would introduce a huge security risk to allow exe's through activex controls. You may fix this issue, but you could have issues with malware in the future.

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Thanks for your answer. I would be happy if there would be a dialogue where I can choose if I want to download the file or not. But unfortunately with Sharepoint 2010 I just get the "Website could not be found" error. – Tanja May 5 '11 at 12:53

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