Using SharePoint 2010 to host video files? Be Permissive!
If you’re using SharePoint 2010 document libraries to host wmv video files and you’re NOT using the native SharePoint Silverlight video player to display them, or if you’re placing flash .SWF files in document libraries, pay attention. SharePoint 2010 will natively block HTML, PDF, SWF and other Mime types due to the Browser Handling settings.
The easy fix:
- Central Admin\Application Management\Manage Web Applications.
- Select General Settings for the specified web application
- For Browser file handling, select permissive. The default is strict.
Be aware however, that there is a certain security risk involved here as the Browser Handling setting either blocks or allows files which execute scripts in the browser. Symptoms of blocked files are basically that files simply don’t show up in player webparts, give errors about not playlists not being loaded, and that if you navigate directly to the file you will be prompted to download the file rather than just opening it in the browser (which is what happens AFTER you download it).
Dmitry of PDF SharePoint offers a great write-up here: SharePoint 2010 and Pdf Integration (part 1)
Searching for this solution was pretty frustrating because I was specifically having the problem with SWF files and when you search Bing/TheOtherGuys for “SharePoint download swf host document library…” you end up with 9,000,000 hits for how to save SWF files from places like YouTube. It was hard to find the negative of I DON’T want SharePoint to download SWF files, I want it to host them and play them in webparts and on pages.
The above paragraph was specifically so that I could search for this solution myself later, knowing full well that I am again going to use the phrase “SharePoint download SWF…”. Go go Google Juice. And Bing juice…