Webdav server on WRT

Yes. If your OpenWrt router runs a WebDAV server, it can expose files that actually live on another machine inside your LAN.

There are a few common architectures:

1. Router mounts an internal server share (most common)

Your internal server exports:

• SMB/CIFS (Windows share)
• NFS
• SSHFS

Then the router mounts that share and re-exports it via WebDAV over HTTPS.

Example flow:

Internet Client
    ↓ HTTPS/WebDAV
OpenWrt Router
    ↓ SMB/NFS
Internal NAS or Server

Internet Client
    ↓ HTTPS/WebDAV
OpenWrt Router
    ↓ SMB/NFS
Internal NAS or Server

Example:

• Internal server: 192.168.1.10
• Shared folder: /data
• Router mounts it at /mnt/storage
• WebDAV serves /mnt/storage

OpenWrt packages:

opkg install kmod-fs-cifs cifsmount

opkg install kmod-fs-cifs cifsmount

or for NFS:

opkg install nfs-utils

opkg install nfs-utils

This is usually the safest and simplest approach.

2. Reverse proxy directly to an internal WebDAV server

If the internal server already runs:

• Apache HTTP Server
• Nginx
• Nextcloud

with WebDAV enabled, then OpenWrt can simply terminate HTTPS and proxy traffic internally.

Flow:

Internet
   ↓ HTTPS
OpenWrt Reverse Proxy
   ↓ HTTP/HTTPS
Internal WebDAV Server

Internet
   ↓ HTTPS
OpenWrt Reverse Proxy
   ↓ HTTP/HTTPS
Internal WebDAV Server

This is usually better for performance.

3. Simple port forwarding

You can also just forward:

• TCP 443
• or custom HTTPS port

to the internal WebDAV server.

This works but exposes the internal service directly.

Best practice:

• Run the heavy WebDAV server on the internal machine

• Use OpenWrt only for:

  • HTTPS termination
  • reverse proxy
  • firewall
  • VPN access

Routers are usually weaker CPUs, and WebDAV over HTTPS can be surprisingly CPU-intensive.