SP2010 Workflow can't access network file system?

Question

I've got an event receiver that extracts and saves an icon from an exe file located on the network when an item in an underlying list is added or updated (the list contains the network location of the exe). This works fine.

I'm now trying to convert the event receiver code into a simple workflow so instead of working on a single item in a list, it goes through the entire list and extracts icons for all items in the list. I've hit a problem where the workflow can't see files located on the network. I am logged on as the domain administrator so should have unlimited access to the file system. Here is an extract of the code that is in the single code activity item in the workflow:

        string appLocation = listItem["AppLocation"].ToString().ToLower().Trim();

        FileInfo appInfo = new FileInfo(appLocation);

        if (appInfo.Exists)
        {
           // NEVER REACHES HERE AS FILE IS LOCATED ON THE NETWORK
        }

Why is it workflows can't see the entire file system - I was under the assumption that the local credentials were used in SharePoint?

Answer 1

Your workflow will run using the credentials used by your Timer Service account. Try giving that account access to the file system.