FTP Server

[Phauss]

The server has recently had the issue of not displaying the file directory upon login, mostly because of the new router and the firewalls it came with. Fortunately, that was the only issue with the router, and I've come up with a solution.

Instead of having the server passively sit around and let other computers connect to it, it's going to actively request a random port number from clients to send data to. This is the difference between active and passive FTP in a nutshell. What does this mean? It means that instead of having to get through my firewall from the outside, the client's computer will have to accept a request from the server through it's own firewall. Normally, it will just be a pop-up from Windows Firewall wondering what you want to do with the incoming traffic (just hit "unblock".)

It's easy to set up your FTP client to use active FTP. Here, I've even screenshotted the button you need to hit, via the "Settings..." option in the "Edit" menu in the toolbar:


Hopefully that resolves any issues of file directories not showing up.

[Update] The server no longer requires active FTP to use. A client shouldn't need any changes to the settings to connect and use the server.

[Forb]

Since the server's been back up, when I upload a folder it usually tells me that the same folder already exists there and that I am replacing it or whatever. So I do that and things seem to work fine, it just seems like there isn't a problem where I'm worried there might be.

[Phauss]

The FTP server can be accessed from smartphones via a free app called AndfFTP. There is a premium version, but the free version can retrieve multiple files from the server at once. No special settings are needed, just type in the server and your user/pass to gain access.

[Clow]

For those who would need it the FTP information is as follows:

Address: ftp://aserverwith.no-ip.org
User: shclient
Password: message either me or Phauss.

[Phauss]

Just a heads up to those experiencing slow FTP downloads: if it's possible, make sure port 21 on your router is forwarded for FTP traffic. There are many routers out there, so I can't give a clear-cut how-to for forwarding ports. Go to google and search for "<your router> port forward 21" to find a write-up. Those of you behind school or business networks can't do much about this unless you harass your network administrators, unfortunately.

[Forb]

Just did it and noticed a significant increase in speed and consistency.

[Phauss]

I have taken the FTP server offline temporarily because somebody in France, logged in as shclient, placed htaccess files in every folder that shclient has permission to use. Thankfully, shclient does not have access to the website root directory, otherwise right now you'd be seeing the russian malware site that the htaccess file was pointing to. The htaccess files have been deleted, and there may be a password change on the shclient account. People with access to shclient should scan their computers just incase it was malware that pulled the FTP password off of the infected computer.

[Clow]

Nothing good ever comes from France. Let me know what the new password is. I'll run a scan while I sleep tonight.

[Clow]

Well, after a MalwareBytes and AVG scan I'm clean. Lemme know the new info when ya can.

[Phauss]

I know the FTP has been down for a while. Things are pretty busy on my end, but I will work on getting this up and running again as soon as I can.