FileZilla Forums

First, thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

I have been using WsFTP for years to transfer some files to my Web page but it recently stopped working with a time out problem. So I downloaded FileZilla but it also fails with a time out error shown below

Status: Resolving address of faithbiblechurch.com
Status: Connecting to 107.154.158.205:21...
Error: Connection timed out after 20 seconds of inactivity
Error: Could not connect to server
Status: Waiting to retry...
Status: Resolving address of faithbiblechurch.com
Status: Connecting to 107.154.158.205:21...
Error: Connection timed out after 20 seconds of inactivity
Error: Could not connect to server

I have allowed FileZilla in the Windows 10 firewall and tried disabling the firewall with not change.

Interestingly I can see a directory listing and even download files through a browser (Chrome) by typing ftp://ftp.faithbiblechurch.com and entering Userid and Password but I need to be able to upload.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can proceed from here?

Thanks

I can easily spot a potential user error, here.

You use FileZilla to connect to faithbiblechurch.com but are using Chrome to connect to ftp.faithbiblechurch.com.

The latter is a different subdomain and might point to another server. Please, try connecting to ftp.faithbiblechurch.com with FileZilla

Thanks for the reply boca. You nailed the major issue. I don't know when or why the ftp server was changed to ftp.faithbiblechurch.com, but using that URL FileZilla now tries to get in after complaining about a certificate issue. When I tell it to accept the certificate it gives the following log.

Status: Resolving address of ftp.faithbiblechurch.com
Status: Connecting to 66.147.242.92:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Initializing TLS...
Status: Verifying certificate...
Status: TLS connection established.
Status: Logged in
Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Command: PWD
Response: 257 "/" is your current location
Command: TYPE I
Response: 200 TYPE is now 8-bit binary
Command: PASV
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (66,147,242,92,193,143)
Command: MLSD
Error: Connection timed out after 20 seconds of inactivity
Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing
Status: Disconnected from server
Status: Resolving address of ftp.faithbiblechurch.com
Status: Connecting to 66.147.242.92:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Initializing TLS...
Status: Verifying certificate...
Status: TLS connection established.
Status: Logged in
Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Command: PWD
Response: 257 "/" is your current location
Command: TYPE I
Response: 200 TYPE is now 8-bit binary
Command: PASV
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (66,147,242,92,176,195)
Command: MLSD
Error: Connection timed out after 20 seconds of inactivity
Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing

To my surprise, when I tried ftp.faithbiblechurch.com in WsFTP it worked, so I am now able to do do what I need to, but I would like to switch to FileZilla if possible. Do you know what I can do to get it to work?

Again thanks,
Ivan Hipschman

Please test the server on our site https://ftptest.net - use the FTP over TLS Explicit profile. Report the result here.

Here is the result of running https://ftptest.net

Status: Resolving address of ftp.faithbiblechurch.com
Status: Connecting to 66.147.242.92
Warning: The entered address does not resolve to an IPv6 address.
Status: Connected, waiting for welcome message...
Reply: 220---------- Welcome to Pure-FTPd [privsep] [TLS] ----------
Reply: 220-You are user number 2 of 1000 allowed.
Reply: 220-Local time is now 15:29. Server port: 21.
Reply: 220-This is a private system - No anonymous login
Reply: 220-IPv6 connections are also welcome on this server.
Reply: 220 You will be disconnected after 15 minutes of inactivity.
Command: CLNT https://ftptest.net on behalf of 2605:e000:2449:7d00:d160:5c8:20da:8483
Reply: 530 You aren't logged in
Command: AUTH TLS
Reply: 234 AUTH TLS OK.
Status: Performing TLS handshake...
Status: TLS handshake successful, verifying certificate...
Status: Received 3 certificates from server.
Status: cert[0]: subject='OU=Domain Control Validated,OU=Hosted by BlueHost.Com\5c, INC,OU=PositiveSSL Wildcard,CN=*.bluehost.com' issuer='C=GB,ST=Greater Manchester,L=Salford,O=COMODO CA Limited,CN=COMODO RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA'
Status: cert[1]: subject='C=GB,ST=Greater Manchester,L=Salford,O=COMODO CA Limited,CN=COMODO RSA Domain Validation Secure Server CA' issuer='C=GB,ST=Greater Manchester,L=Salford,O=COMODO CA Limited,CN=COMODO RSA Certification Authority'
Status: cert[2]: subject='C=GB,ST=Greater Manchester,L=Salford,O=COMODO CA Limited,CN=COMODO RSA Certification Authority' issuer='C=SE,O=AddTrust AB,OU=AddTrust External TTP Network,CN=AddTrust External CA Root'
Command: USER faithbi1
Reply: 331 User faithbi1 OK. Password required
Command: PASS ***********
Reply: 230 OK. Current restricted directory is /
Command: SYST
Reply: 215 UNIX Type: L8
Command: FEAT
Reply: 211-Extensions supported:
Reply: EPRT
Reply: IDLE
Reply: MDTM
Reply: SIZE
Reply: MFMT
Reply: REST STREAM
Reply: MLST type*;size*;sizd*;modify*;UNIX.mode*;UNIX.uid*;UNIX.gid*;unique*;
Reply: MLSD
Reply: AUTH TLS
Reply: PBSZ
Reply: PROT
Reply: UTF8
Reply: TVFS
Reply: ESTA
Reply: PASV
Reply: EPSV
Reply: SPSV
Reply: ESTP
Reply: 211 End.
Command: PBSZ 0
Reply: 200 PBSZ=0
Command: PROT P
Reply: 200 Data protection level set to "private"
Command: PWD
Reply: 257 "/" is your current location
Status: Current path is /
Command: TYPE I
Reply: 200 TYPE is now 8-bit binary
Command: PASV
Reply: 227 Entering Passive Mode (66,147,242,92,160,51)
Command: MLSD
Error: Connection timed out

The server is not working correctly. Has the data ports blocked, these are required for Passive mode to work correctly. That's why FileZilla fails.

Does your other FTP client use FTP over TLS as well?

The program that works is WsFTP LE. It is quite old - version 5.08 dated 2/23/2000. The documentation is too old to be opened in Windows 10 and I could not find any reference to TLS in any of the options.

I will report the FTP issue to the Web Host provider and see if they will cooperate in resolving the problem. I don't know how long that will take but if I learn anything form them I will report it back here.

Thanks again for the help,
Ivan

Yes, old clients usually do not use FTP over TLS. Moreover, even if they attempted using it, their supported (old and insecure) TLS versions would fail with many servers.

So, seems like your hosting company relies on their firewall or router for rectifying the wrong server configuration. This is bad behavior and, as you now know, fails with FTP over TLS (routers/firewalls cannot read/modify encrypted traffic).

They must fix their server urgently. Having a secure server with working FTP over TLS (or SFTP) is neither witchcraft nor rocket science, in 2019. Vote with your wallet, leave incompetent hosters behind. Natural selection.


Edit: Yes, now I remember, I still have WsFTP_LE 5.0 on an old Windows 95 machine that won't run anything newer (because of missing coprocessor).

Final update. I thought I should give you the resolution after all the help. I don't fully understand why they are doing things this way, but after talking to the Webhost and a person maintaining the Web page I was given an IP address that works with SFTP. The address does not access a Web page, but it works for SFTP. Seems a little strange but since it works I won't complain.