Server not starting

[AlexanderY]

I had an old FileZilla 0.x version installed on a dedicated server (Windows Server 2019) and it had been working well for years.

A few days ago I upgraded to the latest version (1.4.1) and it worked well. Yesterday it suddenly stopped working. The FileZilla Server process starts and hangs, taking about 13-20% of CPU, but it's not listening on a port. When attempting to connect to it via the Admin interface it says "Client failed connection. Reason: ECONNREFUSED - Connection refused by server.".

I tried this:
- Unistalled the FileZilla server and installed it again.
- Restarted the dedicated server.

These actions didn't help. Any ideas?

[oibaf]

What do the log files say?

[AlexanderY]

The log file has no records since the issue appeared. The last record is "226 Operation successful" and it's related to a file transfer 2 days ago. I have the log configured at the "normal" level. Is there a way to set a debug-level logging through the config file?

The Windows event log has no records related to this issue either.

[botg]

Please provide a minidump of the stuck process using Process Explorer: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysint ... s-explorer

Start Process Explorer, right-click on filezilla-server.exe and select Create Dump -> Create Minidump.

Email the resulting minidump to tim.kosse@filezilla-project.org

[AlexanderY]

Dump sent.

[botg]

It's the log file rotation. You may have inadvertently set a massively huge number of log files to keep.

For now, all you can do is to change the number manually in the config file, in 1.4.1 it is in %windir%\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\filezilla-server\settings.xml

[AlexanderY]

I don't have a file at this path (no filezilla-server folder there).

I found the file %user%\AppData\Local\filezilla-server-gui\settings.xml but if I understand correctly it's related to the admin interface and not the server itself.

Perhaps since I installed the 1.4.1 over an old 0.x version it still takes the config at the old path c:\Program Files (x86)\FileZilla Server\FileZilla Server.xml ? However, setting "Enable logging" to 0 in this file and starting the FileZilla server has no effect on the problem.

[boco]

If you have the released 1.4.1 (no Nightly) and installed as service, the file must be there. The path in APPDATA will only be used if starting FileZilla Server as program (very rare).

Only newer Nightlies have the settings under %PrgramData%.

I have mine at C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\filezilla-server.

[AlexanderY]

You are right. For some reason the filezilla-server folder is not displayed there in the file manager program I use. I looked in Windows File Explorer and I see it there now.

The max_amount_of_rotated_files was set to 4294967295. I changed it to 1000 and it fixed the issue.

As for the number 4294967295, here is where it comes from: I want to keep all log files (not delete old ones), so to figure out the maximum allowed number I set this value to 0 in the admin interface program, and then clicked "arrow down" of the numeric input field and it changed to 4294967295. What is the valid maximum amount that can be set?

On a side note: I like how log files were organized in the 0.x FileZilla Server - I had a new file daily with the date in filename (for example fzs-2022-07-01.log). Is there a way to set it the same in 1.4.1 instead of meaningless file.log.2, file.log.3 ect that I have now?

[botg]

4294967295 is a valid amount. It just takes time to rotate 4294967295 files, starting from 4294967295 counting down to 1.

[AlexanderY]

But I have only 5 log files in that log folder yet, that should not take much time to rotate.

[boco]

But I have only 5 log files in that log folder yet, that should not take much time to rotate.

Yes, but it still needs to check all possible numbers.

[oibaf]

The issue won't present itself any longer in the next release. The maximum amount of rotations has been reduced and the rotation itself doesn't need to go through all possible numbers any longer, only through the ones that are effectively present.

[AlexanderY]

Thank you for quick and helpful support!