Lost – Updating from old Server version

[TheWeaz]

I’ve been running FileZilla_Server-0_9_47 for years. I’m moving everything to a new Windows 11 PC. I installed the latest version of the server (FileZilla_Server_1.7.3) but it looks nothing like the old version. Where are all the settings? The old version had something like 15 pages of settings. I’m really at a lost here. I tried to install the old version on the new PC but the install fails.

[boco]

What settings are you missing? Essentially, all you need is present. More settings is not always better.

Using any 0.x version in 2023 is just asking for trouble. Not updated for a long time and no support at all.

[TheWeaz]

Here is the first settings page. There's also a page for Users and one for Groups.

[boco]

Listening-related settings are now set on the "Server listeners" page. 0.0.0.0:21 and [::]:21 should be pre-populated.

Performance settings: "Protocols settings" page,in the "Performance" tab.
Timeouts: "Protocols settings", "Timeouts" tab.

Users and Groups are now sub-items of the "Rights management" page.

[TheWeaz]

Thank you, I'm getting closer now. For some reason all of those options were greyed out. I uninstalled everything and started from scratch and now I can access the settings.

I seem to connect OK, but I'm getting "550 Permission Denied" errors after the file transfer begins (STOR).

With the settings in different places now, I'm having trouble locating things. I don't see anything for Passive Mode.

[boco]

I seem to connect OK, but I'm getting "550 Permission Denied" errors after the file transfer begins (STOR).

Did you set the resource/directory to "Read and Write"?
Does the account the server runs under have full permissions to the directory?
Is it an actual directory? Shortcuts, Junctions or Symlinks don't work.

I don't see anything for Passive Mode.

"Protocols settings" - "FTP and FTP over TLS (FTPS)", then "Passive mode" tab.

[TheWeaz]

The Access Mode under Mount Options is set as Read + Write. Is that the "resource/directory"?
I'm running under my Admin Windows user account. I also set the target folder shareable and it's accessible from other PCs.
It's an actual folder I created under C:\.
I was able to find the Passive tab, thanks.

[TheWeaz]

The old server had a place to input the server IP address under the Passive Mode settings. I don't find that on this version. Is it there?

[boco]

The Access Mode under Mount Options is set as Read + Write. Is that the "resource/directory"?
I'm running under my Admin Windows user account. I also set the target folder shareable and it's accessible from other PCs.

The actual server runs as a Windows service. What you see is not the server, only the admin interface. The service runs under the SYSTEM account, by default (note this was also the same for the old server). Does SYSTEM have full rights to the directories you defined in the server?
Please also note that, if you did not define the root directory (user Home, depicted by Virtual path / ), but only a subdirectory, then, the root directory is not writable.

The old server had a place to input the server IP address under the Passive Mode settings. I don't find that on this version. Is it there?

It has been renamed to better reflect what it does and takes. It's now called "Use the following host" and is on the Passive tab. It accepts hostnames and IPs, like the old option.

[TheWeaz]

SYSTEM has Full Control.
I'm confused about the " (user Home, depicted by Virtual path / )". The Virtual Path is "/DeckCam FTP" and the Native Path is "C:\Users\J_E_C\Pictures\DeckCamFTP". I had used "C:\DeckCamFTP" for the Native Path, but when I ran into trouble I changed it. That is, I created a new folder.
On the old version I put the IP of the PC that was running FileZilla in the Passive Mode setting. Is this still needed?
I'm truly sorry for being a pain but switching from a Windows 8 box to Win 11 and all that's involved in the transition has really got my head spinning.

[boco]

I'm confused about the " (user Home, depicted by Virtual path / )". The Virtual Path is "/DeckCam FTP" and the Native Path is "C:\Users\J_E_C\Pictures\DeckCamFTP". I had used "C:\DeckCamFTP" for the Native Path, but when I ran into trouble I changed it. That is, I created a new folder.

You need to wrap your mind around the fact that there are virtual and physical directories. The directory you are dropped in after having logged in is the virtual path / aka Home directory. The old server had a H besides that directory IIRC. As you did not assign a physical path to / but only to "/DeckCam FTP", you actually need to CWD into that subdirectory first, and only in that subdirectory, you can actually write files. In this scenario, the root directory / is actually only a virtual container and you can not write anything into it (where would it go?).

It might be that the device just wants to write to the / directory. If that is the case, don't use "/DeckCam FTP" as virtual path, but only "/" (no quotes). This root is writable if set, and all files go to the physical path "C:\DeckCamFTP".


The most basic path rule in virtual filesystems like FileZilla Server uses is that physical and virtual path are completely independent. They don't need to have similar names and paths, both can be completely different. The physical path is simply where the files go to or are read from, and the virtual path determines how it appears in the FTP client.

On the old version I put the IP of the PC that was running FileZilla in the Passive Mode setting. Is this still needed?

Yes, for external access (over the Internet) but not for local one. Internet access requires putting the public IP there, or a domain name resolving to said IP (e. g. the URL from a Dynamic DNS service). The old feature for fetching the IP in text form from a FileZilla-hosted URL was dropped.

[TheWeaz]

Thank you!

I changed the Virtual Path to just "/" and the files immediately began to successfully transfer.

Thank you once again.