Webspace cant upload files

[#1]

@bobpullen 

If it helps any ... I logged on, did a ls and it just hung...

PS C:\Users\kevin> ftp ftp.plus.net
Connected to ftp.plus.net.
220-PLEASE NOTE: If you have a non-subscription account you
 will only be able to login to this ftp server if you are
 dialled into our network.

 A Maximum of 4 concurrent connections are allowed to this
 server, each session is limited to 256KB/s downloads.

220 Plus.Net FTP Server #1 ready
200 UTF8 set to on
User (ftp.plus.net:(none)): ********
331 Password required for ********
Password:
230 User ********logged in
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list

Killed it and did a dir - same result - it did not respond.

Rather looks as though anything which accesses the filestore kills the ftp session.

[#2]

@Townman  strange ! , looks like it's possibly account related. My account still works fine.

Are accounts split across different physical servers ?

[#3]

My account starts with "t".

Tried on a referral's account which starts with "b" - same failure.

[#4]

Mine's 'w'

[#5]

Interesting, thanks guys for the testing. I've raised a NetOps task (ref: INFOPS-73202) with full details. 

@bobpullen, cheers for the advice.

@RalphHVH, I can't provide NetOps your password in writing as that's generally the only way I'd talk with them, so I've added to the ticket 222419247 that you're happy for them to change your password as part of the investigation, if they need to. Let me know though if you're not comfortable with that. 

Also, what's even more interesting is that I can ping your domain fine today, but not the plus.com version. 

I'll let you know once I've got a response back from NetOps, which should be within 3 to 5 working days as they're busy folk nowadays due to how small their team is and I believe someone's recently left so they've undergone some changes. 

[#6]

@Townman - now I should really have tried that myself!

I'm having the same issue with an account starting 'b' (and yes, I believe the storage is separated based on the first two letters of your username):-

$ ftp ftp.plus.net
Connected to ftp.plus.net.
220-PLEASE NOTE: If you have a non-subscription account you
 will only be able to login to this ftp server if you are
 dialled into our network.
 A Maximum of 4 concurrent connections are allowed to this
 server, each session is limited to 256KB/s downloads.
220 Plus.Net FTP Server #1 ready
Name (ftp.plus.net:bobpullen): b*******
331 Password required for b*******
Password:
230 User b******* logged in
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> pwd
257 "/" is the current directory
ftp> cd htdocs
250 CWD command successful
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list

@RalphHVH - do you know when things started failing?

Interestingly, I do not experience the issue if passive mode is set as part of the FTP session. I've no idea at this stage whether or not this has always been the case:-

$ ftp
ftp> passive
Passive mode on.
ftp> open ftp.plus.net
Connected to ftp.plus.net.
220-PLEASE NOTE: If you have a non-subscription account you
 will only be able to login to this ftp server if you are
 dialled into our network.
 A Maximum of 4 concurrent connections are allowed to this
 server, each session is limited to 256KB/s downloads.
220 Plus.Net FTP Server #1 ready
Name (ftp.plus.net:b*******): b********
331 Password required for b*******
Password:
230 User b******* logged in
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> ls
227 Entered Passive Mode (212,159,9,91,176,208)
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for file list
drwxr-xr-x   9 ftp      ftp          4096 Dec 30  2020 htdocs
drwxr-xr-x   2 ftp      ftp          4096 Mar  3 03:48 logs
226 Transfer complete

[#7]

@RalphHVH - based on my testing above, you may have some short term success by enabling passive mode in Fusion.

See here.

[#8]

@bobpullen

Thanks - so knew that FTP operation has always been odd. As it is such a long time since I have used it (and coffee cup no longer works) I could not recall what the “issue” was - I thought it was ascii / binary.

I now recall that in the past I had to operate in passive mode. Given I do not in depth understanding of the differences and my objective was simply to upload files, I had not fussed over what did not work.

So the key question is should this work in Non-passive mode?

[#9]

I've added those details onto the task for when NetOps pick it up, but if it works in passive mode, this could be a solution. 

Unsure though if it's meant to work in non-passive mode and if something's broken. 

[#10]

Unsure though if it's meant to work in non-passive mode and if something's broken. 

Could it be associated with the problem of the PlusNet firewall being stuck on some accounts ? Active mode is certainly not going to work with that on!

[#11]

Townman has the firewall on as "high" and Ralph as "low" but turning it off by following the steps here > https://www.plus.net/help/broadband/about-plusnets-broadband-firewall/ and trying again may be a good shout. That should be possible now, as we've since resolved the problem that stopped changes from being made to it.

[#12]

Over many years using various devices and clients my ftp connections to ftp.force9.net have only ever worked in passive mode.

[#13]

Looks like the broadband firewall is turned off for you as well so it could be that this is just the way our FTP works

[#14]

---

@Gandalf wrote:

Townman has the firewall on as "high" and Ralph as "low" ...

---

High

This setting blocks all unauthorised incoming traffic, so no external source will be able to connect to your network or your devices. Software updates and administrative traffic for Plusnet-provided routers will still be allowed.

It will stop some things working, such as certain apps, VPN software or active FTP sessions. So if you need to use one of those, switch your firewall back to Low.

Well that explains why it does not work for me...

Here is a good explanation of the difference - Active vs. Passive FTP Simplified: Understanding FTP Ports (jscape.com) - having read this given that the client will probably have a software firewall ... I have difficulty understanding how active might work even with the PN fire wall being low.  If the SERVER is guessing a port for the data channel and the software firewall has the port closed, its will fail just the same as if the Plusnet firewall was set to anything other than high.

[#15]

It seems not to work in passive mode, even with the firewall off or in a low state though.