ftp & Passive Mode

[GerryB]

I'm posting here as I may have discovered a problem in PrEl8 but it also exists in Pro CS4, I think!

I tried to Flash code a video file and then upload the .flv file to my web server in a combined process from within PrEl8 and it would appear, after some correspondence with the web server provider, that they need the ftp setup to use PASSIVE MODE. Well I cannot find a PASSIVE MODE option in either 8 or CS4, so it make me wonder which is the cart and which is the horse! Needless to say I have not succeeded in using 8 to upload a file!!

If I use WS_FTP (don't ask how old it is!!) I can logon and upload without any problem to the server (my main one) and to another server where I have ftp access.
If I use 8 i Can upload to the other server but not my main server, so it would appear to be my main server that is out of step.

Has anyone else tried to use 8 or CS4 for ftp upload and experienced the same problem?

Ron has been helping me in the background and without him I would have been tearing my hair out.

Yet again MUVIPIX shines when looking after its community.

GerryB

[Bobby]

Gosh GerryB, its been so long I don't even remember what active vs. passive mode was. But I use WS_FTP myself when I occasionally need to. I believe you can set both active or passive mode in WS_FTP and so I might try both and see what happens. If WS_FTP runs in both modes, than that is not the problem and we have to look elsewhere.

[Chuck Engels]

Gerry, Download and install Core FTP Lite (free).
You can set Passive Mode in the FTP client when you set up the connection.
If you use Core FTP Lite I can help you because that is what I use.

http://www.coreftp.com/

[GerryB]

Bobby, Chuck,
Many thanks I'll have a look at Core FTP lIte.
I have been using WS_FTP without a hitch but I'm trying to streamline my processes!!
In CS4 I can set up a number of files to be coded [in .flv] in a queue (a nice feature) and let it run overnight. I'm coding files that are 40 min long and usually 'grow' to 200MB+ so the whole time process is ideal for an overnight batch job.
When I use CS4 & WS_FTP I wind up with a two stage process.
I could set up a batch file to link it all together but that lets the server people off the hook.
I cannot believe that web server people are sticking with "it must be in PASSIVE MODE" when Elements 8 work with my other web site in non-passive mode.
Ho hum!
Many thanks,
Gerry

[Bobby]

Understand Gerry. That is why I wanted you to try ftping in both active and passive modes from your current ftp program to see if in fact that is really the problem. Too often we go off on tangents based on somebody's quick opinion, which is often wrong. Just happened to me today with a client, in fact.

[Bob]

Passive ftp arose out of a need to work in a firewalled environment. Given the large number of people using firewalls, I would have thought that PrE would have used passive by default. That's why browsers use ftp in passive mode. I'm wondering if the server provider actually put a sniffer on the line and actually looked at the protocol being used or just made an assumption.

Ftp uses two ports, one for sending control commands and the other for sending data. In active ftp, the client tells the server what port to use (>1023) for the data and the server initiates the connection to the client using that port which will almost certainly be blocked by the firewall. Even if the connection isn't blocked, If the firewall performs NAT as well, you will most likely need to configure it for port forwarding. In passive ftp, the client tells the server to choose a data port and the server sends back the port number to use. The client will then make the connection to the server's data port. Since the client initiated the connection, the firewall won't block it. Everything else works the same.

[GerryB]

Bob,
Thanks for the explanation on Passive Mode. I am learning a lot on this now.
I posted on the Adobe Forum and I must of hit a bug that has left most folk scratching their heads. I had one response with a good idea about modifying the relevant .ini file for the ftp sub-module (if it exists) to set Passive Mode to ON.
I have yet to find the file, but I will keep looking.
Best wishes,
Gerry

[Ron]

I had one response with a good idea about modifying the relevant .ini file for the ftp sub-module (if it exists) to set Passive Mode to ON.
I have yet to find the file, but I will keep looking.

I looked and couldn't find anything.

[GerryB]

Ron et al,

This is for my Pro CS4 setup, I have not looked at Elements 8 yet!

I went to c:\program files\Adobe\Adobe Device Central\Required\Tasks\SendToTFP and found FTPupload.xtml and I cannot see any mention of Passive Mode in the script! You can read .xtml with Notepad.

Maybe this is not the correct FTP for Pro CS4 but it is indicative that some Adobe FTP scripts may have omitted the essential words.

As I don't know anything about writing xtml I can only hope that someone will get Adobe to step up and sort the problem.

On this basis the "product is not fit for purpose" and if it were a motor car there would be a product recall.

Why are software suppliers not bound by the same rules?

Gerry

[Ron]

Hm, I don't have that file (PE8).