Troubleshooting FTP.EXE Connectivity Issues Over the Internet: Causes and Solutions

Are you having trouble connecting to an FTP server over the Internet? FTP.EXE? This is a common problem. This article discusses the causes and solutions to this problem.

problem

FTP is the most commonly used protocol for transferring or sharing files. FTP.EXE It is a built-in utility that comes with Windows and is commonly used. FTP.EXE It works perfectly fine on the server, but I’m having trouble connecting to a remote FTP while browsing a directory listing. The connection hangs until it times out. In this case, the FTP server is trying to connect to the IP address and port of the FTP client specified in the PORT command. However, the connection is not successful because the server cannot connect to the client’s private IP address.

way out
There are two solutions to this problem. Switch to an FTP client that supports passive mode FTP. Popular FTP clients include FileZila, WinSCP, etc. This is not a recommendation, choose the tool that best suits your needs.

Alternatively, you can configure your FTP server to accept active mode. This is not a simple configuration, and requires updating your network and firewall settings to allow the necessary connections and ports. That’s another topic for another discussion. At the end of this article, I’ll share some links where you can find more information about how active vs. passive FTP works, and what the necessary network and firewall settings are.

conclusion

Built-in utilities FTP.EXE A timeout occurred because you cannot connect to the Internet and do not support passive mode while retrieving the directory listing. The easiest solution is to switch to an FTP client that supports passive mode. The article below will teach you more about how active and passive FTP modes work, as well as how to harden your network and firewall for both FTP modes.

jaroslad – Windows Firewall Settings for Microsoft FTP Publishing Service for IIS 7.0.

Robert McMurray – A brief discussion of active and passive FTP connections (iis.net)