Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 22 - 12:15 PM

I haven't used it in a long time, I just went into the file downloads and picked a clean old version of filezilla.exe. It doesn't update itself unless it is used.

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: DaveRo
Date: 18 Nov 22 - 12:08 PM

Ah. I misunderstood. It was your own old download. Sorry.

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: DaveRo
Date: 18 Nov 22 - 12:05 PM

Stilly River Sage wrote: I found the most recent download (from 2016)

That sounds wrong - I remember updating the one on my wife's Win10 machine recently.
Her version is 3.60.2 from 7/22 - Version history
There should be an update link in the program itself.

On Android I use AndFTP. Free, but it has little adverts along the bottom. That supports SFTP too.

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Nov 22 - 11:33 AM

Since you already have FileZilla in place, and over the years it has been a very functional and relatively easy to use program, it makes sense to see if they have solved the problem you are facing.

I hunted through my backlog of downloads and installed programs; I no longer had FileZilla installed, and when I went searching there was one suspiciously labeled "sponsored" that Malwarebytes jumped on and quarantined. I found the most recent download (from 2016) and installed it and that triggered the update to the newest FileZilla.

To everyone else considering whether they want to install it themselves, I've saved you the trouble. When you open FileZilla there is a popup window with links to the Wiki and other sources of information. To figure out how to use it with your altered Network Solutions protocols, I suggest you search the Forums and read the page on Network Configuration. For in depth information they point you to this page. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find links to other specifications. The SFTP specifications page is a bunch of links that might help. It's a rabbit hole, but one you'll want to learn about if you want to keep your site up and running.

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 18 Nov 22 - 11:07 AM

Easy mistake: further down the Wikipedia page on FTP, it mentions "The SSH file transfer protocol (chronologically the second of the two protocols abbreviated SFTP)".

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: DaveRo
Date: 18 Nov 22 - 10:46 AM

You're right. SFTP is not actually FTP over SSH as I wrote.
SSH File Transfer Protocol

FileZilla supports it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 18 Nov 22 - 09:47 AM

> SFTP (FTP over SSH) has largely replaced it

That's not the sftp client I know: that presents the user with an FTP-like interface, but is SSH underneath, and is part of the standard OpenSSH suite. For me, it comes as part of the openssh-client package. (For completeness, the Wikipedia page on FTP says that attempting to tunnel FTP over SSH is difficult to do, and impossible to make decently secure. The name collision is agreed to be unfortunate.)

I've no idea which MS-Windows packages or programs (or even apps) do SFTP, which is what you'd need, Joe; I have a sneaking suspicion that WinSCP may have been doing it all along. Anyway, I suggest you follow SRS's sage advice and contact Network Solutions. You'll then know whether FTP's vanished at their end (or was ever there), and whether to worry about finding a new file-transfer client or recreating your site from scratch, or whether it's something else again (late thought: an SSH key date-expiring?). Good luck.

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: DaveRo
Date: 17 Nov 22 - 03:23 PM

Mozilla removed FTP from Firefox within the past year or so, I don't know if Chrome supports it - I think not.

SFTP (FTP over SSH) has largely replaced it,

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 22 - 03:12 PM

It sounds like it's time to poke around the Network Solutions host and see what they're supporting now, and make the change. Evidently they didn't say anything (or in a way that you would notice) about closing off the FTP access. It's good to learn new things, Joe, it keeps us young.

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 17 Nov 22 - 02:30 PM

> Edge doesn't support those FTP tools

For a very good reason: FTP is a horribly insecure protocol, full of corner cases, implementation nightmares and security disasters waiting to happen. Apologies, but I can't put it any other way: any site which still relies exclusively on FTP for file transfer would now be widely regarded as broken.

The usual replacements for scripting and command-line use usually use the SSH protocol, which is decently secure and fairly widely supported. For Web browsers, and anything else downloaded from a web server, TLS (née SSL) is all but universal.

Apologies for the coredump. Disengage rant lecture mode. Good luck, Joe.

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Nov 22 - 12:46 PM

Joe, I used to use Filezilla when I worked on a site for a friend several years ago, but another way to connect is using the Microsoft FTP tools. I used to get there in Internet Explorer and looking it up - Edge doesn't support those FTP tools. Add the location to your Windows Explorer (assuming all of this is happening in a Microsoft environment).

Filezilla was always adding updates to it's software and every so often I had to re-setup the whole site and password stuff for myself. You may need to look at whatever Wiki they have in place to find answers.

Download Internet Explorer information from Microsoft.

Subject: RE: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 17 Nov 22 - 11:30 AM

If it used to work and now does no longer, something must have changed. One possibility is that someone got hold of your password, changed it (and the email address connected to it) and thus capered your website. The tools you mention make no particular attempt to encrypt your login data; anyone with access to your computer, physically or online, can steal them.

You can use the usual "password lost" routine at Network Solutions, via snail mail if the email address has been changed. You should then delete the whole contents and re-upload them, to make sure nothing has been infested.

All other possibilities I leave to the real experts to talk you through or thru.

Subject: Tech: Connecting FTP-can you talk me thru it?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Nov 22 - 01:36 AM

Hi - for the last month, I have been unable to update the websites on my Network Solutions hosting package. I can't get WinSCP or Filezilla to connect, and I suspect there's a firewall in the way. Is there anybody who can talk me through this process? I'm free all day Friday and Saturday, but gone on Thursday.
Thanks.

-Joe-