WS_FTP Server Manager 5.0 Problem - Possible DNS Problem

[ PLEASE NOTE THE FIX AT THE BOTTOM ]

Hello I am running WS_FTP Server Manager 5.0 on my Windows XP Home machine. It was working fine until I re-formatted my hard drive and re-installed the software.

Now I cannot connect with my FTP via ports 20 & 21 (which do not appear to be open) internally or remotely. I can get to the log in prompt but it just keeps popping back up asking me for my user name and password.

I am behind a D-Links Router and I have spoken with the manufacturer and they said I have everything set up correctly. I do not have firewall software.

Ipswitch's website suggests that my ports 20 & 21 are closed and the server will not work unless those ports are open. I checked using Shields Up and sure enough they were closed.

Ipswitch recommends I fix my DNS settings so there is an IP address properly configured, etc. etc..

I have used my network IP address and my WAN IP address as my DNS but neither made a difference?

Does anyone have a suggestion to help me open my FTP ports so my Browser or FTP client can connect with my FTP Server?

~Shane

What FTP server are you using and are you trying to connect to the local machine with your FTP client.

I am using the : Ipswitch WS_FTP Server Manager 5.0 and I am hosting an FTP server on my Windows XP machine because I need access to my home office files when I am working remotely or at my work office. In addition, my remote off-site employees need access to certain client files.

Apprently, no matter what I do I cannot get ports 20 & 21 open. Which appears to be the root of all my problems. I even re-installed the previous version of WS_FTP SM that worked and it has the same problem as the new version now.

Do I need to have an HTTP server running in order for an FTP server to work? Because the FTP server worked when I previously had Apache Server 2 running.

Any thoughts?

~Shane

ok, so the server manager is the ftp server, not a client as I originally thought. Execute the following commands and show me the responses:

ipconfig /all

netstat -an | find ":21"

I used asterisks for obvious reasons but this is what happened in the CMD Prompt:

Cmd > IPCONFIG /all

Windows IP Configuration

Host Name . . . . . . . . . . . . : *******
Primary Dns Suffix . . . . . . . :
Node Type . . . . . . . . . . . . : Unknown
IP Routing Enabled. . . . . . . . : No
WINS Proxy Enabled. . . . . . . . : No

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . : no.shawcable.net
Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Network Connect
ion
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0B-DB-77-AA-AE
Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
Autoconfiguration Enabled . . . . : Yes
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.167
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.1
DNS Servers . . . . . . . . . . . : *4.*9.160.1*
*4.*9.160.1*
Lease Obtained. . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, July 21, 2004 11:37:34 PM

Lease Expires . . . . . . . . . . : Wednesday, July 28, 2004 11:37:34 PM

netstat -an | find ":21"

Nothing happened here.

The netstat indicates your FTP server is not running. That would be the problem.

Let me try that again:

netstat -an | find ":21"
TCP 0.0.0.0:21 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING

now what is your IP. There's no reason to hide it, just give up the goods so we can test it.

Check your private msg's...

Its not you guy's ' gals I do not trust

I just re-installed my apache server and I cannot access my comp via http://24.***.**.*** (IP) address either.

No http or ftp access...

I also just changed my FTP SERVER HOST ADDRESS to 127.0.0.1 and re-tested:

CMD > netstat -an | find ":21"

TCP 0.0.0.0:21 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP 127.0.0.1:1725 127.0.0.1:21 TIME_WAIT
TCP 127.0.0.1:1726 127.0.0.1:21 TIME_WAIT
TCP 127.0.0.1:1727 127.0.0.1:21 TIME_WAIT
TCP 127.0.0.1:1728 127.0.0.1:21 TIME_WAIT

screw it... here is my IP address: 24.108.26.114

Does this help at all?

I then tried this:

Network Connections > Right Click Local Area Connection > Properties > Advanced Tab > Checked Internet Connection Firewall > Settings > Enabled FTP server on port 21/192.168.0.100 & HTTP Server on port 80/192.168.0.100.

CMD > netstat -an | find ":21"

TCP 0.0.0.0:21 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP 0.0.0.0:2118 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP 0.0.0.0:2120 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP 0.0.0.0:2121 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING
TCP 127.0.0.1:1034 127.0.0.1:2101 TIME_WAIT
TCP 127.0.0.1:1034 127.0.0.1:2103 TIME_WAIT
TCP 127.0.0.1:1034 127.0.0.1:2105 TIME_WAIT
TCP 127.0.0.1:1034 127.0.0.1:2107 TIME_WAIT
TCP 127.0.0.1:1034 127.0.0.1:2109 TIME_WAIT
TCP 127.0.0.1:1034 127.0.0.1:2111 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.0.167:2100 64.246.42.98:110 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.0.167:2102 24.71.223.43:110 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.0.167:2104 24.71.223.43:110 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.0.167:2106 64.246.42.98:110 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.0.167:2108 24.71.223.43:110 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.0.167:2110 24.71.223.43:110 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.0.167:2112 24.71.223.43:110 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.0.167:2113 24.64.223.200:80 TIME_WAIT
TCP 192.168.0.167:2118 24.64.223.200:8080 ESTABLISHED
TCP 192.168.0.167:2120 24.64.223.200:8080 ESTABLISHED
TCP 192.168.0.167:2121 24.64.223.200:8080 ESTABLISHED

However, I still do not have remote access to neither my FTP or HTTP servers running on ports 21 & 80

Any chance you have multiple gateways (eg, multiple NICs?) If you do disable all but the one you have above. Based on what I see with that latest netstat it looks like the requests are going in but not coming back out. I would verify the settings are correct with your Internet Gateway and then unplug it and plug it back in. No guarantees, but don't be surprised if that fixes it.

Thanks for the idea. However, I am not sure where to "verify the settings are correct with [my] Internet Gateway." And I how do I know if they are correct or not?

I did unplug the router and modem but nothing has changed.

What settings should I be watching out for...

~Shane

(sheesh I cannot believe this is a problem).

Yeah, taking at the netstat again I was off base, but I also tried connecting into your FTP server at the IP address you gave and also didn't get through. This is definitely not a DNS issue. The things to try, in order:

1. Open a command prompt and type:

c:\> ftp 192.168.0.167

and see if you can connect.

2. Try the same from a second machine on your network if you have one.

3. If the above works, go to your Internet Gateway configuration at http://192.168.0.1 and find the Port Forwarding / Virtual Servers / Port Filtering (don't know what hardware you have but its probably one of those three choices) and make sure ports 20 & 21 are pointing to 192.168.0.167, and that it's "enabled" (checkbox, etc).

Maybe when you reinstalled XP the router decided to give you a new IP address.

If that doesn't work then perhaps your ISP is blocking the port, or you should move this over to the Networking forum as its not a DNS issue and they may be more helpful, although I have feeling they'll repeat exactly what I just said.

Regard,
Alan

Hello,

I have figured it all out... I just had to think logically about this. And you are right this was not a DNS problem as I first thought. Obviously, remote computers could get to my Router but at that point they did not know where to go within my network. The request for FTP would go to multiple computers (which confused remote computers) within the network that did not have a custom internal IP address. By default, the computers are given 192.168.0.100, 101, 102. However, that does not work and perhaps (as you mentioned) when my computer reformatted it changed my IP address to something that did not distinguish me from other computers in the network. So it led me to change three things:

THE FIX

Step 1: Change TCP/IP Configuration

• Start > Network Connections > Right Click > Properties > TCP/IP properties
• Check "Use the following IP address"
• Enter custom internal IP (i.e. 192.168.0.1**) so it easily distinguishes your computer.
• Enter Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
• Enter Default Gateway: 192.168.0.1 (Routers IP Address)
• Enter your DNS server (CMD > ipconfig /all)

Step 2:
- Change WS_FTP Server Host Address to your new private IP that you just created.

Step 3:
- Change your Routers Virtual Server FTP private IP setting to your new IP you created in Step 1.

Step 4:
- Test it!

Thanks for all of your help. This discussion has led me to problem solve it effectively.

Have a great day!

~Shane