[Zope-dev] ZServer and ftp port-1 data channel

Shane Hathaway shane@digicool.com
Tue, 26 Sep 2000 17:10:02 -0400


Kent Polk wrote:
> So you are saying ZServer just isn't ever going to support Active
> ftp clients in the correct port-1 manner?  If so, you might want
> to put a LARGE BANNER disclaimer about this matter as this makes
> ZServer unusable from most ftp clients that try to access it from
> behind standard a firewall.  (And yes, on checking, it appears that
> the only OSes we could locate that come with a passive ftp client
> by default are the BSD's).

I didn't say it, Sam did. :-)  But I agree with him.  Active mode is
becoming deprecated and it would take extraordinary effort for Medusa to
support it 100%.

The most used FTP clients these days are browsers such as Netscape and
IE.  They always run in passive mode; in fact you can't turn off passive
mode.  "wget" runs in passive mode if you use the --passive-ftp option. 
Almost every FTP client you find on freshmeat or download.com supports
passive FTP, including WS_FTP and FTP Explorer.

At least in Mandrake 7.x, even the standard ftp command supports passive
mode.  After logging in, enter "passive".

Shane