ProFTPD Makes lftp Hang

 
Just now did an FTP login
into a ProFTPD 1.3.2 Server.
For some reason it hangs.

The following seems to stop
it from hanging:

lftp -u myname,mypassword abc.com 
     -e "set ftp:ssl-allow no"

Not sure why this is. I copied
and pasted from another FTP login
script I have with a different user
but the same hosting company. I've
had the same problem twice with the
same hosting company.

Ah, yes. This has come up before.
Not just twice at the same hosting
company but at a different hosting
company as well.

That's 3 times that I've had same problem
when using lftp and ProFTPD together.
I've just come to this conclusion after
looking at the record and doing a little
research.

More specifically, the problem is not
really logging in. It's after I login.
It seems that lftp hangs with an
endless delay after you've successfully
logged in and tried to type a command.
Even a simple ls command makes
lftp hang under these conditions.

I wrote to Alexander V. Lukyanov,
the creator of lftp. He was kind
enough to write back the following to me:

On Tue, Aug 05, 2008 at 05:32:29AM -0400, Ed Abbott wrote:
> ---> AUTH TLS
> <--- 234 AUTH TLS OK.                                               ... > ---> PASV
> <--- 227 Entering Passive Mode (74,220,219,58,165,243) > ---- Connecting data socket to (74.220.219.58) port 42483
> Interrupt                                

Probably you use a firewall and when control connection is encrypted
it cannot dynamically open ports for data connection. Turn off encryption
with this command:

        set ftp:ssl-allow no

--
   Alexander.

Maybe this will help someone else
who is having the same problem
as I was having. I don't know the
ins and outs of FTP servers so I
don't know why this worked.

There's a principle in all of this
for me and that is share what you
know and you will know more. It's
a basic teaching principle.

When I make the effort to share what I
know, I learn the most myself. The
teacher learns the most.

Not only did Alexander V. Lukyanov
write free software for others,
he also teaches them (or, at
least me) how to use it. That's
the same principle in operation.
You get the most by giving. It's
a spiritual thing, OK?

I write this in that spirit.
Hopefully, there is someone
out there who needs to know
what I know as badly as I needed
to know it at the time I needed
to know it. When you need to know,
you need to know.

Ed Abbott