Accessing my Mac remotely via FTP
There seems to be so much information out there about accessing a Mac OS X machine via FTP that it's making my brain hurt.
All I'm trying to do is be able to access my Mac's files (either the whole thing, or just a few folders, not sure yet) with any remote computer using FTP. (or AFP. OR SMB. Whatever works, I don't care.)
I'd love to use Back to my Mac, but my 2Wire router won't do the NAT-PMP or UPnP protocols. I have an AirPort Express, but I cannot use it as my sole base station, because I use it on the other side of the house for a remote printer in a different room. (I can't put the 2Wire gateway in that other room.) Not to mention--- Back to my Mac seems to only work on Leopard-or-later Macs, no on PC's.
Here's what I've got:
iMac (early 2008) 2.4 GHz
4 GB Ram
OS X 10.6.3
iMac is connected to 2Wire gateway via Ethernet.
Here's what I did:
-- Opened my Gateway's settings, and for my iMac's IP address, set it to Private Fixed. (I'm presuming that this means that the iMac has a static IP address. It's staying the same.)
-- Confirmed iMac can still browse the web just fine.
-- Open Sharing prefs in System Preferences.
-- Checked "File Sharing."
-- Clicked the "Options" button.
-- Checked Share Files and folders using FTP and clicked "Done."
-- Set an appropriate folder that I wanted to share, and set "Everyone" to have Read Only access.
-- Restarted computer. Confirmed IP address remains the same.
For the sake of privacy, I'm censoring the 3rd and 4th octets of my IP address. My iMac's IP address is showing in the File Sharing prefs as 192.168.X.XX.
Now, to test this, I'm using a MacBook Pro (10.6.3) that is using a different Wi-Fi network. I went to Finder > Go > Connect to server and typed ftp://192.168.X.XX/ and clicked Connect. I'm prompted for a username and password, for which I type my exact login user and password for my primary iMac. It hangs there for about 2 minutes and kicks back an error that username/password is incorrect. I know they're correct. I can't log in as guest.
If I switch this MacBook Pro to the same wireless network that my iMac is on, I can easily see the iMac's shared folder in the left panel of the Finder. When I switch to a different network, this goes away (of course, expected I assume) and I cannot manually connect using FTP.
I read somewhere that I'd have to enable port forwarding for port 21 on my gateway. I did this, (to the best of my knowledge) using the klunky 2Wire configuration interface. I went to the "Applications, PinHoles and DMZ tab, and made a new user-defined application called FTP. I set it to port 21 (TCP) and saved it. I switched the router to the "Allow individual application(s)" radio button, chose my newly-created FTP application (port 21 I assume) and added it to the access list, saved it. No luck, same behavior.
Do I need to install third party software to be able to access my Mac's files on different networks using FTP? Like I said, I have MobileMe and would love to do the Back To My Mac. But I'd rather not shell out the cash for another AirPort unit if I can help it.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
All I'm trying to do is be able to access my Mac's files (either the whole thing, or just a few folders, not sure yet) with any remote computer using FTP. (or AFP. OR SMB. Whatever works, I don't care.)
I'd love to use Back to my Mac, but my 2Wire router won't do the NAT-PMP or UPnP protocols. I have an AirPort Express, but I cannot use it as my sole base station, because I use it on the other side of the house for a remote printer in a different room. (I can't put the 2Wire gateway in that other room.) Not to mention--- Back to my Mac seems to only work on Leopard-or-later Macs, no on PC's.
Here's what I've got:
iMac (early 2008) 2.4 GHz
4 GB Ram
OS X 10.6.3
iMac is connected to 2Wire gateway via Ethernet.
Here's what I did:
-- Opened my Gateway's settings, and for my iMac's IP address, set it to Private Fixed. (I'm presuming that this means that the iMac has a static IP address. It's staying the same.)
-- Confirmed iMac can still browse the web just fine.
-- Open Sharing prefs in System Preferences.
-- Checked "File Sharing."
-- Clicked the "Options" button.
-- Checked Share Files and folders using FTP and clicked "Done."
-- Set an appropriate folder that I wanted to share, and set "Everyone" to have Read Only access.
-- Restarted computer. Confirmed IP address remains the same.
For the sake of privacy, I'm censoring the 3rd and 4th octets of my IP address. My iMac's IP address is showing in the File Sharing prefs as 192.168.X.XX.
Now, to test this, I'm using a MacBook Pro (10.6.3) that is using a different Wi-Fi network. I went to Finder > Go > Connect to server and typed ftp://192.168.X.XX/ and clicked Connect. I'm prompted for a username and password, for which I type my exact login user and password for my primary iMac. It hangs there for about 2 minutes and kicks back an error that username/password is incorrect. I know they're correct. I can't log in as guest.
If I switch this MacBook Pro to the same wireless network that my iMac is on, I can easily see the iMac's shared folder in the left panel of the Finder. When I switch to a different network, this goes away (of course, expected I assume) and I cannot manually connect using FTP.
I read somewhere that I'd have to enable port forwarding for port 21 on my gateway. I did this, (to the best of my knowledge) using the klunky 2Wire configuration interface. I went to the "Applications, PinHoles and DMZ tab, and made a new user-defined application called FTP. I set it to port 21 (TCP) and saved it. I switched the router to the "Allow individual application(s)" radio button, chose my newly-created FTP application (port 21 I assume) and added it to the access list, saved it. No luck, same behavior.
Do I need to install third party software to be able to access my Mac's files on different networks using FTP? Like I said, I have MobileMe and would love to do the Back To My Mac. But I'd rather not shell out the cash for another AirPort unit if I can help it.
Thanks for any help you can provide.
iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.3)
