Setting up FTP Server on Mac OS 10.4.4

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Level 1

50 points

Setting up FTP Server on Mac OS 10.4.4

Hello.
I am trying to set up my Mac so that I can use it as an FTP Server.

I am connected via BT Business Broadband and I am using the following router:

3COM Office Connect ADSL Wireless 11g Firewall Router (3CRWDR100A-72)

I have been assigned a Static IP Address, which I am 99% certain that I have entered correctly into the router. If I go to www.whatismyip.com it shows my static IP correctly.

What I cannot do is access my Mac via FTP from another computer.
I think I need to set up port forwarding on the Router to the Mac, but I dont know where to do this.

Then, once I have that set, How do I set the Mac up so I can connect via FTP.
I hope this makes sense..
I would be very greatful for any help / advice.
Many thanks
Glenn

iMac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Posted on Jan 15, 2006 6:45 AM

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Answer 1

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jan 15, 2006 7:33 AM in response to Glenn Kelly1

Hello Glenn,

The ports you need to forward for active FTP are tcp ports 20 and 21.

once you have that setup. To connect to your ftp if you only need read only access you can use the finder. Press command +k and use

ftp://user:password@serveraddress

replace user and password with the actual account name nad password and change 'serveraddress' with the actual server address.

If you need read/write access you need to use an ftp client.

I use transmit from panic software but there are other freeware ftp clients.

http://panic.com/transmit/

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Answer 2

Glenn Kelly1 Author

Level 1

50 points

Jan 16, 2006 2:24 AM in response to Tim Haigh

Hi
Thanks for the reply - its very much appreciated.

So I go into my router and forward on ports 20 and 21. I assume that the router will automatically forward to the Mac without entering any IP addresses (?)

You mention that if I need read /write access I will need an FTP client.

I host some websites which I need to back up to the mac. The backend system allows me to automatically back up to any computer with ftp access.
So, I want to have the back ups sent to the Mac using ftp. (The back end will connect using ftp://user:password@serveraddress
which will obviously need write access. Would this still work without an ftp client. (as I write this, I have the feeling it would be OK as the back end to the hosting will be using ftp protocols anyway))

Any clarification would be great
Many thanks again

Glenn

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Answer 3

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jan 16, 2006 2:47 AM in response to Glenn Kelly1

So I go into my router and forward on ports 20 and 21. I assume that the router will automatically forward to the Mac without entering any IP addresses (?)

That is not normally how routers work. You need to give your mac a static ip address such as 192.168.0.x. Then you have to tell your router to forward those ports to the ip of your mac.

Would this still work without an ftp client. (as I write this, I have the feeling it would be OK as the back end to the hosting will be using ftp protocols anyway))

You can't connect to an FTP server without a client. It is just that when using the Finder as your ftp client it only gives your read only access.

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Answer 4

Glenn Kelly1 Author

Level 1

50 points

Jan 16, 2006 5:41 PM in response to Tim Haigh

Hi Tim.
Thanks for your reply.
I think I may have confused my posting (sorry)
What I mean is that I want an external server to connect to me, and have write priviledges. (I have back ups that will need access to the Mac)

Im pretty new to Mac's so again apologys for my confusion.
BT have given me a static IP address which I have put on to the router.
Where do I go on the Mac to add a static Ip address.
Could you step by step the process for me please?

Thanks
Glenn

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Answer 5

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jan 17, 2006 12:47 AM in response to Glenn Kelly1

Hi Tim.
Thanks for your reply.
I think I may have confused my posting (sorry)
What I mean is that I want an external server to
connect to me, and have write priviledges. (I have
back ups that will need access to the Mac)

Im pretty new to Mac's so again apologys for my
confusion.

The principles for setting up an ftp server are the same no matter what plafform your using.

BT have given me a static IP address which I have put
on to the router.

Where do I go on the Mac to add a static Ip address.
Could you step by step the process for me please?

What is the make and model of your router?

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Answer 6

Glenn Kelly1 Author

Level 1

50 points

Jan 17, 2006 2:32 AM in response to Tim Haigh

Hi Tim.
Thanks for your reply again.

The Router is :
3COM Office Connect ADSL Wireless 11g Firewall Router (3CRWDR100A-72)

Glenn

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Answer 7

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jan 17, 2006 2:49 AM in response to Glenn Kelly1

First of download the manual for your router 3com manual 6mb.

In the PDF manual look at page 36. Change the Starting and Ending IP Pool Address To = Starting: 11 /
Ending: 254 .

This will give you 10 IP address for servers on your network.

Ok, goto your mac's SystemPreferences->Network->Show Built-In Ethernet->TCP/IP.

Configure IPv4 Manually
IP Address 192.168.1.2
subnet mask 255.255.255.0
router 192.168.1.1
dns servers 192.168.1.1

Then click 'Apply Now'

now go back to your 3com manual and look at page 53 Figure 41.

Setup your port forwarding.

Then enable ftp in your System Preferences>Sharing

Now you should have an ftp server running.

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Answer 8

Glenn Kelly1 Author

Level 1

50 points

Jan 17, 2006 5:19 AM in response to Tim Haigh

Hi Tim
You say:
Ok, goto your mac's SystemPreferences->Network->Show Built-In Ethernet->TCP/IP.

What if I am using Airport to connect to the router. I guess I shoudl choose Airport, or is it better to connect directly to the router via Ethernet?

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Answer 9

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jan 17, 2006 8:17 AM in response to Glenn Kelly1

Hi Tim
You say:
Ok, goto your mac's SystemPreferences->Network->Show
Built-In Ethernet->TCP/IP.

What if I am using Airport to connect to the router.
I guess I shoudl choose Airport, or is it better to
connect directly to the router via Ethernet?

Ethernet is faster, more secure and reliable than Airport. However ethernet wont make your internet any faster. Airport does not need wires. Airport is more secure if you use WPA. So the choice is yours.

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Answer 10

Glenn Kelly1 Author

Level 1

50 points

Jan 18, 2006 1:26 AM in response to Tim Haigh

Everything appeared to go ok until I came to enter the DNS Server IP of 192.168.1.1

It said that the address was already in use. This is the address of the router incidentally (?)

I didn’t get the error code, as it was all numbers and colons, but it basically didn’t like the IP as it was already in use.

Any other suggestions?

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Answer 11

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Jan 18, 2006 1:39 AM in response to Glenn Kelly1

Everything appeared to go ok until I came to enter
the DNS Server IP of 192.168.1.1

It said that the address was already in use. This is
the address of the router incidentally (?)

That is correct. You can use the router's IP address as the DNS server.

I didn’t get the error code, as it was all numbers
and colons, but it basically didn’t like the IP as it
was already in use.

Any other suggestions?

Double check your entries. You would normally only get that error if you were entering a duplicate IP in the IP address field.

However you can use your ISP'S DNS server addresses instead.

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Answer 12

Glenn Kelly1 Author

Level 1

50 points

Apr 5, 2006 1:19 PM in response to Tim Haigh

many thanks for your help. All sorted

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Answer 13

Tim Haigh

Level 7

24,198 points

Apr 5, 2006 1:30 PM in response to Glenn Kelly1

Hey Glenn great you got it sorted!

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