FBBR – Troubleshooting – FTP Backup

Default Port: 21 tcp

• FTP is insecure protocol. The reason why FTP Server is not considered secure is even on packet capture you could see the password and file names as Plain Text.
• Transfer is not encrypted
• Does not use SSL certificates

Step 1 – Using FTP Client

You can download FTP Clients like Filezilla to test FTP Server.

Enter the same location, username and password and port number if custom port is being used.

Select Create directory and enter it. Because the backup process involves creating a directory and changing to the directory and listing the contents.

If successful, try creating files.

If file creation is also successful, there is no issues on the permissions unless there is ACL set on the FTP Server.

If failure, you would see the Response code being listed.

In this example, the error code is 550 which indicates Requested action not taken. File unavailable (e.g., file not found, no access).

Step 2 – Using vCenter

To test the connectivity, use the below command

curl -v ftp://<FTP_SERVER_IP>/Directory/ -u <username> -k

Change Directory

curl -vvv --fail -u <Username> -k --noproxy * --show-error -Q 'CWD <Directory_Name>' ftp://<FTP Server>

If changing directory and listing file fails, you would see the FTP Server response code.

In the below example, had provided an wrong Directory name and hence received 550.

To upload a file,

curl -v -T <file_name> ftp://<FTP_SERVER_IP> -u <username>

To download a file,

curl -v ftp://<FTP_SERVER_IP>/<DIRECTORY_NAME>/<FILE_NAME> -u <username> -o "<FILE_NAME>"

In the Series:

• File-Based Backup and Restore – vCenter
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – Using Self Backup
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – FTP Backup
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – FTP Retention
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – FTPS Backup
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – FTPS Retention
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – HTTP
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – HTTPS Backup
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – HTTPS Retention
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – SCP
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – SFTP
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – SFTP Backup
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – SFTP Retention
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – NFS Backup
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – SMB Backup
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – SMB – 6.x/Upto 7.0U3e
• FBBR – Troubleshooting – SMB – From 7.0U3f/8.x
• File-Based Backup and Restore – Strict Certificate Validation
• File-Based Backup and Restore – Steps to Restore
• File-Based Backup and Restore – VCHA