FTP Clients & Configuration
General FTP Info
Here's some general info every FTP client will want:
| Host: | ftp.pacificdomains.net |
|---|---|
| Port: | 21 (default FTP port) |
| Username: | the FTP username |
| Password: | the FTP password |
FTP Clients & Security
Transferring files to our server via FTP requires an encrypted connection. Primarily, this is to protect your username and password from being transmitted across the Internet in cleartext.
There are many FTP clients available for transferring your site's files to the hosting server. Often, software for building websites already contains an FTP client. This is what runs in the background when you click something like "Publish".
Enabling encryption varies with every different FTP client. Refer to your program's documentation for instructions on how to do so.
In general, you must enable FTPS. This may also be referred to as "FTP over TLS/SSL". sFTP and SFTP are different and will probably not work.
Unfortunately, FTP and security have historically had a poor relationship and you may find that your FTP client or website building software of choice does not support the appropriate encryption type (or encryption at all). Below is some info we've collected while assisting customers attempting to get their FTP client or software to connect to our hosting server.
FileZilla
We recommend FileZilla if you are unable to get your own FTP client to work. It is free, open-source, and well-maintained. Get it from the FileZilla Project.
We have some information on FileZilla regarding Site Manager settings and installation. The FileZilla Wiki is a great place for more information.
CuteFTP
Needs to have "FTP with TLS/SSL (AUTH TLS - Explicit)". Reported that version 5.0 will not work, confirmed that version 9.0.5.007 will.
Fetch
Will probably require a version of 5.7.3+, as that is when they introduced a fix for the enigmatic -9807 SSL error.
Adobe Dreamweaver & GoLive
Dreamweaver did not support FTP over SSL until CS5.5 according to this forum.
GoLive was discontinued in 2008. Note that Adobe GoLive is essentially an old name for Adobe Dreamweaver, so it is unlikely to support encryption at all
WinInet
The Windows Networking API is not capable of doing FTP over TLS/SSL.
Apple iWeb
iWeb was discontinued in 2011. We know some versions supported sFTP with public-key authentication, but have never managed to get it to work.
We have not found a way to transfer iWeb files with a general FTP client due to iWeb's file structure. We strongly suggest updating to current web design software.
RapidWeaver
Some of our customers have had trouble getting RapidWeaver to publish. After working with Rapidweaver's support, they were eventually able to get it working after installing Cyberduck. We do not know the specifics of how this was done, only that it was eventually successful. The external program was necessary because RapidWeaver did not have support for the required security settings.
We have reports that recent versions of RapidWeaver now have support for FTPS, starting with version 7, at least. Version 4 definitely does not have the necessary support for securing FTP connections over TLS. The "Publishing Method" should be "FTPS" and you should "Use SSL for" "All Communication". "Connections" may need to be set to "1 - Slowest (Compatibility Mode)" (other settings untested).
Sandvox
Sandvox supports FTPS, but the ability to accept a trusted certificate was removed, as confirmed by Karelia support. It is unknown which version this occurred in, but we do know that someone with version 2.8.9 (28900) experienced this loss of functionality. This will prevent you from being able to connect to the server, despite knowing the certificate is valid.
Coda
Needs to have the "Protocol" set to "FTP with TLS/SSL".