ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

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allegrita
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Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:17 am

ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

Post by allegrita »

Support Request Template
What version of phpBB are you using? phpBB 3.3.5
What is your board's URL? www.moonlightaholics.com
Who do you host your board with? hairyglove.com
How did you install your board? Someone else installed my board for me
What is the most recent action performed on your board? Update from a previous version of phpBB3
Is registration required to reproduce this issue? No
Do you have any MODs installed? No
Do you have any extensions installed? Yes
What version of phpBB3 did you update from? phpBB 3.1.2
What extensions do you have installed? Header Banner from hifikabin
What styles do you currently have installed? prosilver
What language(s) is your board currently using? British English
Which database type/version are you using? I Don't Know
What is your level of experience? New to PHP and phpBB
What actions did you take (updating your board; installing a MOD, style or extension; etc.) prior to this problem becoming noticeable? The board had some sort of massive SQL error(s). After trying to fix them, the web host decided to create a new (current) version of phpBB, upgraded a recent backup of the database, and installed it for us.
Please describe your problem. Note: I understand that this isn't really a phpBB question, it's an ftp question. But I'm at my wits' end and I am hoping someone will take pity on me and help me figure this out.

We are trying to configure the board after the huge upgrade the web host did. Since phpBB is so changed from our old version, it's been a major learning curve. We want to install other styles, etc., which requires us to ftp folders to the public_html directory. I'm using FileZilla to try to ftp folders to the board. It accepts my login and password, but times out when trying to do a directory listing. Here is the ftp log:

Status: Resolving address of www.moonlightaholics.com
Status: Connecting to 192.187.121.10:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Initializing TLS...
Status: Verifying certificate...
Status: TLS connection established.
Status: Logged in
Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Command: PWD
Response: 257 "/" is your current location
Command: TYPE I
Response: 200 TYPE is now 8-bit binary
Command: PASV
Response: 227 Entering Passive Mode (192,187,121,10,252,204)
Command: MLSD
Error: Connection timed out after 20 seconds of inactivity
Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing
Status: Disconnected from server

I get the same timeout error when I designate the public_html directory. The web host says he can't duplicate the error, and I'm feeling totally stuck.

My question is: am I doing something stupid, syntax-wise? If not, do you have an idea of what might be causing the timeout? The log shows that I'm logged in, but I'm never able to get a listing of the remote directory.

Any advice welcome, with the caveat that I don't have technical knowledge about phpBB.
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Last edited by thecoalman on Thu Oct 21, 2021 6:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Moved to General Discussion
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thecoalman
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Re: ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

Post by thecoalman »

You can start by testing with different FTP client.

https://winscp.net/eng/download.php
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allegrita
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Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:17 am

Re: ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

Post by allegrita »

I installed the client and attempted a connection, and got a timeout error when trying to retrieve the directory listing of /. So using advanced features, I specified the remote directory public_html. Got the same basic error as with FileZilla:

Timeout detected. (data connection)
Could not retrieve directory listing
Error listing directory '/public_html'.
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Mick
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Re: ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

Post by Mick »

What does your host say?
  • "The more connected we get the more alone we become" - Kyle Broflovski©
  • "The good news is hell is just the product of a morbid human imagination.
    The bad news is, whatever humans can imagine, they can usually create.
    " - Harmony Cobel
allegrita
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Re: ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

Post by allegrita »

The host says he can't duplicate the issue.
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Mick
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Re: ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

Post by Mick »

allegrita wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 2:48 amHow did you install your board? Someone else installed my board for me
How was this done, via a one-click install provided by your host or another person etc?
  • "The more connected we get the more alone we become" - Kyle Broflovski©
  • "The good news is hell is just the product of a morbid human imagination.
    The bad news is, whatever humans can imagine, they can usually create.
    " - Harmony Cobel
allegrita
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Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2010 6:17 am

Re: ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

Post by allegrita »

The web host did the install. Here are some quotes from him, explaining his understanding of the original issue and what he did.
Your forum is an old version which is based on PHP5.
The problem is that cPanel has decided that PHP5 is too old and insecure
to be used anymore so they removed it from all servers. Instead your
forum needs to run on PHP7. Unfortunately PHP7 does not understand some
of the commands that were used in PHP5.
The easiest fix would be if you would upgrade the forum to a newer
version, which would run fine with PHP7.
Later, he installed the new forum using Softaculous (which I've never heard of before).
I installed a new phpBB forum in your account with the newest version
3.3.4 . I installed it with the softaculous installer that comes with
your account. It can do future upgrades if you do not modify the forum
software.
After creating the new forum, he restored a pre-crash version of our old forum database, upgraded it, and installed it into the new (blank) forum. The only change I've made since then was to install the Header Banner extension, since that was the only way I could figure out to give our upgraded site a banner. Since I was unable to get ftp to work, the host uploaded the extension folder for me.

My issue is that I can't ftp to the forum's file system (which I can see via cPanel, and upload individual files to, but not folders).

Edited to add: The web host created a test ftp account when I reported the timeout issue, and gave me the login and pw. I tried using that account as well as my own, and got the same timeout error.
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lurttinen
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Re: ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

Post by lurttinen »

I'd say this is just a Filezilla settings problem.
IIRC, by default Filezilla gives you standard FTP for transfer protocol, but you need to chage it SFTP or ftp orver ssh, etc..
"FTP-transfer" is a catch-all phrase for all protocols for file transfers between computers.
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AmigoJack
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Re: ftp to my forum's file structure timing out

Post by AmigoJack »

lurttinen wrote: Fri Nov 26, 2021 8:40 pmbut you need to chage it SFTP or ftp orver ssh
That is clearly used already:
allegrita wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 2:48 am Status: Initializing TLS...
Status: Verifying certificate...
Status: TLS connection established.


No, that's not the issue. According to ...you should disable PASSIVE mode.

FileZilla is not rock solid and can give you problems when it comes to details. Although WinSCP's main goal is not to be an FTP client it works as such better than FileZilla in my case. I also suggest to stop using the abbreviation FTP like a verb - as per the TLS usage it's even impossible that you use FTP - it must be SFTP or FTPS, so please have a look at what your connection settings really are.
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