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    RC3 and FTP

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved General pfSense Questions
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    • S
      smeg9
      last edited by

      I too am experiencing this problem, cannot access FTP sites on the internet, from within our LAN.
      worked on beta2, but not on RC3

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      • H
        hoba
        last edited by

        Everybody who is experiencing this problem please test the following:
        Download and burn a RC3 livecd. Save your config.xml to a floppy to /conf/config.xml. Boot your machine up with floppy in drive and cdrom. Does it work then? If yes something broke somewhere along the upgrade(s). Reinstall pfSense with a fresh RC3 then (just hit option 99 and it will move your config.xml from the floppy over too).

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        • S
          sullrich
          last edited by

          Make sure the ftp helper is enabled on Interfaces -> LAN.

          If this still does not work, reinstall.

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          • S
            sh_man
            last edited by

            Ok. Tried using RC3 livecd with current config - no dice. Still no FTP out to the net.

            Installed RC3 from the livecd onto disk - complete reformat job. Then tried RC3a and RC3b - no change.

            Have gone back to RC2.

            All I can think of is that I have not set things up "properly" for FTP and that RC3 is a bit more strict.

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            • H
              hoba
              last edited by

              Please send your config to holger <dot>bauer <at>citec-ag <dot>de. I'll have a look if I can see something obvious.</dot></at></dot>

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              • H
                hoba
                last edited by

                Ok, I think I know what's going on. You have a restrictive setup at your LAN, only letting out certain ports. Port 21 is not enough to make ftp work. It uses some other ports after it has connected to the server too (depending on active and passive mode, portrange configured at the server and so on). Add a rule at LAN (and on any other interface where you need ftp to be working):

                pass, proto tcp, source <localsubnet>, port any, destination 127.0.0.1, port any, gateway default

                This way the ftphelper is reachable for the clients to handle the other needed ports. Also make sure the ftphelper is enabled at all interfaces that need outgoing ftp. Note that the ftphelper will send all ftp connections to the main WAN, it is not able to make use of policybasedrouting or loadbalancing.

                Let me know if this works.</localsubnet>

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                • S
                  sullrich
                  last edited by

                  Yes, the FTP rules have been moved to after the USER RULES.  Prior the system would allow FTP no matter what before the USER RULES.  So what has happened is your restrictive LAN rules are now working correctly.

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                  • S
                    sh_man
                    last edited by

                    Thanks for that. I'll get on to sorting it in the morning! Too much like hard work to test from home ;)

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                    • H
                      hoba
                      last edited by

                      @sullrich:

                      Yes, the FTP rules have been moved to after the USER RULES.  Prior the system would allow FTP no matter what before the USER RULES.  So what has happened is your restrictive LAN rules are now working correctly.

                      It's not a bug, it's a feature  ;D

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                      • S
                        sh_man
                        last edited by

                        Just tested and it works fine. Thanks guys.

                        Turns out that I have a catch all rule on the LAN to send traffic over the OPT1 interface. As the ftphelper is WAN that did not help. Some FTP clients work with the rule hoba gave above, others - like Adobe GoLive - needed a bit of a catch all for the specific machine to ensure that all the traffic goes via WAN.

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                        • V
                          Voami
                          last edited by

                          I'm also having a problem with internet FTP on RC3.

                          Issue
                          –---

                          • We have an app that connnects to an ftp server in the traditional manner (i.e., non-passively)

                          • A tcpdump from the WAN interface of pfsense shows that login is successful, but pfsense is not properly mapping the internal client IP to the external IP of the firewall

                          230 Login successful.
                          type I
                          200 Switching to Binary mode.
                          syst
                          215 UNIX Type: L8
                          PORT 10,1,0,51,63,34
                          500 Illegal PORT command.

                          Configuration
                          –----------

                          • 2 WAN interfaces, but only one has outbound NAT configured (other is solely for server external availability)

                          • "Disable userland helper" is unchecked on all interfaces; ps shows that FTP helper is running on the LAN, and on all other internal interfaces as well

                          proxy  582  0.0  0.3  656  416  ??  Ss    7:17AM  0:00.38 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8021 -g 8021 <pf.sense.lan.address>proxy  598  0.0  0.4  656  452  ??  Ss    7:17AM  0:00.41 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8023 -g 8021 <pf.sense.int2.address>proxy  606  0.0  0.4  656  452  ??  Ss    7:17AM  0:00.41 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8024 -g 8021 <pf.sense.int3.address>* FTP RFC 959 data port violation workaround: Enabled

                          • The rule allowing the FTP traffic out
                            *  LAN net  *  ! DMZNetworks  *  *  Default LAN ->anywhere but DMZs

                            Which should also cover hoba's directive:
                            @hoba:

                            pass, proto tcp, source <localsubnet>, port any, destination 127.0.0.1, port any, gateway default

                            This way the ftphelper is reachable for the clients to handle the other needed ports. Also make sure the ftphelper is enabled at all interfaces that need outgoing ftp. Note that the ftphelper will send all ftp connections to the main WAN, it is not able to make use of policybasedrouting or loadbalancing.</localsubnet>

                          I suspect i'm doing something wrong?
                          Your kind insights are appreciated.</pf.sense.int3.address></pf.sense.int2.address></pf.sense.lan.address>

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                          • GertjanG
                            Gertjan
                            last edited by

                            @Voami:

                            • 2 WAN interfaces, but only one has outbound NAT configured (other is solely for server external availability)

                            • "Disable userland helper" is unchecked on all interfaces; ps shows that FTP helper is running on the LAN, and on all other internal interfaces as well

                            proxy   582  0.0  0.3   656   416  ??  Ss    7:17AM   0:00.38 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8021 -g 8021 <pf.sense.lan.address>proxy   598  0.0  0.4   656   452  ??  Ss    7:17AM   0:00.41 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8023 -g 8021 <pf.sense.int2.address>proxy   606  0.0  0.4   656   452  ??  Ss    7:17AM   0:00.41 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8024 -g 8021 <pf.sense.int3.address>ps

                            pftpx</pf.sense.int3.address></pf.sense.int2.address></pf.sense.lan.address>

                            No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                            Edit : and where are the logs ??

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                            • V
                              Voami
                              last edited by

                              @Gertjan:

                              Is your ps list complete here ?
                              Check some other posts (threads) about FTP and you'll find out that one more important pftpx task isn't running (doesn't show up in the list above).
                              It's the one that actually maps your WAN:21 port to your LAN_IP:21 port.

                              outbound

                              @Gertjan:

                              Whats syslog saying about pftpx (or: what says pftpx in the syslog) ?

                              • Running on an embedded platform

                              • Currently running bare RC3 (will patch up to RC3e at next reboot opportunity)

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                              • V
                                Voami
                                last edited by

                                Applied all patches through RC3e, and after boot, still only see:

                                ps waux | grep ftp | grep -v grep

                                proxy  579  0.0  0.3  656  416  ??  Ss    8:45PM  0:00.01 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8021 -g 8021 <pfsense lan="" ip="">proxy  593  0.0  0.4  656  452  ??  Ss    8:45PM  0:00.01 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8023 -g 8021 <pfsense lan2="" ip="">proxy  601  0.0  0.4  656  452  ??  Ss    8:45PM  0:00.01 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8024 -g 8021 <pfsense lan3="" ip="">And no failure messages from pftpx in syslog. What are the conditions under which the missing task needs to run?</pfsense></pfsense></pfsense>

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                                • GertjanG
                                  Gertjan
                                  last edited by

                                  Shoot…

                                  In my last post I was writing an answer based/concerning incoming FTP.
                                  In your case, all is already up to handle outgoing ftp.
                                  This must be a firewall question (or related) because 'from the box' FTP just works great - I use RC3e.
                                  Using two internal interfaces this gives me:

                                  ps auwx | grep pftpx | grep -v grep

                                  proxy    612  0.0  0.1  656  424  ??  Ss  Fri12PM  0:00.47 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8021 -g 8021 192.168.1.1
                                  proxy  29739  0.0  0.1  656  532  ??  Ss    5:17PM  0:00.00 /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -c 8022 -g 8021 192.168.2.1

                                  No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                                  Edit : and where are the logs ??

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                                  • GertjanG
                                    Gertjan
                                    last edited by

                                    To see some more info in the syslog, I killed all pftpx process, and restared them by hand like this:

                                    killall pftpx

                                    /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -D 7 -c 8021 -g 8021 192.168.1.1

                                    /usr/local/sbin/pftpx -D 7 -c 8022 -g 8021 192.168.2.1

                                    Remember, I have two interfaces.

                                    I start - and stopped - a FTP session from a LAN client (192.168.1.15), the  syslog output was then:

                                    …
                                    Oct 7 17:28:34 pftpx[30327]: #1 ending session
                                    Oct 7 17:28:34 pftpx[30327]: #1 server close
                                    #Oct 7 17:23:34 pftpx[30327]: #1 passive: client to server port 36285 via port 57466
                                    Oct 7 17:23:27 pftpx[30327]: #1 FTP session 1/100 started: client 192.168.1.15 to server 64.193.213.135 via proxy 82.128.125.169
                                    Oct 7 17:23:09 pftpx[30331]: listening on 127.0.0.1 port 8022
                                    Oct 7 17:23:09 pftpx[30331]: listening on 127.0.0.1 port 8022
                                    Oct 7 17:23:00 pftpx[30327]: listening on 127.0.0.1 port 8021
                                    Oct 7 17:23:00 pftpx[30327]: listening on 127.0.0.1 port 8021
                                    Oct 7 17:22:48 pftpx[29739]: pftpx exiting on signal 15
                                    Oct 7 17:22:48 pftpx[29739]: pftpx exiting on signal 15
                                    …

                                    No "help me" PM's please. Use the forum, the community will thank you.
                                    Edit : and where are the logs ??

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • V
                                      Voami
                                      last edited by

                                      @Gertjan:

                                      To see some more info in the syslog, I killed all pftpx process, and restared them by hand…
                                      ...
                                      I start - and stopped - a FTP session from a LAN client (192.168.1.15)

                                      I did the same:

                                      • Killed all pftpx instantiations

                                      • Restarted them with the -D 7 argument

                                      • Tried an ftp connection. Result:

                                      • FTP connection fails with

                                      and there was no indication in the syslog that pftpx was grabbing it.

                                      I located man pages and source code for pftpx, and the problem that I seem to be finding is a lack of an rdr rule to redirect traffic on my primary LAN to the pftpx daemon:

                                      nat-anchor "pftpx/" all
                                      nat-anchor "natearly/                                      " all
                                      nat-anchor "natrules/" all
                                      nat on WAN inet from lan.1.ip.addr/24 to any -> (sis3) round-robin
                                      nat on WAN inet from lan.2.ip.addr/24 to any -> (sis3) round-robin
                                      nat on WAN inet from lan.3.ip.addr to any -> (sis3) round-robin
                                      rdr-anchor "pftpx/                                      " all
                                      rdr-anchor "slb" all
                                      no rdr on  LAN_3 proto tcp from any to <vpns>port = ftp
                                      rdr on LAN_3 inet proto tcp from any to any port = ftp -> 127.0.0.1 port 8023
                                      no rdr on  LAN_2 proto tcp from any to <vpns>port = ftp
                                      rdr on LAN_2 inet proto tcp from any to any port = ftp -> 127.0.0.1 port 8024
                                            –---   
                                      <bunch of="" inbound="" rdr="" rules="" on="" wan="" interfaces="">------
                                      rdr-anchor "miniupnpd" all</bunch></vpns></vpns>

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                                      • V
                                        Voami
                                        last edited by

                                        Apologies for the previous incomplete post.

                                        @Gertjan:

                                        To see some more info in the syslog, I killed all pftpx process, and restared them by hand…
                                        ...
                                        I start - and stopped - a FTP session from a LAN client (192.168.1.15)

                                        I did the same:

                                        • Killed all pftpx instantiations

                                        • Restarted them with the -D 7 argument

                                        • Tried an ftp connection. Result:

                                          • FTP connects and logs in, but an "ls" fails with  "500 Illegal PORT command rejected"

                                          • No indication in syslogs of any acivity with pftpx

                                        ==> pftpx is not getting connections from the primary LAN

                                        I then located man pages and source code for pftpx, and understood that pf needs a port redirect rule for each internal network to redirect the ftp traffic to the proxy listening on port 802x.

                                        ==> Does this rule exists?

                                        I find an rdr rule for two of my LANs, but none for my primary LAN (comments added are mine):

                                        #pfctl -s nat
                                        nat-anchor "pftpx/" all
                                        nat-anchor "natearly/                                        " all
                                        nat-anchor "natrules/" all
                                        nat on WAN inet from lan.1.ip.addr/24 to any -> (sis3) round-robin
                                        nat on WAN inet from lan.2.ip.addr/24 to any -> (sis3) round-robin
                                        nat on WAN inet from lan.3.ip.addr to any -> (sis3) round-robin
                                        rdr-anchor "pftpx/                                        " all
                                        rdr-anchor "slb" all
                                        no rdr on  LAN_3 proto tcp from any to <vpns>port = ftp
                                        rdr on LAN_3 inet proto tcp from any to any port = ftp -> 127.0.0.1 port 8023    # for one LAN
                                        no rdr on  LAN_2 proto tcp from any to <vpns>port = ftp
                                        rdr on LAN_2 inet proto tcp from any to any port = ftp -> 127.0.0.1 port 8024    # for another LAN
                                              –---   
                                        <bunch of="" inbound="" rdr="" rules="" on="" wan="" interfaces="">------
                                        rdr-anchor "miniupnpd" all

                                        What I must discover
                                        –------------------

                                        • Why do I not have a NAT rule to provide transparent proxying on the primary LAN, when it works on the others?

                                          • Could it be an artifact of once being configured with "disable userland proxy"?

                                        • Any other suggestions on how to make this happen?</bunch></vpns></vpns>

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                                        • C
                                          cauly
                                          last edited by

                                          doesn't work for mi  >:(

                                          I have pfsense 1.0.1 and e ftp server listening in the port 2121 in the ip x.x.x.3

                                          i try with Disable the userland FTP-Proxy application  and enable, in wan and lan interfaces; but nothing happens
                                          I create the nat forwardi and the rule (automatically)

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                                          • O
                                            OrCAD
                                            last edited by

                                            with my dual wan work only port 21 Active mode… if try to download or dir change with passive mode reply is very long time then disconnection. . . .

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