Filezilla server windows firewall

Once the client issues a command to transfer a file or listing, the server will connect to the address provided by the client. In passive mode, the connection is outgoing on the client side and incoming on the server side and in active mode this is reversed. Note that the only differences are in establishing a connection.

Once established, the connection can be used for uploads or downloads. In passive mode, the router and firewall on the server side need to be configured to accept and forward incoming connections. On the client side, however, only outgoing connections need to be allowed which will already be the case most of the time.

Analogously, in active mode, the router and firewall on the client side need to be configured to accept and forward incoming connections. Only outgoing connections have to be allowed on the server side.

Therefore, passive mode is recommended in most cases. This may be a standalone router device perhaps a wireless router , or be built into a DSL or cable modem. See Private addresses. The internal IP addresses are only valid inside the LAN, since they would make little sense to a remote system. Think about a server behind a NAT router. Imagine what might happen if a client requests passive mode, but the server doesn't know the external IP address of the NAT router.

If the server sends its internal address to the client, two things could happen:. So if a server is behind a NAT router, it needs to know the external IP address of the router in passive mode. In this case, the server sends the router's external address to the client. The client then establishes a connection to the NAT router, which in turn routes the connection to the server. Personal firewalls are installed on many systems to protect users from security vulnerabilities in the operating system or applications running on it.

Over the internet, malware such as worms try to exploit these flaws to infect your system. Firewalls can help to prevent such an infection. However, firewalls and other security applications can sometimes interfere with non-malicious file transfers.

Especially if using FTP, firewall users might occasionally see messages like this from their firewall:. In many cases, this is a false alarm. Any program can choose any port it wants for communication over the internet. FileZilla, then, might choose a port that is coincidentally also the default port of a trojan or some other malware being tracked by your firewall. FileZilla is clean of malware as long as it is downloaded from the official website.

Some routers and firewalls pretend to be smart. They analyze connections and, if they think they detect FTP, they silently change the data exchanged between client and server. If the user has not explicitly enabled this feature, this behavior is essentially data sabotage and can cause various problems. For an example, imagine a client behind a NAT router trying to connect to the server. Let's further assume that this client does not know it is behind a NAT and wants to use active mode. At the same time, the NAT router will also create a temporary port forwarding for the FTP session, possibly on a different port even:.

The above command tells the server to connect to the address So why is this behavior bad? Essentially, it can cause a number of problems if it is enabled by default, without explicit user consent. The FTP connections in their most basic form appear to work, but as soon as there's some deviation from the basic case, everything will fail, leaving the user stumped:.

Therefore, having protocol specific features enabled in a NAT router by default can create significant problems. The solution to all this, then, is to know your router's settings, and to know the configuration abilities of a router before you set it up. A good NAT router should always be fully protocol-agnostic. The exception is if you as the user have explicitly enabled this feature, knowing all its consequences. While this section only discussed the combination of a NAT router on the client side with active mode, the same applies to a server behind a NAT router and the reply to the PASV command.

If you're running FileZilla 3, it's recommended you run the network configuration wizard. It will guide you through the necessary steps and can test your configuration after set-up. Obviously, if you want to connect to any server, you need to tell your firewall that FileZilla should be allowed to open connections to other servers. These ports are not mandatory, however, so it's best to allow outgoing connections to arbitrary remote ports. Since many servers on the internet are misconfigured and don't support both transfer modes, it's recommended that you configure both transfer modes on your end.

In passive mode, the client has no control over what port the server chooses for the data connection. Therefore, in order to use passive mode, you'll have to allow outgoing connections to all ports in your firewall. In active mode, the client opens a socket and waits for the server to establish the transfer connection.

By default, FileZilla Client asks the operating system for the machine's IP address and for the number of a free port. This configuration can only work if you are connected to the internet directly without any NAT router, and if you have set your firewall to allow incoming connections on all ports greater than If you have a NAT router, you need to tell FileZilla your external IP address in order for active mode connections to work with servers outside your local network:.

If you do not want to allow incoming connections on all ports, or if you have a NAT router, you need to tell FileZilla to use a specific range of ports for active mode connections. You will have to open these ports in your firewall. If you have a NAT router, you need to forward these ports to the local machine FileZilla is installed on. Depending on your router model, you can either forward a range of ports or you need to forward all ports individually.

Valid ports can be from 1 to ; however, ports less than are reserved for other protocols. It is best to choose ports greater than or equal to for active mode FTP. Due to the nature of TCP the underlying transport protocol , a port cannot be reused immediately after each connection. Therefore, the range of ports should not be too small to prevent the failure of transfers of multiple small files. A range of 50 ports should be sufficient in most cases.

Setting up the server is very similar to setting up the client, with the main difference being that the roles of active and passive mode are reversed. A common mistake, especially by users with NAT routers, is in testing the server. If you are within your local network, you can only test using the local IP address of the server. Using the external address from the inside will probably fail, and one of the following may happen:. Even if the test works, there is no guarantee that an external user can really connect to your server and transfer files.

The only reliable way to test your server is to try connecting from an external system, outside of your LAN. Make sure FileZilla Server is allowed to establish outgoing connections to arbitrary ports, since the client controls which port to use. On the local end of the connection, FileZilla Server tries to use a port one less than that of the control connection e.

However, this is not always possible - so don't rely on it. The server configuration is very similar to client configuration for active mode. In passive mode, the server opens a socket and waits for the client to connect to it.

By default, FileZilla Server asks the operating system for the machine's IP address, and for a free port number. To install the Filezilla server, you have to go to the download section. After downloading it, just run it to start the installation of the program. The first thing you have to do is to accept the license.

Next, please choose the type of installation. We recommend using the Full installation, which is the default installation. Then you must choose the installation folder and the Menu folder. Next, configure whether you want to install FileZilla Server as a service. I recommend leaving it this way by default. Likewise, you can set the port.

However, you can also leave it as default. Finally, configure the startup type of the tool interface. That is, it can start at login, or start manually. After installing the program, you will see the following window. In the following window, we will enter the options to configure the server. In the host field, please enter localhost. The port information should be left as default.

Finally, assign a password to protect the connection. When you press OK, the server will be correctly connected. From now on, I would like to make some considerations. First, we are working with the latest stable version of FileZilla Server. Previously, there were beta versions that were a bit more complicated to configure. However, this edition has a graphical interface that is very user-friendly and easy to configure.

Very well, next we will see the graphical interface of the server administrator. Now we are going to enter the values for the connection through the local network. With this in mind, click on Server and then on Configure. The server configuration window will be displayed immediately. It is well known that by default an insecure FTP connection is offered.

Privacy Terms. Quick links. Windows firewall Need help with FileZilla Server? Something does not work as expected?

In this forum you may find an answer. If I stop the Firewall there is no problem.