Passive mode FTPS would use a control port over port# 1024 and so it would work better with a firewall than non-passive. The client tells port 21 what upper-bound port to open and so you can configure the client to say 'control is on port 2000 or 2001' and then the server will open outbound port 2000 or 2001. Implicit FTPS was the first method created to encrypt data sent “via FTP”; although a different port is used. When using implicit FTPS, an SSL connection is immediately established via port 990 before login or file transfer can begin. If the recipient fails to comply with the security request, the server immediately drops the connection.
One of the main disadvantages of FTP for file transfer is the lack of protection and encryption means for the transferred data. When connecting to an FTP server username and password are also sent in clear text. To transfer data (especially using public communication channels), it is recommended to use more secure protocols, like FTPS or SFTP. Let’s see how to configure an FTPS server on Windows Server 2012 R2.
FTPS protocol (FTP over SSL/TLS, FTP+SSL) is an extension of the standard FTP protocol, but the connection between a client and a server is protected (encrypted) using SSL /TLS. As a rule, the same 21 port is used for connection.
Note. You should not mix FTPS and SFTP (Secure FTP or SSH FTP). The latter is the extension of the SSH protocol having nothing in common with FTP.
FTP over SSL support appeared in IIS 7.0 (Windows Server 2008). To make an FTPS server work, you will have to install an SSL certificate on your IIS server.
Installation of the FTP Server Role
The installation of the FTP server role in Windows Server 2012 doesn’t cause any problems and has been already described.
How to Generate and Install an SSL Certificate in IIS
Then open the IIS Manager console, select a server and go to the Server Certificates section.
In this section you can import a certificate, create certificate request, update a certificate or create a self-signed certificate. For demonstrative purposes, let’s create a self-signed certificate. (It can also be created using New-SelfSifgnedCertificate cmdlet.) When addressing a service, a warning that the certificate is issued by an untrusted CA will appear. To disable this warning for this certificate, add it to the list of trusted certificates using GPO.
Select Create Self-Signed Certificate.
In the Create Certificate wizard, specify its name and select Web Hosting type of the certificate.
A new self-signed certificate will appear in the list of available certificates. This certificate will expire in 1 year.
How to Create an FTP Site with SSL Support
Then you have to create an FTP site. In the IIS Manager console, right-click Sites and create a new FTP site (Add FTP).
Specify its name and the path to the root directory of the FTP site (in our case, it is default path C:inetpubftproot ).
In the next window of the wizard, select the certificate you have created in the SSL certificates section.
Now you only have to select the type of authentication and user access permissions.
Tip. If each user must have their own FTP root folder, you can use the manual How to create an FTP server with user isolation.
Click Finish in the wizard window. By default, SSL protection is mandatory and used to encrypt both management commands and transferred data.
FTPS and Firewalls
When using FTP protocol, 2 different TCP connections are used, one is for command transfer and another is for data transfer. For each data transfer channel, an individual TCP port is opened, which number is selected by a client or a server. Most firewalls allow to inspect FTP traffic, and after analyzing it, automatically open the necessary ports. When using protected FTPS connection, the transferred data are encrypted and not subject to analysis. As the result, a firewall cannot determine, which port has to be opened for data transfer.
In order not to open the whole range of TCP ports 1024-65535 to an FTPS server from outside, you can specify the range of used addresses for the FTP server. The range is specified in the IIS site settings in FTP Firewall Support section.
After the range of ports has been changed, restart the service (iisreset).
The following rules are responsible for the incoming traffic in the Windows Firewall:
How to Test FTP over SSL ConnectionTo test an FTPS connection, let’s use Filezilla.
- Start FileZilla (or any other client supporting FTPS).
- Click File > Site Manager, and create a new connection (New Site).
- Specify the FTPS server address (Host), protocol type (RequireexplicitFTPoverTLS), user name (User) and the requirement to enter a password to authenticate (Askforpassword)
- Click Connect and enter your password.
- The warning of the untrusted certificate will appear (in case of using self-signed certificate). Confirm the connection.
- The connection has to be established, and the following entries will appear in the log:
Status: Initializing TLS..
Status: Verifying certificate..
Status: TLS connection established. - It means that the secure connection is established and you can transfer files using FTPS protocol.
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| FTP/SSLFTP over TLS/SSL
| SFTPSSH File Transfer Protocol
|
There are several different secure file transfer protocols that are, unfortunately, named in a very confusing way that often makes it difficult to distinguish one from another. The aim of this page is to provide some guidelines to make it easier to determine which is which.
Communication protocols
Basically, there are the following file transfer protocols around:
![Port Port](https://ourcodeworld.com/public-media/gallery/gallery-5767bc16ced42.png)
FTP - the plain old FTP protocol that has been around since 1970s. The acronym stands for 'File Transfer Protocol'. It usually runs over TCP port 21.
SFTP - another, completely different file transfer protocol that has nothing to do with FTP. SFTP runs over an SSH session, usually on TCP port 22. It has been around since late 1990s. The acronym actually stands for 'SSH File Transfer Protocol'.
Ftps Port 990
![Port Port](https://www.iperiusbackup.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/eng.png)
SCP - a variant of BSD rcp utility that transfers files over SSH session. The SCP protocol has been mostly superseded by the more comprehensive SFTP protocol and some implementations of the 'scp' utility actually use SFTP instead.
Secure communication layers
Additionally, there are the following two secure communication layers:
SSH - a protocol that allows establishing a secure channel between the local and the remote computer. Serves as an underlying channel for associated protocols such as secure shell, port forwarding, SFTP or SCP. While it is possible to run the (slightly modified) plain old FTP protocol over SSH, this is not very common, fortunately. File transfer over SSH is nearly always done using SFTP or SCP.
Gopanel linux web server manager 1 7 3. TLS - this is almost generally known primarily by its old name - SSL - and provides a way of securing otherwise unsecure protocols such as HTTP, SMTP, POP3 or FTP. Please note that SSL 3.1 is called TLS 1.0, and therefore TLS 1.0 is a newer version of the protocol than SSL 3.0, despite the lower version number. HTTP over SSL is often called HTTPS, and FTP over SSL is often called FTPS and has two variants, explicit (starts as an unencrypted FTP session and is secured on client request) and implicit (is secured right from the beginning and therefore needs a separate TCP port, usually 990). The implicit mode is deprecated, but still widely used.
Secure file transfer protocols, or fitting it all together
In an ideal world, the information above should be just enough. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The file transfer protocols are also referred to by other names, and even the names that only refer to a one single protocol are often mistakenly used for the wrong protocol by (understandably) confused authors.
FTP - should be only used for the plain old FTP protocol.
SFTP - should be only used for SFTP, the SSH file transfer protocol. However, people often shorten Secure FTP into SFTP - this is not correct, because the S in SFTP does not stand for Secure, but for SSH.
SFTP2 - this confusing name is used by some vendors to highlight the obvious fact that their SFTP protocol runs over SSH2. For all practical purposes, consider this to be a synonym of SFTP, because SSH1 has been deprecated for many years.
Secure FTP - this name is the most confusing, because it is used to refer to either of the two different protocols. Whenever this name is used, it is necessary to specify whether the SSH-based or SSL-based file transfer protocol is meant.
SSH FTP, FTP over SSH - fortunately, these names are not used very often. They usually refer to SFTP, the SSH file transfer protocol. Even though it is possible to run the (slightly modified) plain old FTP protocol over SSH, this is not very common.
FTP/SSL, FTP/TLS, FTPover SSL, FTP over TLS, FTPS - should be only used for FTP over TLS/SSL.
SFTP over SSL - although the SFTP protocol can utilize any underlying data stream, in practice SFTP over anything other that SSH is very rare. It is much more likely the term was used by mistake in place of either 'SFTP over SSH' or 'FTP over SSL'.
SCP - should be only used for scp protocol/utility, a variant of BSD rcp. Some applications with SCP in its name now use SFTP by default instead - examples of this practice are WinSCP application and scp2 utility.
TFTP is yet another file transfer protocol different from any of above.
Ftps Port 21
Rebex components and servers implementing these protocols:
Ftps Port No
- Rebex FTP/SSL (FTP and FTP/SSL client)
- Rebex SFTP (SFTP and SCP client)
- Rebex File Server (SSH, SFTP and SCP server)
- Rebex File Transfer Pack (FTP, FTP/SSL, FTP/SSH, SFTP, SCP)
- Rebex Buru SFTP Server for Windows - standalone SFTP, SSH, SCP server