Directory Names contain dates when connecting via FTP in Windows Explorer

[jallenjens]

I have several customers who need to upload information files to my FTP site. However, their I.T. departments only let them use WIndows Explorer and won't let them install FileZilla or another similar program. When they login into my FreeNAS FTP site using Windows Explorer, all the directory names contain a date in the name. Example: "CustomerFolder" would be listed as "201 Jul 26 11:02 CustomerFolder". then when theytry to navigate into that folder, the FTP host (FreeNAS) returns a error message saying:


---------------------------
FTP Folder Error
---------------------------
An error occurred opening the folder on the FTP Server. Make sure you have permission to access this folder.

Details:
550 /mnt/FTP/201 Jul 26 11:02 CustomerFolder/: No such file or directory


---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

This only happens with Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer and I've replicated the solution. However, it doesn't happen when conencting using FileZilla or Google Chrome.

What would cause this to happen?

 

[jallenjens]

I think I found out what is happening. The Windows integrated FTP client is always pulling the directory list in long mode (the equivalent of doing a "ls -l" from the Unix console). Is there any way to prevent this?

 

[cyberjock]

About 2 years ago I had a problem and I couldn't figure out how to stop the long mode. I spent about 2 hours of searching and nothing worked. I gave up when I decided it was easier to use Filezilla than continue my search.

 

[jallenjens]

Thanks, noobsauce80. I really wish I could tell my customers, "Sorry. You just need to convince your enterprise IT staff to let you install Filezilla.", but I can't. The weird part is that it was working flawlessly just a day or two ago, and nothing has changed on our network for several weeks.

 

[cyberjock]

I just noticed you have a colon (:) in your filenames. Those are not acceptable for Windows. That 'could' be part of the problem.

 

[cyberjock]

Actually looking closely you list the colon in your file names. Colons are not allowed in filenames for Windows. You said it worked before but not now, so I'm not sure if that's your problem at all, but you may want to look at that. It's a little bizarre that the FreeNAS server returns the error. It could be something with how Explorer handles file names with colons. I know what my colon does with filenames.. LOL :D

 

[jallenjens]

The directory name is "CustomerFolder". The colon comes from Windows thinking the Last Modified Date & Time is part of the directory name.

 

[cyberjock]

I just setup mine as an FTP and created a folder called "customerfolder" and I had zero issues with it. I'm thinking there's something odd about how FreeNAS is setup. To be honest, I'm not sure how I'd get FreeNAS to duplicate the issue you are having. I'm gonna play around a bit and see what I can come up with.

I'm pretty sure most Enterprises have rules against this but... Filezilla can be used without doing an install.

 

[cyberjock]

Mine works perfectly. I did see a website where there's a random bug with Windows7 and MS answer was "we will fix it in a future build". I know that helps you SO much, right?

Try this though:

I assume you are trying ftp://username:password@IP/ and that doesn't work.

Try ftp://IP/username. Then enter your username and password. That MIGHT work. :P

You can also try ftp://IP//. (notice the 2 slashes at the end).

 

[jallenjens]

Thanks, again noobsauce. None of those ideas worked though.

 

[Mini909]

I realise this is an old thread, but I came across this problem for the second time today, following a drive rebuild on the same server. It took me ages to work out the first time round, and this was the only relevant thread I managed to find. The issue is permissions on the dataset. I resolved it by adding an appropriate Windows group to the group ACL, with Read and Execute permissions. The 'Other' ACL should have taken care of this, but must be an oddity in the way Explorer lists the directories. I am using FreeNAS 8.3.1 on this machine, with AD integration. The same dataset is also shared out using CIFS. Hope this helps someone.