FTP Troubleshooting Guide

If unable to connect to FTP, there are many potential causes. This article will cover everything that needs to be checked to resolve the connection issue.

Check the Logs

1. SSH into the appropriate server
2. sudo tail -f /var/log/messages | grep userna5
   REPLACE: userna5 with the FTP username being used.
   
   1. If using the incorrect username, the above search may not show anything
   2. Go to inmotionhosting.com/ip and retrieve the IP that is given
   3. Search using the IP
      sudo tail -f /var/log/messages | grep 12.34.56.78
      REPLACE: 12.34.56.78 with the IP address.
      NOTE: The logs will only show an IPv4 address. You will need to ensure that the IP address being used is an IPv4. If the above link only shows an IPv6 address, Google "What's my IPv4 address."
3. If there are no log entries returned, double-check that the hostname and port configured in the FTP client is correct
4. Search the logs again
   sudo tail -f /var/log/messages | grep 12.34.56.78
   REPLACE: 12.34.56.78 with the IP address.
   EXAMPLE:

   Feb 6 14:22:17 vps##### pure-ftpd: (?@173.231.218.25) [INFO] New connection from 173.231.218.25
   Feb 6 14:22:17 vps##### pure-ftpd: (?@173.231.218.25) [INFO] SNI: [domain.com]
   Feb 6 14:22:17 vps##### pure-ftpd: (?@173.231.218.25) [INFO] TLS: Enabled TLSv1/SSLv3 with ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384, 256 secret bits cipher
   Feb 6 14:22:25 vps##### pure-ftpd: (?@173.231.218.25) [WARNING] Authentication failed for user [userna5]
   Feb 6 14:22:25 vps##### pure-ftpd: (?@173.231.218.25) [INFO] Logout.

   In this example, the username does not exist. The usernames for FTP are always either the cPanel username or include the domain name, for example, userna5@domain.com.  These usernames are also case-sensitive.
   1. Confirm the username exists as an FTP account in cPanel>FTP Accounts
   2. If so, and the logs indicate an authentication failure, the password being used is invalid
      1. The password for the FTP account can be reset in cPanel>FTP Accounts

Check DNS

1. If using the domain name as the host, ensure it points to our server by running the command
   dig +short domain.com
   REPLACE: domain.com with the domain.
2. If using a subdomain such as ftp.domain.com, ensure the subdomain exists and is pointed to our server
   dig +short ftp.domain.com
   REPLACE: ftp.domain.com with the subdomain being used.
3. Check that the IP address returned matches the IP address of the server

Check Firewall

NOTE: If unable to load sites, webmail, WHM, or cPanel, the server firewall may be blocking access to the server.

1. Go to inmotionhosting.com/ip and retrieve the IP that is given
2. Reach out to Support
3. Provide Support the IP address and ask that they check to see if it's blocked, and unblock it if so