How to install secure FTP in HPUX

[Clement_7]

Hi All, need to know how to get and install Secure FTP in HPUX.

[Clement_7]

Sorry, also need to know the pre-requirement for secure FTP in HPUX. example: must it be trusted system, running ssh, etc.

[Robert-Jan Goossens]

Hello Clement,

Take a look at next link,

http://www.software.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=T1471AA

Hope this helps,
Robert-Jan

[Karthik S S]

You can also use hsftp,

http://hpux.connect.org.uk/hppd/hpux/Networking/FTP/hsftp-1.11/

-Karthik S S

[Colin Topliss]

You can use OpenSSH, or an equivalent commercial version if you want more accountability. That gives you sftp and scp.

If you're feeling brave, you can get the source from www.openssh.org or get the version from HP's porting centre (the URL is in the previous message).

We tend to use OpenSSH for general admin access, and a commercial SSH for production (so if we get a problem we have a vendor to yell at) ;-)

There's also something called VSFTP (Very Secure FTP). Its available for HP-UX, but I have never tried it.

Col.

[Steven E. Protter]

Secure FTP is secure shell which is linked above.

If you want a secure ftp server use that and install as follows:

swinstall -s /full_path_of_depot \*

vsftp is not a secure ftp server. Its a lot better than the old ones but it does its authentication the insecure way in clear text.

The good news is it no longer works with Microsoft's horrible command line ftp client, which makes it more secure than those servers who do.

SEP

[Clement_7]

Do that mean that I need my system to be running secure shell before I can have secure FTP. Can secure FTP be run without secure shell??

[Tim Maletic]

We could help you better if you clarified a couple of things. First, do you need your HP-UX system to be a secure FTP server, or secure FTP client? Second, when you say "secure FTP" do you mean FTP-over-SSH or FTP-over-SSL?

In general, what types of systems will be the clients and servers? Why are you trying to use secure FTP? Etc.

[Clement_7]

The reason why I post this question is that I want to know what kind of secure FTP is avail for HPUX. For what purpose you might ask, I need to install secure FTP in my HPUX inorder to FTP to another host out of the organisation with secure FTP installed. Is it Secure FTP client or server, SFTP over SSH or SFTP over SSL, I need your guidance. Pls help to explain which is better or needed for my users to do Secure FTP to another host out of the organisation. Thanks to all who participate, I got a lot to learn from you guys.

[Sanjiv Sharma_1 · Accepted solution]

Hi Clement,

This link has some good inputs:
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=409807

hth.

[Steven E. Protter]

I'd say true security is ssh/scp/sftp as in Secure Shell. Encrypted login.

The problem is that most ftp clients won't work with it. You have to get special software on the Windows Client because Microsoft hasn't bothered to build in a decent secure client.

So if you want a back end that is more secure, you are pretty much out of luck. vsftpd is a bit more secure on Linux but I haven not heard of any ports. vsftpd is a reliable, scalable open source product, but you will have to compile it yourself. I prefet SD-UX depots because it maintains a software inventory.

wu-ftpd, which ships with HP-UX is pretty good and is if not secure a secureable product. STill, clear text authentication.

Profptd which is part of HP's Open Source Internet Express package, now comes in depot format from HP. That means it has been tested. A lot of people swear that because its a full re-write its more secure.

Still, clear text authentication.

Why haven't tried it? Because I don't manage any HP-9000 servers exposed to the Internet with ftp.

My one box at home with exposure has a /var/adm/inetd.sec file which stops all outside ftp access. I you want in on that box, you have to use openssh/secure shell. There is a free, reliable text based client, but nobody in most user communities is going to use command line sftp.

The free gui's are unreliable, and its hard to convince people after being ripped off on the OS and the Office package by Bill Gates to spend more money for secure file transfer.

There is the essay.

My two cents as good friend says, totally my opinion. Thanks for the points above. I think your distribution was timely and fair.

Hopefully this clarifies to some degree.

SEP

[Clement_7]

Thanks guys!! You guys are great. Glad to have all this experts here.

[Jorge Fabregas]

Hello,

Check out "Filezilla" for Windows. It's like CuteFTP (a GUI front-end for ftp) and it supports SFTP.

Jorge