FTP Get: ICMP Port unreachable

[Worley]

If the following works:
CD A:[B.C]
GET D

then why does the following:
GET A:[B.C]D return
ICMP unreachable ?
Ports 20 and 21 are open for TCP.
The host is Itanium VMS 8.3-1H1
Client is MS Vista

[Steven Schweda]

> If the following works:
> [...]

A clearer explanation of exactly what you're
doing might be helpful.

> Client is MS Vista

Are you using some FTP client program on your
Windows system? (Which?)

Are you actually saying "GET A:[B.C]D", or
are you trying to "help" us by hiding
potentially useful details?

> The host is Itanium VMS 8.3-1H1

Potentially more informative:

TCPIP SHOW VERSION

Knowing nothing, I'd suggest trying
quotation. For example:

GET "A:[B.C]D" D

Also, a TCPIP FTP server may be able to cope
with a UNIX-like file spec, so something like
this (possibly with similar quotation) might
work, too:

GET /a/b/c/d d

But, without a clear explanation of what
you're trying to do, it's hard to do more
than guess.

[Hoff]

So the question is one of using the ftp client on Microsoft Windows Vista to perform an ftp get from a server box running the OpenVMS I64 V8.3-1H1 software, and the ftp client on Windows Vista is tossing ICMP errors?

Ok.

First stop: make sure that OpenVMS has TCP/IP Services properly configured, and has the ftp server enabled and active. This (with TCP/IP Services) involves invoking the @SYS$MANAGER:TCPIP$CONFIG menu, and ensuring that the FTP server is enabled and active. It probably is active, but it's worth confirming.

Then test with some other ftp servers in your local network, preferably crossing the same networks and firewalls. This to determine if the Windows Vista ftp client configuration or the OpenVMS ftp configuration appears to be faulty, or if there's a configuration problem within the firewall on Vista, or on a firewall located between the Vista box and the OpenVMS box.

The usual wrinkle with FTP failures is the need for opening up all of the ephemeral ports; you need open up the intervening firewalls to the entire ephermeral range. (ftp is a horrid and old and wildly insecure protocol, and one that entirely predates IP itself, much less the widespread existence of firewalls.) Try switching between active and passive.

Read this:

http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/node/530

Better yet, activate the ssh server and punch port 22 through the intervening firewalls and use ssh and sftp here, and use sftp for your file transfers. That's both much easier to manage, and more secure. (And you can do certificate-based no-password authentication, etc.)

[Worley]

Hi, sorry here is some more information:
VMS is the FTP Server, Vista the Client.

On VMS:
TCPIP SHOW VERSION returns:
HP TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS Industry Standard 64 Version V5.6 - ECO 3
on an HP rx3600 (1.67GHz/9.0MB) running OpenVMS V8.3-1H1

FTP Client on Vista is the microsoft command line program ftp.exe.

My point was that FTP from VMS to vista works ok if I use the command sequence CD A:[B.C] then GET D but not if I just use GET A:[B.C]D. I have tried the two suggestions double quotes and unix notation but "" has no effect - same ICMP error message and the unix notation GET A/B/C/D results in "file specification syntax error".

Thanks for the link to hoffman labs, interesting reading.

I suspect a port problem somehow but
would like to be able to debug this a little more. What possibilities are there on VMS to trace what is happening ? There is an TCPIP$FTP_Server.log file but it has no useful info in it at the moment. Is there any TCPIP option to set logging to Verbose ?

[Hoff · Accepted solution]

If this Windows Vista ftp client command works:

FTP> CD A:[B.C]
FTP> GET D

and this Windows Vista ftp client command does not:

FTP> GET A:[B.C]D

then you'll want to try this Windows Vista ftp command:

FTP> GET A:[B.C]D. D.

Better still, avoid the Windows Vista ftp client and use a tool such as FileZilla; neither ftp nor tools such as the integrated version of Hyperterm terminal emulator have a particularly stellar reputation for compatibility. Various of the add-on tools including FileZilla have far better compatibility with OpenVMS.

[Worley]

Thanks, that was the answer:
get A:[B.C.D] D

I can only assume that the dos ftp.exe tries to parse the whole vms filepath when saving.

[Hoff]

Microsoft Windows and HP OpenVMS TCP/IP Services disagree in the filename interpretations made at the protocol level, and this deadlock has been present for many years.

FileZilla and sftp are better choices here.

[Hoff]

Oh, and the Windows Vista ftp client tossed a completely bizarre and irrelevant error message, which is what sent you down this path to start with.

[Worley]

And the filename to save to "D" in your example is not in the ftp help for vista ftp.exe either - I had looked previously for an output filename switch. Bad error messages, undocumented features, can it get any better at MS ? :)

[Steven Schweda]

> and the unix notation GET A/B/C/D results
> in "file specification syntax error".

Well, I did say "/a/b/c/d", but it's less
versatile than I remembered. You can do a
"cd" (CWD) to a UNIX-like directory spec (if
you don't add a trailing "/"), but you can't
use a whole UNIX-like file spec. From an
HP-UX system:

ftp> get /dka0/anonymous/info-zip/u6z3_ia64.zip
/dka0/anonymous/info-zip/u6z3_ia64.zip: No such file or directory

but:

ftp> cd /dka0/anonymous/info-zip
250-CWD command successful.
250 New default directory is DKA0:[ANONYMOUS.INFO-ZIP]
ftp> get u6z3_ia64.zip
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening data connection for DKA0:[ANONYMOUS.INFO-ZIP]u6z3_ia64.zip;1 (10.0.0
.45,49520) (2922037 bytes)
226 Transfer complete.
2922037 bytes received in 0.30 seconds (9385.57 Kbytes/s)

Everything's complicated.