ftp problem

[gmmastros]

I am trying to automate an ftp process and I am having a problem.

I want to download 3 files from another companies ftp server. They have given me a username and password that I use to access their ftp server. Since I want to automate this process, many (if not all) of the 3rd party ftp applications will not work for me (or perhaps I just don't know how).

If I use IE 8 or FireFox to connect the ftp server, I can click on the file and it will download without any problems, every time. If I use the FTP DOS command, I can connect every time, but when I try to download the file it will occasionally work, but will mostly fail. It's an intermittent problem, and I just can't seem to solve it.

At a command prompt, if I type FTP, sometimes I get a message like this:

[tt]
Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\gmmastros>ftp
ftp: connect
C:\Users\gmmastros>
[/tt]

Other times, it opens an FTP prompt. More importantly, though, sometimes the get command will work, and sometimes it won't.

[tt][blue]
C:\Users\gmmastros>ftp
ftp: connect
C:\Users\gmmastros>ftp
ftp> open ftp.XXXXXXXXX.us
Connected to ftp.XXXXXXXXXXX.us.
220 Microsoft FTP Service
User (ftp.XXXXXXXXX.usnone)): YYYYYYYYYY
331 Password required for YYYYYYYYY.
Password:
230 User YYYYYYYYYYY logged in.
ftp> get charges.zip
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for charges.zip(9463053 bytes).
[green]226 Transfer complete.
ftp: 9463053 bytes received in 57.52Seconds 164.51Kbytes/sec.[/green]
ftp> get offender.zip
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for offender.zip(40345355 bytes).
[!]Connection closed by remote host.[/!]
ftp>
[/blue][/tt]

As you can see... one file downloaded, but the other file did not.

I am running this on Vista Business 64-bit. Running the same command on a Windows 2003 server 32-bit works perfectly every time.

On the vista computer, the FTP.exe properties show....
File version=6.0.6000.16386
size=46.5 KB
Date Modified=1-20-2008 10:46 PM

On the windows server computer....
Product Version=5.2.3790.3959
File version=5.2.3790.3959 (srv03_sp2_rtm.070216-1710)
Date Modified=2/17/2007 10:03:40 AM

Both computers are connected to the network in the same way. We have a box from our ISP connected to a router, then connected to a hub, and finally connected to each computer. Whatever the problem is, I don't think it's related to the internet connection (but could be wrong).

To automate the process, I have created a text file, like this:

open ftp.xxxxxx.us
user yyyyyyy zzzzzzz
get charges.zip W:\apps\xxxxxxxxxx\charges.zip
bye

To run the process....

ftp S:MyFTPCommands.txt

I have a couple questions:

1. Is there anything I can do to make the ftp process more reliable?

2. Is there an alternative method I could/should use to download the ftp file?



-George

"The great things about standards is that there are so many to choose from." - Fortune Cookie Wisdom

 

[kjv1611]

Have you tried GlobalScape CuteFTP Pro? I once found, at least 4 years ago, that they had ways you could run custom scripts, similar to how you can use VBA in MS Office apps. I was just about to seriously tinker with it to further automate my duties, when I moved to a different position.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[JockMullin]

That is a really well-presented problem description!

Unfortunately my knowledge of Vista in general and 64-bit version in particular is very limite. However, I have found the MS command line FTP client to be very flaky, especially when transferring large files.

It may help to close and re-open a new session for each file.

But I would really recommend switching to a different FTP client. MoveItFreely is a drop-in replacement for the MS FTP client which is available in a Vista compatible version. I use it extensively under XP and it is much better.

Check it out here:

http://www.ipswitchft.com/products/moveit/client/freely/

It is free, and supports the same scripting commands as the MS FTP client, though it has more coptions available such as passive mode switching and FTP over SSL.

Jock

 

[gmmastros]

Downloading the 30-day trial now. Thanks.

Still wondering why the ftp command that ships with vista is so flaky.

-George

"The great things about standards is that there are so many to choose from." - Fortune Cookie Wisdom

 

[shmoes]

I've never used the command line ftp, but it sounds like you're lagged and that it's timing out. Is there a way to increase the timeout option on the commandline?

~AZ

 

[excel4x]

I have been having the same problem on XP.
Up until several months ago ftp commands worked fine.
However, recently I started getting intermittent "ftp connect" errors.

I haven't figured out the cause, however, I have found a few things that you might try:
If I exit one or more of the following applications, then ftp commands work reliably:
1) browsers - firefox, explorer, chrome, etc.
2) outlook
3) Yahoo IM

Sometimes I have to exit all three, sometimes exiting browsers is enough. As long as these applications are closed, I can run ftp commands over and over without problem.

So far my best guess is that either a msoft update or an application installation caused this problem. However, I have not yet discovered the source. I have not tried other command line ftp clients. FTP transfers within firefox do not appear to be affected.

 

[gmmastros]

I hate to say it, but I kinda gave up on this issue. Ultimately, I needed to download data from an FTP server on a daily basis and then load the data in to a SQL Database. I absolutely could not get reliable FTP downloads on my desktop computer. But... I did not really want it there, either. FTP does run reliably from one of my servers, so problem solved.

Thanks to everyone that helped.

-George

"The great things about standards is that there are so many to choose from." - Fortune Cookie Wisdom