FTP with Frontpage...

Hey guys;

I’m using frontpage 2003 (don’t complain please I’m not a HTML expert and this was the easiest program I found to learn without reading) and I just recently upgraded to Comodo’s firewall version 3.0.21.329 (the latest one I think) as before this I was running off of ver 2.4 and still had a few troubles with it… but I’m trying to FTP my site and it seems that I can’t, I keep running into issues as things would time out or even just hang and not do anything for the longest of times…

I’m hoping to get some help as I don’t want to get rid of either Frontpage or comodo… I tried setting up the FTP rules as it was said in another post but nothing seems to work…

Please help me guys…
Thanks;
Shane (the strong comodo supporter, even recommends it on his tools page: http://4einconline.com)

Do you get any block messages in the firewall log? Are you using the predefined FTP Client policy for Frontpage in Network Policy? What are your global rules? If you are using active FTP with Frontpage, you may need to add a rule to allow incoming tcp to port 20 to your global rules.

Any messages in the firewall log ?
it’s tough to say since I don’t know where the log is located

I have frontpage being treated as a FTP client…

I have a block all ICMP but I seen in one of your previous posts that I should add a TCP/in/any/any/20/any
in which I have already done so…
not sure what ya mean by if i’m using active FTP I’m usin the built in FTP wiht frontpage…

To find the firewall log, go to firewall/common tasks/view firewall events. There may be something blocked that will indicate the problem. If all you have is the block icmp in global rules, you don’t need to add anything. There are two forms of ftp, active and passive, that use different parts of the ftp client policy, but without global rules shouldn’t make any difference. What is your OS?

ok so I checked the firewall common tasks like you asked… it’s empty… and I’m not just making that up to throw you a curve either sded…
ok so I removed the other global rule that I had since you told me that I don’t have to have the other one just keep the ICMP one and thats it…
as for what form of FTP the program is… I always have it turned on passive

my os is XP Home (if that helps)

I looked and the default upload method for Frontpage is http post-but you have changed to ftp instead? Surprised there is nothing under view firewall events, since the rules end with a block and log. But one other way to find the correct rules is to put CFP3 fireall into training mode (dropdown menu on tray icon), erase all of the rules for Frontpage and anything else in its directory (and ALG if there are any for it) in firewall/advanced/Network Security Policy, and just allow any popups that occur. That will take care of the situation where FP might also use other programs also to support ftp access.

with frontpage 2003, you get the option of either uploading via http (to sites with frontpage extensions) or through FTP and I have it going through FTP (since not many free hosting sites keep frontpage extensions running or give support)

alright so I have the firewall in training mode in hopes of that solving the issue… as it still sits right now as it’s
“listing” the files as it always hits this with CFP3 but doesn’t go any further as it seems to hang…

Alright so apparently it just likes to sit on that selection for a few before jumping passed it, just curious but could anything else be holding my firewall back since it seems to just sit in one spot for a while before moving on to upload ?

There are some other things/commands happening after it does the directory listing-and more ftp related commands. Do you have a lot of files in the directory? Can frontpage show you the ftp commands log? I take it is actually working now, but has a delay between the directory listing and the upload? Most firewall related problems will leave you hanging forever.

yea I have a fair amount since frontpage 2003 allows you to create subsites…
I don’t think frontpage can show me the FTP commands log, well it did go through once now it’s back to hanging again…

the windows firewall, should that be turned on or off upon installation of CFP3 ?, cause for some reason mine was turned on and it still remains on…

You should turn off the windows firewall-that could be causing problems since it uses different rules than the CFP firewall and you get the benefit of both. :wink: CFP should turn it off, but it seems to be missing in the installer. What were the new rules generated for FP?

OK so I turned windows firewall off myself…

as for the new rules for FP only two:

  1. Allow IP in from any IP any to IP any where protocol is any
  2. Allow IP out from any IP any to IP any where protocol is any

anythin else I can do ?

curious but doesn’t that mean anyone on the outside can access frontpage ?

Yes, with these rules anyone can access Frontpage, but it isn’t going to do anything to you. You must be using active ftp, since there is an inbound connection rule. You can try making the rules more specific:
allow/tcp/in/any/any/20/any
allow/tcp/out/any/any/any/any
but since ftp clients only listen to stuff coming in from port 20 anyway, it really doesn’t make much difference. If you haven’t made an outbound connection to them on port 21 first, your client will ignore them. And unless frontpage has a virus, it wont send out anything damaging. :slight_smile: You really just made it a trusted application.
You probably should put a block and log all inbound at the end of your application rules just to watch for things coming in.

perhaps its just my webhost, as I just quickly signed up with bravehost to see if I would run into issues there and everything seems faster to connect without any problems…

Things slow down too when you have an overscribed server. Everybody shares. :slight_smile: