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Weird FTP problem with Windows 2000 server

I’m having a weird problem with a Windows 2000 server and I can’t seem to figure it out. Hopefully someone here can help me. We have a couple of Windows 2000 servers behind a LocalDirector. We have an application that automatically connects to are customers servers via FTP and retrieves files at specified times. We recently rebuilt one of the servers and now we can’t pull files via FTP from it. We can connect to a customer’s server but as soon as we try to retrieve a file the FTP connection breaks. I tried manually connecting from a command prompt and I get the following error.

500 I won't open a connection to 10.10.10.20 <only to 64.x.x.x>
500?

The 64.x.x.x IP is the address of our firewall
The 10.10.10.20 IP is a virtual IP on the LocalDirector

I checked “use passive FTP” in the Internet Explorer settings and it worked a few times from a command prompt. Then, for some unknown reason, it quit working giving me the same error as I listed above. This makes no sense to me. It seems like a NAT problem on the LocalDirector but nothing has changed on the device. If it worked prior to the box being rebuilt and now it doesn’t then it seems like a server related problem. I just don’t know what to do to fix it. The other boxes behind the LocalDirector can still send/receive via FTP. They use the 10.10.10.20 IP for outbound connections. I tripled checked all the settings in the firewall and LocalDirector. Has anyone seen this problem before? Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can fix it?

Thanks

RevelationCS

Is there more of a log outside of that that you can post here? based on what I am seeing it appears to be a configuration issue. Are you attempting to use SSH?

RevelationCS

also, do you have FXP enabled on both servers?

steno1122

ASKER

RevelationCS, thanks for the reply. Unfortunately there aren’t any decent logs that I can show you. The LocalDirector has lousy logging and their isn’t any errors in the Windows 2000 event log. I did find a work-around but it’s something I don’t want to do. I can get FTP to work if I remove the static entry from the LocalDirector. The static entry is used for outbound connections. It basically hides the server’s real IP and uses a virtual IP for outbound connectivity. This entry was in the LocalDirector before the server was rebuilt. There are similar entries for the other servers behind the LocalDirector that are able to FTP using the same virtual address. I still think the problem is with the server and not the LocalDirector. I don’t get the error on any other server.

static 10.10.10.4:0:0:tcp 10.10.10.20:0:0:tcp

real IP virtual IP

Oh, I’m not using SSH.

RevelationCS

what about FXP being enabled at both locations? I tend to lean towards this being a firewall configuration issue based on what I turn up on the topic via internet searches....

steno1122

ASKER

Nope, no FXP. I've removed the static command from the LocalDirector so the box can communicate via FTP. I don't want to leave it that way though.

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RevelationCS

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steno1122

ASKER

The firewall rules are correct. The other servers behind the LD use the same virtual IP for outgoing connections. They are able to establish FTP connections without any problems. I'm beginning to think there might be a bug in the version of the LD operating system that we're running. I'm going to check Cisco's site.