How do I set up a secure FTP connection?

The most secure way to connect with FTP is to use SecureFX®.
SecureFX provides a fully secure data connection over SSH2.

AbsoluteFTP® combined with SecureCRT® can encrypt the data sent on the control channel. This protects the user login information. Files and directory listings transferred on the FTP data channel, however, will not be encrypted by the procedure explained below.

Before setting up port forwarding for the first time, review the topic "Port Forwarding in SecureCRT" in SecureCRT's online help. Also, make sure that you can successfully connect to the target FTP server using a normal session profile.

To configure SecureCRT and AbsoluteFTP to forward the FTP control connection, follow these steps.

1. Set up SecureCRT to forward an FTP control connection,
• Open the SecureCRT Connect dialog (File/Connect or File/New Window).
• Select the "Session List" tab and create a new session using the "New" button, or select an existing SSH session to the FTP server and choose "Edit" to modify its port forwarding properties.
• On the "Session" tab of the Session Preferences dialog, make sure that the "SSH" protocol is selected and that the "Hostname or IP" is set to the SSH server's address.
• Click the "Advanced..." button and select the "Port Forwarding" tab of the Advanced SSH Options dialog. In the "Local port" field, enter 21. The "Remote port" field should also be 21 in most cases. Enter the FTP server address in the "Remote hostname" field.
• Click the "Save" button to add these settings to the current forwarded port list. Click "OK" to finish port forwarding setup.
• Connect to the server to start the SSH session with port forwarding.
  
2. Create a session in AbsoluteFTP which uses SecureCRT port forwarding,
• Open the AbsoluteFTP Connect dialog (File/Connect) and click on the "New Session" toolbar button to start the New Session wizard.
• Enter the localhost address 127.0.0.1 for the "Host address" and set the port to 21 on the first panel. Click "Next" and follow the directions in the wizard to enter login information for the server, a session name, then click "Finish."
• On the Connect dialog, select the new session and click on the "Edit" toolbar button to bring up the Session Configuration dialog. Go to the Advanced tab and make sure that the option "Use outgoing data connections (PASV)" is checked (i.e., the check box has a check mark and is not grayed out). Click "OK" to accept changes.
• Connect to the FTP server using the new FTP session.

If correctly configured, AbsoluteFTP will establish a forwarded connection to the FTP server using SecureCRT.

If this does not resolve the problem, please contact us.