Solution: Get passive ftp working with filezilla server on windows server 2008 on rackspace

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After installing filezilla on my windows 2008 server hosted with rackspace I had issues getting connected with passive ftp. Active ftp worked fine using WinSCP but my favorite little Fling ftp app didn’t work. It would hang up on the “getting directory listing” point and compain about passive connections.

Rackspace was no help on the phone and they had nothing in their kb. So I google for “filezilla server on rackspace passive” and ended up reading the filezilla network configuration. Duh. … RTFM.

If found these instructions and followed them to fix the issue:

Setting up FileZilla Server with Windows Firewall

If you are having problems with setting up FileZilla Server to run behind Windows Firewall (specifically, it fails on “List” and the client receives a “Failed to receive directory listing” error), you must add the FileZilla Server application to Windows Firewall’s Exceptions list. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Open Windows Firewall under Control Panel.
2. If using Vista, click “Change Settings”
3. Select the “Exceptions” tab.
4. Click “Add program…”
5. Do NOT select “FileZilla Server Interface” from the list, instead click on “Browse…”
6. Locate the directory you installed FileZilla Server to (normally “C:\Program Files\FileZilla Server\”)
7. Double click or select “FileZilla server.exe” and press open (Once again, NOT “FileZilla Server Interface.exe”)
8. Select “FileZilla server.exe” from the list and click “Ok”
9. Verify that “FileZilla server.exe” is added to the exceptions list and that it has a check mark in the box next to it
10. Press “Ok” to close the window

Passive mode should now work. If you are still having problems connecting (from another computer or outside the network), check your router settings or try to add the port number in theWindows Firewall settings located in the Exceptions tab.

See the Microsoft kb article 931130 about running FileZilla with the “Routing and Remote Access” or the “Application Layer Gateway” service enabled.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931130