FTP cannot open remote folder!?!

[andysm849]

I'm using Dreamweaver to access first web site on an ISPConfig Fedora 9 server but I can't access it via ftp. I would rather use Dreamweaver than the ISPConfig web ftp.
After fiddling around with the settings here is what the remote site info for one individual site looks like in Dreamweaver:

Access: FTP
FTP host: I put in my server's public IP even though I can access it on my local network.
Host directory /var/www/
Login: web7_admin That's my user for the site so i assumed this would be my login.
Password: my user's password

When testing the connection I get the error:
cannot open remote folder /var/www/.
Access denied. The file may not exist or there could be a permission problem.

The firewall has port 21 open. Proftpd is working because ISPConfig has it online and enabled, and the Web-FTP on ISPConfig's panel can see the folders. Under the services it does say that the Web-server is offline and restarting it doesnt help. This is confusing though because if the webserver really is offline, how come I get an ISPConfig landing page when going to my domains from other computers in my home network, and am able to access ISPConfig?

Other attempts with putting in different ftp addresses into Dreamweaver (like ftp.domain.com) had a loading bar attempting to connect but then halfway through gave a very general error message with every possible thing that could be wrong. So I think just putting in my static Public IP is all right, as it just says that the folder can't be found.

The user web7_admin has administrator privelages under that site.

What settings do I need to have to access my site with FTP?

[marpada]

Try using pasive FTP in the client.
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Lamborghini estoque specifications
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Wendie 99

[uberamd]

*cough* use scp not ftp *cough-security-cough*

[andysm849]

Tried it, and there was no change.

[andysm849]

Woops I meant that to the first post, not the scp. Unless scp can fix my problem, Id like to first get my sites functioning and then worry about security...

[uberamd]

Originally Posted by andysm849

Woops I meant that to the first post, not the scp. Unless scp can fix my problem, Id like to first get my sites functioning and then worry about security...

Well in my opinion it would be easier to implement SFTP vs FTP anywau. And if you decide to work with SFTP you don't need to go through the effort to implement FTP (which is an insecure protocol). Just my 2 cents.

[andysm849]

But my problem is that I can't find or access any of the folders on my server. So would using SFTP really change anything?

[falko]

You cannot access /var/www because that's outside web7_admin's home directory. I guess the right path is /var/www/web7.

[uberamd]

Originally Posted by falko

You cannot access /var/www because that's outside web7_admin's home directory. I guess the right path is /var/www/web7.

Exactly so if you create a link from /var/www/[folder name] to /home/[username]/www you will be set.

Or, use the apache/lighttpd directive that maps home directories to the domain, IE: www.example.com/~username

Then you use SFTP to transfer files, and if desired create a jail for that user then allow SSH access for administration as well. There are many options, I just like to frown away from FTP as it seems to be a old, insecure protocol.

[andysm849]

I can't access /var/www/web7 either. I looked on my server and in /var/www/ there is a folder for www.mydomain.com but its a shortcut to /var/www/web7/ so I think the thing you were talking about linking is already done. (web7 is the username that ISPConfig assigned the specific site)

It has to be something on my server computer blocking access but I can't tell what. Could it be something to do with the fact that i am trying to access it in the same local network? Maybe since I'm typing in the public static IP address its messing up? I checked the firewall and the port forwarding for port 21 and both appear to be in order. I'm really at a loss to what the problem is, because these appear to be all the right settings, it just doesn't work.