Lance's TextBox

FTP error 425, "Can't open data connection."

One of the most common questions I get about FTP has to do with error 425, "Can't open data connection."  This is indeed a protocol level error that is defined in the RFC.  Its meaning is obvious:  the data connection (for a directory listing, upload, or download) was unable to be established. 

First - the most common solution:  change the active/passive mode settings.  But that might not work, and if it does its only a band-aid covering up the real problem.

As I've mentioned in the past, one of the most common reasons that this error occurs is a misconfiguration of the FTP server software itself, related to SSL connections and firewalls, in which the connection tries to establish itself on a bogus ip address.  Read more about FTP SSL through a NAT firewall here, some potential solutions are included.

There are other less likely causes, such as:

• The server is configured to always use the same port for passive mode connections, or the client is configured to always use the same port for active mode connections, although in this case usually the software in question should raise a different error first, but I've seen this happen.
• In passive mode, the firewall in front of the FTP server doesn't have the correct ports open.  So the server tells the client to connect to ipaddress 1.2.3.4 on port x, but the firewall doesn't allow incoming connections on port x.  Most firewalls are smart enough to open up the port when it sees the PASV response.  Vice versa for active mode and the firewall in front of the FTP client.

posted @ Thursday, January 24, 2008 4:11 PM | Feedback (7) | Filed Under [ Programming IPWorks ]

Step Up Your E-Commerce Transactions: Get Better Rates and Prevent Fraud

Online merchants - by taking advantage of available cardholder authentication services on your e-commerce transactions, you can get improved rates, prevent fraud, and even get charge-back protection so that if a fraud related charge-back does occur - you may not be financially responsible*.

The cardholder authentication services I'm talking about?  Verified By Visa, MasterCard SecureCode, and JCB J/Secure.  All of these services are built on Visa's 3-D Secure protocol.

For more in formation about how 3-D Secure works, check out this 3-D Secure tutorial, and if you have any questions about the process, feel free to leave a comment here or contact me through this blog. The tutorial walks through the entire 3-D Secure process, and shows how you can add 3-D Secure functionality to your own web application (the demo uses .Net, but the same procedures apply in Java and C++ as well).  The tutorial makes use of /n software's 3-D Secure MPI product, which has been certified Verified by Visa since 2002:

The 3-D Secure component allows easy integration of Verified By Visa, SecureCode, & J/Secure capabilities into online shopping carts, websites, and merchant systems, while providing extraordinary flexibility to software developers through easy to use component interfaces.

Previously, only the ASP Edition of /n software's 3-D Secure MPI product was available, but now the .NET, Java, C++, C++ Builder, and Delphi editions have also been made available!

* If you use Verified By Visa.  According to Visa, "Merchants who use Verified by Visa are protected from fraud-related chargebacks on all personal Visa cards—credit or debit, domestic, or international—whether or not the issuer or cardholder is participating in Verified by Visa, with limited exceptions."

More info:  check out this 3-D Secure tutorial

posted @ Tuesday, January 15, 2008 3:21 PM | Feedback (1) | Filed Under [ Programming IPWorks E-Commerce ]

Free NetCmdlets license

/n software's NetCmdlets is available for free for non-commercial use.  Check out the NetCmdlets hobbyist license here.

Update!  The ordering process does not require a credit card unless you request a physical cd shipment.  For electronic download, just be sure to enter your name and email address!

Technorati Tags: NetCmdlets, PowerShell

posted @ Tuesday, January 15, 2008 3:17 PM | Feedback (2) | Filed Under [ PowerShell ]

NewsGator client apps are now free

Yesterday, NewsGator announced that it is making all if its RSS reader applications free.  That includes FeedDemon (which I love and have been using for years), NetNewsWire, NewsGator Go, NewsGator Online, and NewsGator Inbox.  Individual downloads.

posted @ Wednesday, January 09, 2008 2:12 PM | Feedback (0) | Filed Under [ Software General RSSBus ]

IP*Works! SSL v8 and IP*Works! SSH v8 released!

Following the release of IP*Works! v8 last October, /n software announced to release of IP*Works SSL v8 and IP*Works SSH v8 (.Net and Java Editions) just before Christmas!

Keep up with other /n software releases by following the official RSS feed.

posted @ Friday, January 04, 2008 10:27 AM | Feedback (0) | Filed Under [ Programming IPWorks ]

Winsock Error 10060

Winsock Error 10060 means "Connection timed out".  This means it timed out on the TCP level - i.e., we expected to receive a packet from the remote host during the connection attempt, but we did not. 

If you get this error, most likely there is a (temporary) problem with the server (or some router along the way).  You can try a traceroute to determine whether or not this is true.

posted @ Wednesday, January 02, 2008 10:24 AM | Feedback (2) | Filed Under [ Programming IPWorks ]

BizTalk RSS Feeds

Richard Seroter has posted an update on his BizTalk RSS feed generation using RSSBus.  He's using RSSBus to generate perf metrics feeds for his BizTalk applications.  In this post, Richard talks about how he uses the RSSBus caching features to avoid the extra load on his BizTalk databases, and shows how he's integrated the resulting feed into a web part.

BiztalkOps - more info
SqlOps - more info

posted @ Wednesday, January 02, 2008 10:12 AM | Feedback (0) | Filed Under [ BizTalk RSSBus ]