HP VPN Firewall Appliances System Management and Maintenance Configuration Guide

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Configuring FTP
NOTE:
FTP is not supported in FIPS mode.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) can be configured only at the CLI.
FTP is an application layer protocol based on the client/server model. It is used to transfer files from one
host to another over a TCP/IP network.
FTP server uses TCP port 20 to transfer data and TCP port 21 to transfer control commands. For more
information about FTP, see RFC 959.
FTP supports the following transfer modes:
• Binary mode—Used to transfer image files, such as .bin and .btm files.
• ASCII mode—Used to transfer text files, such as .txt, .bat, and .cfg files.
FTP can operate in either of the following modes:
• Active mode (PORT)—The FTP server initiates the TCP connection. This mode is not suitable when
the FTP client is behind a firewall, for example, when the FTP client resides in a private network.
• Passive mode (PASV)—The FTP client initiates the TCP connection. This mode is not suitable when
the server does not allow the client to use a random unprivileged port greater than 1024.
FTP operation mode varies depending on the FTP client program.
The device can act as the FTP client or FTP server.
Figure 106 FTP application scenario
Using the device as an FTP client
To connect to an FTP server or enter FTP client view, make sure the following requirements are met:
• You have level-3 (Manage) user privileges on the device. In FTP client view, whether a directory or
file management command can be successfully executed depends on the authorization set on the
FTP server.
• The device and the FTP server can reach each other.
• You have a user account (including the username, password, and authorization) on the FTP server.
If the FTP server supports anonymous FTP, you can directly access the FTP server without a username
and password.