> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://moverdocs.files.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://moverdocs.files.com/connections/file-servers-and-protocols/ftp-ftps.md). # FTP/FTPS Mover can connect to servers that accept FTP or FTPS connections. ## Connections Add a new connection and select FTP as the connection type. Provide a *Connection Label* so you can identify the connection in a list. This is especially important if you need more than one connection of the same type. ### Server Enter a publicly resolvable fully qualified domain name or IP address that Mover can reach. Use the default port value of 21 for FTP unless you know the FTP server requires an alternate port. The other commonly used port, 990, typically means that the server requires SSL using the Implicit method. When using port 990, you also need to select *Require SSL (implicit)* under the SSL selection. ### Credentials Enter the username that will be used for the FTP connection, and provide the password. FTP connections do not support the use of SSH/SFTP keys for authentication. ### SSL You can customize how Mover will use SSL on this connection. Choose *Require SSL (explicit)* or *Require SSL (implicit)* when encryption is required. *Use if available* can fall back to plain FTP when the server does not offer TLS. Choose *Never use SSL* only when the server does not support FTPS. Plain FTP sends credentials and file contents without encryption. ### Server Certificate The TLS certificate helps Mover verify the identity of the FTPS server and detect attempts to impersonate it. By default, Mover requires the certificate to match the connection hostname and chain to a trusted certificate authority. You can relax this requirement for a self-signed or non-matching certificate, but doing so weakens server identity verification. ### Max Connections You can configure a maximum number of connections to the FTP server that Mover will open at once. We recommend the default value of 25, which provides a high level of parallelism and improves performance. Some server administrators will request that you reduce this number to reduce the pressure on their server. Reducing it too low will reduce performance because requests may have to wait for a free connection before they are able to complete. Mover will use best efforts to honor the maximum number specified here, though it may still burst above this number on certain occasions, such as when moving the connection to another one of our gateway servers internally. As a cloud-based service, we often reconfigure our network in real time to provide optimized performance. If we ever temporarily exceed the configured maximum, expect the connection count will return to the specified number promptly. ## Case Sensitivity Check how the source and destination handle letter case before starting a migration. On a case-sensitive system, `MyFile.txt` and `myfile.txt` can be two different files. A case-insensitive system treats those names as the same file. Mover compares paths without regard to case or accents. When several source or destination items have the same case-insensitive name, Mover skips the duplicates and records the conflict in the run log. A single source file can overwrite a destination file whose name differs only by case when their reported sizes differ. Review the dry-run results and remove case-only duplicates before executing the migration. Check the documentation on your storage providers to determine if you might need to account for case sensitivity differences. ## Troubleshooting Make sure your connection info matches the required settings of your FTP server. The FTP protocol supports distinct methods and a variety of options that determine whether a client application can connect. If your connection is misconfigured, Mover won't be able to access your files. ### FTPS Methods FTPS is TLS/SSL-secured FTP. It has been implemented in two non-compatible methods. The current recommended method is [Explicit FTPS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS#Explicit), which implements TLS on standard FTP ports, starting with TCP port 21. The older, deprecated method is [Implicit FTPS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FTPS#Implicit), which implements TLS on TCP port 990. Confirm which method of FTPS your server uses, and make sure your connection matches the requirements. ### SSL Certificate Validity By default, Mover expects the FTPS server certificate to match the connection hostname, be valid for the current date, and chain to a trusted certificate authority. If the certificate does not meet those requirements, configure the FTP connection to allow an untrusted certificate only after verifying the certificate and understanding the security tradeoff. If you're not sure if the server's certificate is fully valid, there are many online tools available for checking the validity of a site's certificate, such as the [SSL Shopper SSL checker](https://www.sslshopper.com/ssl-checker.html) and the [DigiCert SSL certificate checker](https://www.digicert.com/help/). ### Firewalls The FTP(S) server may be behind a firewall that only allows connections from specified IP addresses. If a firewall is blocking Mover's IP addresses, the firewall must be updated to allow Mover to connect. Mover connects to the FTP(S) server using Passive (PASV) Mode. In this mode, the FTP(S) server indicates which ports to use in order to traverse any firewalls. ### Partial Connectivity The FTP protocol uses different connection ports for Control and for Data. The Control channel is used for authentication and for control messages, such as navigating folders, listing folder contents, and setting transmission options. The Data channel is used for the transmission of file content. If you can connect, navigate folders, and list folder contents, but not upload or download file content, then it's most likely that a firewall is blocking the PASV Data channels. A common symptom of this is having a zero-byte file created whenever an upload or download is attempted. Contact the operator or administrator of the firewall and ask them to ensure that all PASV ports are open on their firewall.