| Author |
Topic |
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
 Posted - 2005-03-08 : 13:34:58
|
| There are several shareware Secure FTP products out there. Can anyone here provide thumbs up (or down) speaking from experience? |
|
|
robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-08 : 14:25:24
|
| I can't think of any off hand. I should tell you that if you're going to be transferring data with banks or other financial institutions, many if not all will insist on a commercial product. Logic, reason, and economics do not play a role in their decision, and they will refuse to transfer data with you if you are not using a commercial version either. I've had this come up a few times and we ended up getting a commercial product (the name escapes me, but the cost was under $300) |
 |
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-08 : 14:32:54
|
| Thanks. I think you're right. I'll ask the customer what he recommends. |
|
|
|
MichaelP
Jedi Yak
2489 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-08 : 16:58:28
|
| What about SSH (Secure Shell)? We use that successfully, but I think that's generally a Unix / Linux thing. We run it on our Windows servers, but it's not super popular in Windows environments.Michael<Yoda>Use the Search page you must. Find the answer you will.</Yoda> |
|
|
|
Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
|
|
Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)
7020 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-08 : 19:37:58
|
Are these command line utilities, or are they activex controls?I have been looking for some kind of control that supports Secure FTP, so they we can use it with sp_OA.. procs and from DTS ActiveX Script Tasks.We have been useing the Chilkat FTP ActiveX component for regular FTP transfers with sp_OA.. procs. This has worked a lot better then trying to use a command line client, because it is a lot easier for the proc to tell when it gets an error, look at the files that are in a directory, etc.I looked at the sites you mentioned, but I couldn't tell how they worked.quote:
Originally posted by Merkin
SSH is the way to go. http://sshwindows.sourceforge.net/ is a good one.http://filezilla.sourceforge.net is a good FTP client that will talk SSH as well.And they won't have to spend a cent  Damian
CODO ERGO SUM |
|
|
|
MichaelP
Jedi Yak
2489 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-08 : 19:42:49
|
| I don't know of a COM DLL that supports SSH. We just move files to a directory on the SSH server with a file copy, and that makes it available for users to download.I'm pretty sure that there's a command-line driven SSH client for Windows. I can ask my counterpart about that if you like. Just let me know.Michael<Yoda>Use the Search page you must. Find the answer you will.</Yoda> |
|
|
|
Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-08 : 19:46:19
|
| The openssh server I pointed to uses Cygwin, but wraps it in a nice windows installer so you don't need to get your hands dirty.Filezilla is just an ftp client, but uses the SFTP application from PuTTY ( http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/ ) which can be called from the command line.There are a few COM SFTP components around, I haven't used any though.Damian |
|
|
|
MichaelP
Jedi Yak
2489 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-08 : 19:52:11
|
| PuTTY I think that's what we use. Michael<Yoda>Use the Search page you must. Find the answer you will.</Yoda> |
|
|
|
eyechart
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
3575 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-08 : 23:05:20
|
quote:
Originally posted by Michael Valentine JonesI have been looking for some kind of control that supports Secure FTP, so they we can use it with sp_OA.. procs and from DTS ActiveX Script Tasks.
I evaluated a couple of products a while back (a year or two ago) that handle SSH/SFTP using activex controls. We never went live with the project, so I never used this stuff in a production capcity. The tools seemed to work well enough - YMMV. They are not free, but they are inexpensive.http://www.weonlydo.com/index.asp?showform=SSHhttp://www.weonlydo.com/index.asp?showform=SFTP-ec |
|
|
|
eyechart
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
3575 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-08 : 23:23:22
|
quote:
Originally posted by SamC
There are several shareware Secure FTP products out there. Can anyone here provide thumbs up (or down) speaking from experience?
I use putty right now. It is free and works very well.Nice features include PSCP and PSFTP apps that are equivalent to SCP and FTP commands - except they are secure. Nice because you don't need to run an FTP daemon on the other end, you just need an SSH2 compatible server.I think services for unix (from microsoft) provides an SSH2 server and it is also free. If not, one is available from interop that works with SFU and still is free.I don't use putty with windows hosts, just with our solaris/linux hosts.-ec |
|
|
|
Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-09 : 01:02:59
|
| Not shareware, but we've used the Ipswitch one - I think its called WSFTPKristen |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-21 : 08:16:26
|
| Would someone summarize the diff between an FTP utility and an activeX control?Maybe Graz should do a survey of popular FTP software...Sam |
|
|
|
robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-21 : 08:21:54
|
| A Windows GUI FTP program would be easy to use, possibly built on ActiveX controls, and have an interface to let the user view and manipulate files readily.An FTP ActiveX control would be programmable and allow custom functions that a GUI utility might not. It is also easier to use such a control to automate FTP transfers.A command-line FTP utility is somewhat of a cross between them, it's easy to use without having to program it, and can automate more complex transfers. It does not have a graphical interface though. |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-21 : 08:33:40
|
| Thanks Rob. At this moment, it seems to me that I would want an external command line executable which could be invoked as the next "Step" right after the Transaction Log is generated.I spoke to the folks at "weonlydo.com", very helpful people, but yes, it would require development. I'll look at Damian's recommendations next. Damian has a better than the average bear track record with his recommendations.I'm kinda surprised that there's not an FTP product targeting SQL 2000 log shipping. Something that could log success/failure, schedule as a step, yada yada...Sam |
|
|
|
robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-21 : 20:28:37
|
| If it were not for the secure part, the Windows FTP command line utility would be perfect for this. If you could find a Windows CLI SSH client you could probably couple the two together and be all set to go. |
|
|
|
Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-21 : 21:59:30
|
| I've been doing some FTP job stuff again in the last week. It really confirmed something I knew...Command line FTP as part of an automated process really SUCKS.I inherited a system that would write out an instruction file and call the FTP.exe to execute it.Problem is, every few days something would go wrong. The ftp.exe would be left hanging, locking all the files and stopping everything. Quitting the job didn't help because the ftp program was launched by shelling out in vbs.Spent an afternoon and rewrote it using a COM component the other day and it works great.Damian |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-21 : 22:14:28
|
| I've managed to cross topics in this thread. The shipping of log files doesn't need to be SSH. Any recommendations on a clean package to ship the current log, delete those older than ~2 days, and ship the nightly backup?Damian doesn't give high marks to command line interfaces. There's got to be a package that does this as an add-on to SQL someplace...Sam |
|
|
|
robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-21 : 22:54:39
|
Damian is smoking crack. Actually, his co-workers are.  Shelling out from VBScript was the cause of the failure. Running it as a regular command-line is near bulletproof, and if it fails it falls directly back to SQL Agent. I had someone at another company FTP all kinds of files via the regular Windows utility for about a year, and the only time it ever failed was during a network outage, something that no FTP product handles well.If you don't already have a dedicated FTP folder, I'd recommend making one, and have the job copy the backup files there. Always copy to that folder, never move, so that the job can just wipe that folder out when it completes the FTP process. If you want to leave the files there for 2 days that's fine, but I'd suggest having a completely separate job for archiving old backups that doesn't even touch the FTP folder.I can think of 2 sequences you can follow:1. Backup database/log to separate disk files in a dedicated backup folder2. Copy backup files to FTP folder3. FTP entire folder to remote site4. Clear FTP folder5. Archive backup files from backup folderor...1. Backup database/log directly to files in FTP folder2. FTP entire folder to remote site3. Copy/move backup files to archive folder after FTP4. Clear FTP folderI like the first sequence better because there is no chance of losing a backup file. If the FTP fails and the folder gets cleared, you still have the backup in the original folder. |
|
|
|
SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-21 : 23:05:20
|
| Thanks Rob,And you would do this using windows command line-ftp in an SQL job.Curious - how easy is it to copy only the most recent backup/transaction log file to the FTP folder? Explicit code appreciated! I'll give it a try.Sam<encrypt>PS: Damian... send me some of that </end encrypt> |
|
|
|
Kristen
Test
22859 Posts |
Posted - 2005-03-22 : 02:13:45
|
| Dunno if this helps, but we use "rotated fodlers" for some of this sort of stuff, especially when we use a batch file that might fail.RMDIR Save10 /s /QMOVE Save09 Save10MOVE Save08 Save09...MOVE Save01 Save02MKDIR Save01Now put today's FTP files in the "Save01" folder. If you spot an error within the next 10 days they will still be there, after that they are dust! Have as many folders as you like - e.g. for an hourly task you might want lots, especially if, say, it might take 7 days before a fault is discovered.Kristen |
|
|
|
Next Page
|
Recommendation for Secure FTP