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How to use Managed Code (C#) to create an FTP Home Directory Provider that is based on the Remote Client IP Address

02 November 2011 • by Bob • FTP, IIS

I recently had an interesting scenario that was presented to me by a customer: they had a business requirement where they needed to give the same username and password to a group of people, but they didn't want any two people to be able to see anyone else's files. This seemed like an unusual business requirement to me; the whole point of keeping users separate is one of the reasons why we added user isolation to the FTP service.

With that in mind, my first suggestion was - of course - to rethink their business requirement, assign different usernames and passwords to everyone, and use FTP user isolation. But that wasn't going to work for them; their business requirement for giving out the same username and password could not be avoided. So I said that I would get back to them, and I spent the next few days experimenting with a few ideas.

One of my early ideas that seemed somewhat promising was to write a custom home directory provider that dynamically created unique home directories that were based on the session IDs for the individual FTP sessions, and the provider would use those directories to isolate the users. That seemed like a good idea, but when I analyzed the results I quickly saw that it wasn't going to work; as each user logged in, they would get a new session ID, and they wouldn't see their files from their last session. On top of that, the FTP server would rapidly start to collect a large number of session-based directories, with no garbage collection. So it was back to the drawing board for me.

After some discussions with the customer, we reasoned that the best suggestion for their particular environment was to leverage some of the code that I had written for my session-based home directory provider in order to create home directory provider that dynamically created home directories that are based on the remote IP of the FTP client.

I have to stress, however, that this solution will not work in all situations. For example:

That being said, the customer felt that those limitations were acceptable for their environment, so I created a home directory provider that dynamically created home directories that were based on the remote IP address of their FTP clients. I agree that it's not a perfect solution, but their business requirement made this scenario considerably difficult to work around.

Note: I wrote and tested the steps in this blog using both Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2008; if you use an different version of Visual Studio, some of the version-specific steps may need to be changed.

In This Blog

Prerequisites

The following items are required to complete the procedures in this blog:

  1. The following version of IIS must be installed on your Windows computer, and the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager must also be installed:
    • IIS 7.0 must be installed on Windows Server 2008
    • IIS 7.5 must be installed on Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
  2. The new FTP 7.5 service must be installed. To install FTP 7.5, follow the instructions in the following topic:
  3. You must have FTP publishing enabled for a site. To create a new FTP site, follow the instructions in the following topic:
  4. Set the content permissions to allow access for the COM+ process identity that handles extensibility:
    • Open a command prompt.
    • Type the following command: 
      ICACLS "%SystemDrive%\inetpub\ftproot" /Grant "Network Service":M /T
      Where "%SystemDrive%\inetpub\ftproot" is the home directory for your FTP site.
    • Close the command prompt.
    Note: This last step is necessary for the custom home directory provider to create the isolation directories.

Step 1: Set up the Project Environment

In this step, you will create a project in Microsoft Visual Studio for the demo provider.

  1. Open Visual Studio 2008 or Visual Studio 2010.
  2. Click the File menu, then New, then Project.
  3. In the New Projectdialog box:
    • Choose Visual C# as the project type.
    • Choose Class Library as the template.
    • Type FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory as the name of the project.
    • Click OK.
  4. When the project opens, add a reference path to the FTP extensibility library:
    • Click Project, and then click FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory Properties.
    • Click the Reference Paths tab.
    • Enter the path to the FTP extensibility assembly for your version of Windows, where C: is your operating system drive.
      • For Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista:
        • C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.Web.FtpServer\7.5.0.0__31bf3856ad364e35
      • For 32-bit Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2:
        • C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\IIS
      • For 64-bit Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2:
        • C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\IIS
    • Click Add Folder.
  5. Add a strong name key to the project:
    • Click Project, and then click FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory Properties.
    • Click the Signing tab.
    • Check the Sign the assembly check box.
    • Choose <New...> from the strong key name drop-down box.
    • Enter FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectoryKey for the key file name.
    • If desired, enter a password for the key file; otherwise, clear the Protect my key file with a password check box.
    • Click OK.
  6. Note: FTP 7.5 Extensibility does not support the .NET Framework 4.0; if you are using Visual Studio 2010, or you have changed your default framework version, you may need to change the framework version for this project. To do so, use the following steps:
    • Click Project, and then click FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory Properties.
    • Click the Application tab.
    • Choose .NET Framework 3.5 in the Target framework drop-down menu.
    • Save, close, and re-open the project.
  7. Optional: You can add a custom build event to add the DLL automatically to the Global Assembly Cache (GAC) on your development computer:
    • Click Project, and then click FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory Properties.
    • Click the Build Events tab.
    • Enter the appropriate commands in the Post-build event command linedialog box, depending on your version of Visual Studio:
      • If you are using Visual Studio 2010:
        net stop ftpsvc
        call "%VS100COMNTOOLS%\vsvars32.bat">null
        gacutil.exe /if "$(TargetPath)"
        net start ftpsvc
      • If you are using Visual Studio 2008:
        net stop ftpsvc
        call "%VS90COMNTOOLS%\vsvars32.bat">null
        gacutil.exe /if "$(TargetPath)"
        net start ftpsvc
      Note: You need to be logged in as an administrator in order to restart the FTP service and add the dll to the Global Assembly Cache.
  8. Save the project.

Step 2: Create the Extensibility Class

In this step, you will implement the extensibility interfaces for the demo provider.

  1. Add the necessary references to the project:
    • Click Project, and then click Add Reference...
    • On the .NET tab, click Microsoft.Web.FtpServer.
    • Click OK.
  2. Add the code for the authentication class:
    • In Solution Explorer, double-click the Class1.cs file.
    • Remove the existing code.
    • Paste the following code into the editor: 
      using System;
      using System.Collections.Generic;
      using System.Collections.Specialized;
      using System.IO;
      using Microsoft.Web.FtpServer;

      public class FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory :
          BaseProvider,
          IFtpHomeDirectoryProvider,
          IFtpLogProvider
      {
          // Create a dictionary object that will contain
          // session IDs and remote IP addresses.
          private static Dictionary<string, string> _sessionList = null;

          // Store the path to the default FTP folder.
          private static string _defaultDirectory = string.Empty;

          // Override the default initialization method.
          protected override void Initialize(StringDictionary config)
          {
              // Test if the session dictionary has been created.
              if (_sessionList == null)
              {
                  // Create the session dictionary.
                  _sessionList = new Dictionary<string, string>();
              }
              // Retrieve the default directory path from configuration.
              _defaultDirectory = config["defaultDirectory"];
              // Test for the default home directory (Required).
              if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(_defaultDirectory))
              {
                  throw new ArgumentException(
                    "Missing default directory path in configuration.");
              }
          }

          // Define the home directory provider method.
          string IFtpHomeDirectoryProvider.GetUserHomeDirectoryData(
              string sessionId,
              string siteName,
              string userName)
          {
              // Create a string with the folder name.
              string _sessionDirectory = String.Format(
                  @"{0}\{1}", _defaultDirectory,
                  _sessionList[sessionId]);
              try
              {
                  // Test if the folder already exists.
                  if (!Directory.Exists(_sessionDirectory))
                  {
                      // Create the physical folder. Note: NETWORK SERVICE
                      // needs write permissions to the default folder in
                      // order to create each remote IP's home directory.
                      Directory.CreateDirectory(_sessionDirectory);
                  }
              }
              catch (Exception ex)
              {
                  throw ex;
              }
              // Return the path to the session folder.
              return _sessionDirectory;
          }
          // Define the log provider method.
          public void Log(FtpLogEntry logEntry)
          {
              // Test if the USER command was entered.
              if (logEntry.Command.Equals(
                  "USER",
                  StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
              {
                  // Reformat the remote IP address.
                  string _remoteIp = logEntry.RemoteIPAddress
                      .Replace(':', '-')
                      .Replace('.', '-');
                  // Add the remote IP address to the session dictionary.
                  _sessionList.Add(logEntry.SessionId, _remoteIp);
              }
              // Test if the command channel was closed (end of session).
              if (logEntry.Command.Equals(
                  "CommandChannelClosed",
                  StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase))
              {
                  // Remove the closed session from the dictionary.
                  _sessionList.Remove(logEntry.SessionId);
              }
          }
      }
  3. Save and compile the project.

Note: If you did not use the optional steps to register the assemblies in the GAC, you will need to manually copy the assemblies to your IIS 7 computer and add the assemblies to the GAC using the Gacutil.exe tool. For more information, see the following topic on the Microsoft MSDN Web site:

Global Assembly Cache Tool (Gacutil.exe)

Step 3: Add the Demo Provider to FTP

In this step, you will add your provider to the global list of custom providers for your FTP service, configure your provider's settings, and enable your provider for an FTP site.

Adding your Provider to FTP

  1. Determine the assembly information for your extensibility provider:
    • In Windows Explorer, open your "C:\Windows\assembly" path, where C: is your operating system drive.
    • Locate the FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory assembly.
    • Right-click the assembly, and then click Properties.
    • Copy the Culture value; for example: Neutral.
    • Copy the Version number; for example: 1.0.0.0.
    • Copy the Public Key Token value; for example: 426f62526f636b73.
    • Click Cancel.
  2. Add the extensibility provider to the global list of FTP authentication providers:
    • Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
    • Click your computer name in the Connections pane.
    • Double-click FTP Authentication in the main window.
    • Click Custom Providers... in the Actions pane.
    • Click Register.
    • Enter FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory for the provider Name.
    • Click Managed Provider (.NET).
    • Enter the assembly information for the extensibility provider using the information that you copied earlier. For example:
      FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory,FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory,version=1.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=426f62526f636b73
    • Click OK.
    • Clear the FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory check box in the providers list.
    • Click OK.

Note: If you prefer, you could use the command line to add the provider to FTP by using syntax like the following example:

cd %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.ftpServer/providerDefinitions /+"[name='FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory',type='FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory,FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory,version=1.0.0.0,Culture=neutral,PublicKeyToken=426f62526f636b73']" /commit:apphost

Configuring your Provider's Settings

At the moment there is no user interface that allows you to configure properties for a custom home directory provider, so you will have to use the following command line:

cd %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.ftpServer/providerDefinitions /+"activation.[name='FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory']" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.ftpServer/providerDefinitions /+"activation.[name='FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory'].[key='defaultDirectory',value='C:\Inetpub\ftproot']" /commit:apphost

Note: The highlighted area contains the value that you need to update with the root directory of your FTP site.

Enabling your Provider for an FTP site

At the moment there is no user interface that allows you to enable a custom home directory provider for an FTP site, so you will have to use the following command line:

cd %SystemRoot%\System32\Inetsrv

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/sites /+"[name='My FTP Site'].ftpServer.customFeatures.providers.[name='FtpRemoteIPHomeDirectory']" /commit:apphost

appcmd.exe set config -section:system.applicationHost/sites /"[name='My FTP Site'].ftpServer.userIsolation.mode:Custom" /commit:apphost

Note: The highlighted areas contain the name of the FTP site where you want to enable the custom home directory provider.

Summary

In this blog I showed you how to:

When users connect to your FTP site, the FTP service will create a directory that is based on their remote IP address, and it will drop their session in the corresponding folder for their remote IP address. They will not be able to change to the root directory, or a directory for a different remote IP address.

For example, if the root directory for your FTP site is "C:\Inetpub\ftproot" and a client connects to your FTP site from 192.168.0.100, the FTP home directory provider will create a folder that is named "C:\Inetpub\ftproot\192-168-0-100", and the FTP client's sessions will be isolated in that directory; the FTP client will not be able to change directory to "C:\Inetpub\ftproot" or the home directory for another remote IP.

Once again, there are limitations to this approach, and I agree that it's not a perfect solution in all scenarios; but this provider works as expected when you have to use the same username and password for all of your FTP clients, and you know that your FTP clients will use unique remote IP addresses.

Note: This blog was originally posted at http://blogs.msdn.com/robert_mcmurray/

WebDAV Module for Windows Server 2008 GoLive Beta is released

22 December 2007 • by Bob • IIS, IIS News Item, WebDAV

Earlier today the IIS product team released the GoLive beta version of the new WebDAV extension module for IIS 7. (This version is currently available for Windows Server 2008 only.)

Listed below are the links for the download pages for each of the individual installation packages:

We've loaded this version with many great new features such as:

Here are a couple of screenshots of the new WebDAV UI in action:

WebDAV UI WebDAV Authoring Rules

Additional documentation about installing and using this version of WebDAV can be found at the following URL:

Installing and Configuring WebDAV on IIS 7.0:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=105146

While this release is a beta version and not technically supported, feedback about this release and requests for information can be posted to the following web forum:

IIS7 - Publishing:
http://forums.iis.net/1045.aspx

I would be remiss if I did not mention that special thanks go to:

Thanks!

Note: This blog was originally posted at http://blogs.msdn.com/robert_mcmurray/

FPSE 2002 RC1 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista (x86/x64)

14 December 2007 • by Bob • FrontPage, IIS, IIS News Item

Earlier today Microsoft and Ready-to-Run Software released to web the Release Candidate 1 (RC1) version of the FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions for IIS 7.0 on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. This build now includes a combined installation package for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows.

Listed below is the link for the download page for the combined 32-bit/64-bit installation package:

FPSE 2002 RC1 for IIS 7 is supported on all of the the following operating systems:

Once again, additional documentation about installing and using this version of FPSE 2002 can be found at the following URL:

Installing the FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=88546

While this release is a beta version and not technically supported, feedback about this release and requests for information can be sent to fpbeta@rtr.com or posted to the following web forum:

IIS7 - Publishing:
http://forums.iis.net/1045.aspx

Thanks!

Note: This blog was originally posted at http://blogs.msdn.com/robert_mcmurray/

Upcoming IIS7 Webcasts

05 October 2007 • by Bob • IIS

Okay, I have to admit, I was remiss at pointing this out earlier - several members of the IIS product team and myself are presenting webcasts on the TechNet web site for various IIS subjects throughout the month of October. Here's the schedule of upcoming topics:

We've had two webcasts already, and you can still listen to those online:

Enjoy!

FPSE 2002 RC0 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista (x86/x64)

02 October 2007 • by Bob • FrontPage, IIS, IIS News Item

Earlier today Microsoft and Ready to Run Software released to web the Release Candidate 0 (RC0) version of the FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions for IIS 7.0 on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista. This build now includes support for 64-bit Windows, and addresses several issues that we've seen since the FPSE release that shipped last April.

Listed below are the links for the download pages for each of the individual installation packages:

FPSE 2002 RC0 for IIS 7 is supported on all of the the following operating systems:

Additional documentation about installing and using this version of FPSE 2002 can be found at the following URL:

Installing the FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=88546

Quoting and updating some of my notes from the last release:

It should be noted that this version of FPSE 2002 is a beta release and is therefore unsupported. Also, this version of FPSE 2002 introduces no new functionality; it is essentially the same version of FPSE 2002 that was created for Windows Server 2003 that has been updated to work on Windows Server 2008 (code name "Longhorn") and Windows Vista. That being said, this version of FPSE 2002 will enable web hosters and developers to author their web content on servers or workstations that are running IIS 7.0 on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista.

While this release is a beta version and not technically supported, feedback about this release and requests for information can be sent to fpbeta@rtr.com or posted to the following web forum:

IIS7 - Publishing:
http://forums.iis.net/1045.aspx

Thanks!

FTP7 for Windows Server 2008 RC0 is released!

27 September 2007 • by Bob • FTP, IIS, IIS News Item

Today Microsoft released the newest version of our FTP server for Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate 0 (RC0)!

Listed below are the links for the download pages for each of the individual installation packages:

I added the following text to my "Installing and Troubleshooting FTP7" walkthrough, but I’m going to repost that here because it sums up nicely what our new FTP server has to offer:

This new FTP service incorporates many new features that enable web authors to publish content better than before, and offers web administrators more security and deployment options.

  • Integration with IIS 7.0: IIS 7.0 has a brand-new administration interface and configuration store, and the new FTP service is tightly integrated with this new design. The old IIS 6 metabase is gone, and a new configuration store that is based on the .NET XML-based *.config format has taken its place. In addition, IIS 7.0 has a new administration tool, and the new FTP server plugs seamlessly into that paradigm.
  • Support for new Internet standards: One of the most significant features in the new FTP server is support for FTP over SSL. The new FTP server also supports other Internet improvements such as UTF8 and IPv6.
  • Shared hosting improvements: By fully integrating into IIS 7.0, the new FTP server makes it possible to host FTP and Web content from the same site by simply adding an FTP binding to an existing Web site. In addition, the FTP server now has virtual host name support, making it possible to host multiple FTP sites on the same IP address. The new FTP server also has improved user isolation, now making it possible to isolate users through per-user virtual directories.
  • Extensibility and custom authentication: The new FTP server supports developer extensibility, making it possible for software vendors to write custom providers for FTP authentication. Microsoft is using this extensibility feature to implement two new methods for using non-Windows accounts for FTP authentication for IIS Managers and .NET Membership.
  • Improved logging support: FTP logging has been enhanced to include all FTP-related traffic, unique tracking for FTP sessions, FTP sub-statuses, additional detail fields in FTP logs, and much more.
  • New supportability features: IIS 7.0 has a new option to display detailed error messages for local users, and the FTP server supports this by providing detailed error responses when logging on locally to an FTP server. The FTP server also logs detailed information using Event Tracing for Windows (ETW), which provides additional detailed information for troubleshooting.

Additional information about new features in FTP7 is available in the "What's New for Microsoft and FTP?" topic on Microsoft's http://www.iis.net/ web site.

The following prerequisites are required to install this new version:

  1. You must be using Windows Server 2008 (code name "Longhorn") Release Candidate 0 (RC0) or later.
  2. Internet Information Services 7.0 must be installed.
  3. If you are going to manage the new FTP server using the IIS 7.0 user interface, the administration tool will need to be installed.
  4. You must install the new FTP server as an administrator.
  5. IIS 7.0 supports a new shared configuration environment, which must be disabled on each server in a web farm before installing the new FTP server for each node. Note: Shared configuration can be re-enabled after the FTP server had been installed.
  6. The FTP server that is shipped on the Windows Server 2008 DVD must be uninstalled before installing the new FTP server.

To help you get started using the new FTP server, the following walkthroughs have been published on the http://www.iis.net/ web site:

Special thanks go to:

Thanks!

Virtual Hosts and Host Names in FTP7

28 August 2007 • by Bob • FTP, IIS

I received the following question from Mickey Binder in response to my blog entries about the new FTP service for IIS7:

"When using virtual hosts will it always be necessary to provide DOMAIN|Username or is it me doing something wrong. I can see in your documentation how it should be setup, I just wonder why it still needs the DOMAIN in the user login as this should already be specified by the host I connect to (Like with the http virtual hosts)."

I thought that was a great question, and I think that it deserves a detailed response. The short answer is that you need to provide the host name somehow when connecting to an FTP site, and FTP simply does not work the way that HTTP does. I'll explain why in detail with this blog post.

FTP and HTTP Host Names

HTTP provides a way to pass the host name in the headers that are passed between the client and server, but FTP currently does not provide this same functionality. Looking at one of my older blog posts, I pointed out that there are three ways that you can create unique bindings for a Web/HTTP site: IP address, port, or host header. Based on its current design, FTP can create unique bindings by IP address or port, but the FTP protocol currently does not allow for something like host headers.

Here's why - I'm sure most everyone is aware that HTTP packets consist of a set of headers and possibly a block of data. Here's an example of a simple GET request:

GET /default.aspx HTTP/1.0 [crlf]
Accept: */* [crlf]
[crlf]

When HTTP 1.1 was published in RFC 2068 and RFC 2616 it defined a header for specifying a "host" name in a separate name/value pair:

GET /default.aspx HTTP/1.1 [crlf]
Host: example.com [crlf]
Accept: */* [crlf]
[crlf]

This allows multiple virtual servers ("hosts") on the same IP address and port that are differentiated by host name. While this works great for the HTTP protocol, the FTP protocol currently has no comparable functionality. As such, the FTP protocol would have to be updated to allow multiple hosts on the same IP address and port, then IIS and all FTP clients would need to be updated to accommodate the changes to FTP.

I realize that most everyone is aware that when you attempt to connect to an HTTP or FTP server from a client, the client looks up the IP address using a name server and then creates a connection to the server by IP address. What many people may not realize is that the server is basically unaware of the host name that the client used - at connection time the server is really only concerned with inbound data on the IP address.

That being said, the connection protocol could provide a mechanism for specifying the host name. For example, as I mentioned above the HTTP/1.1 protocol provides a mechanism for specifying host names using a host header and FTP does not. In fact, if you were to open Network Monitor or similar tool and capture an FTP connection between a client and a server, you would be able to see that the host name is not passed as part of the FTP conversation between the client and server.

Host Names in FTP for IIS7

For the new FTP service for IIS7 we wanted to find a way to have host names in FTP, so we approached the situation with two possible ideas:

  1. Find a backwards-compatible method for specifying host names for FTP
  2. See if we could get the FTP protocol updated for host names

In the end, we chose to do both.

FTP Virtual Host Name Support

First of all we have "Virtual Host" names; this is the "ftp.example.com|username" syntax that led to the original question. Here's the way that this can be used in a hosting environment. Let's say that a web hoster has a customer with several Web/FTP sites that he needs to update. The web hoster gives all of his customers the same ftp address, like "ftp.example.com". When setting up the bindings for the Web/FTP sites the web hoster configures each site for the appropriate HTTP/FTP bindings, using host names like "www.contoso.com" & "www.fabrikam.com" for the HTTP bindings and "ftp.contoso.com" & "ftp.fabrikam.com" for FTP bindings. (All of the Web names would be set up in DNS, of course, but the FTP names are somewhat optional as I'll explain later.)

Since HTTP provides host headers to pass the host name, the Web client & Web server will both know which site they're working with. Since FTP doesn't have a built-in way to pass a host name, the customer will connect to the "ftp.example.com" name that his web hoster gave him and log in using the appropriate "ftp.contoso.com|customer" or "ftp.fabrikam.com|customer" syntax. The FTP service for IIS7 will then internally route the FTP activity to the correct site based on the FTP bindings. If the FTP names "ftp.contoso.com" & "ftp.fabrikam.com" were registered in DNS, the client would still need to specify the appropriate "ftp.contoso.com|customer" or "ftp.fabrikam.com|customer" syntax when logging in because the FTP activity did not actually pass the host name in any way.

The great thing about the "Virtual Host" names solution is that it is backwards-compatible because any client should be able to send the "ftp.example.com|username" syntax.

FTP True Host Name Support

We also wanted to see if the FTP protocol could be updated to allow sending a host name as part of the FTP session like HTTP does. After some research I discovered that Robert Elz and Paul Hethmon had provided a detailed discussion of a "HOST" command for FTP in their Internet draft titled "Extensions to FTP" during their work with the FTPEXT Working Group at the IETF. I contacted the two of them and with their approval Paul and I submitted a new IETF draft detailing a HOST command for FTP, which is posted at the following URL:

http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-hethmon-mcmurray-ftp-hosts-00.txt

Here's the way that the HOST command works: the FTP server and FTP client both need to know that the HOST command is supported. The FTP client connects to an FTP server using either a DNS name or IP address and sends a FEAT command and sees that HOST is supported, so the client sends "HOST ftp.example.com" before sending USER and PASS, which allows the FTP server to route the request to the correct FTP site based on the bindings. (An FTP client could skip the FEAT command completely and simply attempt a HOST command and process the FTP reply, but that's not the best approach.)

The FTP HOST command solution is not backwards-compatible, however, because an FTP client needs to be able to send the "HOST ftp.example.com" syntax. Some FTP clients allow sending custom commands, which enables this functionality. For example, if you are using the FTP.EXE command-line tool that comes in Windows, you can type "quote HOST ftp.example.com" when connecting to the new FTP server for IIS7 and it will route the request to the appropriate site. In an ideal world, FTP clients will start negotiating the HOST feature behind the scenes and you should never know that this is occurring, which is how almost all Web browsers currently work. (e.g. When you enter "www.example.com" in the address bar of a Web browser it will automatically add the host header to the HTTP request.)

The Final Word

So the long answer to the original question is that you have two ways of specifying a host with the new FTP service for IIS7:

So my thanks to Mickey Binder for his great question, and I hope this helps other people understand this concept a little better.

FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions Beta for Longhorn and Vista

28 April 2007 • by Bob • FrontPage, IIS

Following up on my FrontPage Server Extensions on Vista and Longhorn blog post from last February, I'm happy to announce that Microsoft and Ready to Run Software have released the first beta version of the Microsoft FrontPage 2002 Server Extensions (FPSE 2002) for Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" and Windows Vista.

The beta version of FPSE 2002 can be downloaded from the following URL:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=86544

Additional documentation about installing and using this version of FPSE 2002 can be found at the following URL:

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=88546

It should be noted that this version of FPSE 2002 is a beta release and is therefore unsupported. Also, this version of FPSE 2002 introduces no new functionality; it is essentially the same version of FPSE 2002 that was created for Windows Server 2003 that has been updated to work on Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" and Windows Vista. That being said, this version of FPSE 2002 will enable web hosters and developers to author their web content on servers or workstations that are running IIS 7.0 on Windows Server Code Name "Longhorn" and Windows Vista.

Feedback about this release can be sent to fpbeta@rtr.com.

FTP 7 Beta is released!

26 April 2007 • by Bob • FTP, IIS

It's been a long time in development, but Microsoft has released a beta version of a new FTP service that we have completely rewritten for Windows Server code name "Longhorn". This new FTP service contains many great new features, such as:

There are way too many features to list in such a short space, so a good place for addtional information is the "What’s New for Microsoft and FTP?" article. I encourage you to download the beta version of the new FTP service today, and listed below are the links for the download pages for each of the individual installation packages:

After installing the new FTP server, the following walkthroughs on the www.iis.net web site should help get you started:

In closing, the beta version of this new FTP service has a lot to offer, and we've put a lot of time and effort into making what we think is a great start for the future of FTP for IIS. About the only piece of bad news that I have for anyone is that this new FTP service will not work on Windows Server 2003 with IIS 6.0.

All in all, our team is excited to see people start testing with this beta version. And lest I forget, my special thanks go to:

Thanks everyone!

FrontPage Server Extensions on Vista and Longhorn

08 February 2007 • by Bob • FrontPage, IIS

As most people that have installed IIS 7 on Windows Vista or Windows codenamed "Longhorn" have realized, there are no options to install the FrontPage Server Extensions, leaving the only possibly way to edit your web site that is hosted on a Vista/Longhorn computer is to edit the web site locally using the file system, or to use FTP to upload your files to a remote Vista/Longhorn computer.

The FrontPage Server Extensions (FPSE) 2002 are part of the Office XP system of products. The Office XP system, including FPSE 2002, left mainstream support on July 11th, 2005, according to the Office lifecycle policy. At that time, the FrontPage Server Extensions were removed from the Microsoft Download Center. Office policy is to remove software from the Download Center that is no longer supported. This policy allows us to focus our support efforts on the latest technologies. FPSE 2002 continues to be available on Windows Server 2003 in the Add Windows Components section of the Add/Remove Programs control panel.

FPSE 2002 will continue to be supported by security updates through the end of the extended support period, and all existing security content will remain available. For more information on the support lifecycle policy, see the Microsoft Lifecycle web page at the following URL:

http://support.microsoft.com/?pr=lifecycle

Because Microsoft realizes that the FrontPage Server Extensions are essential to many web hosting companies, the Internet Information Services product team is researching the development of an updated version of FPSE 2002 that will work with Microsoft Windows codenamed "Longhorn" and Microsoft Windows Vista.

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