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Can't connect w/ SFTP since upgrading to Leopard (12 posts)

  • Started 15 years ago by mgowin
  • Latest reply 15 years ago from Scott McGuire
  • mgowin Member

    I did an "Archive & Install" of Leopard last week on my Tiger-based MacBook Pro. Prior to that, I was able to use Fetch to SFTP to my company's server. Since the change in OS, though, SFTP won't work. I've been able to FTP with Fetch to other servers but can't get a connection with SFTP. I've also tried other FTP apps with the same result--no connection via SFTP.

    I've installed Fetch on my wife's Leopard MacBook and have had no problems with FTP or SFTP. Has something in my system changed since the upgrade?

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • Scott McGuire Administrator

    Hi,

    We'd like some more information to help diagnose the problem. Could you please do the following?

    * Quit Fetch.
    * Open Fetch again.
    * Try to connect to your server.
    * After you get an error, go to the Window menu, and choose Fetch Transcript.
    * Copy the entire contents of the transcript window, and paste them into a reply to this message.

    Thanks,

    Scott McGuire
    Fetch Softworks

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • mgowin Member

    Here's the transcript Scott:

    Fetch 5.3 (5D161) Intel running on Mac OS X 10.5.4 (9E17) Intel English
    StuffIt Engine 0x820, StuffIt SDK Version 10.1.1b1
    Partial serial FETCHEX001-RKBE-CSKM T
    Connecting to mgowin@secure.lccs.edu port 22022 (8/19/08 10:00:53 AM)
    SSH2_FXP_INIT 3

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • Scott McGuire Administrator

    Hi,

    Each SFTP server has an "SSH host key" that enables secure transfers. When you connect to an SFTP server, Mac OS X stores that server's key for future use. This key encodes both information about the server and your Mac. It's possible that the upgrade of your machine has changed your Mac system enough that the server no longer recognizes the stored key as valid, and this is preventing you from connecting.

    So, I think we should try clearing your Mac's store of SSH keys, so that you can get a fresh key from the server, and see if that fixes the problem. Doing this shouldn't cause any ill effects.

    Please do the following to clear your SSH keys:

    * In Fetch, choose Fetch Help from the Help menu.
    * In the help window, search for "known hosts".
    * Double-click on the "RSA host key differs warning" help topic (it should be the one at the top of the list).
    * A help topic opens in the help window.
    * Scroll down to the "Delete the known_hosts file for me" link.
    * Click the link, and follow the instructions.

    Once that's done, try connecting to your server using SFTP again. If you're warned that "the authenticity of the host can't be established" (you may or may not be), that is normal and you should continue.

    Let us know if that fixes the problem or not.

    Thanks,

    Scott McGuire
    Fetch Softworks

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • mgowin Member

    Brilliant! That solved the problem--thanks so much, Scott.

    --Michael

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • Scott McGuire Administrator

    Hi Michael,

    Great, good to hear! You're welcome.

    Best,

    Scott McGuire
    Fetch Softworks

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • Rbohn Member

    I had a very similar problem when I upgraded from 10.5.4 to 10.5.5. Up to then, Fetch worked fine with SFTP. The error message is "SFTP connection to 'servername.com' could not be opened because the SFTP server could not be established or was lost. Try again, or contact the server admin to verify....."

    I have tried various permutations of ISPs to log in, and the problem is somewhere with my Mac. The only change I've made is the OS upgrade, so I would guess it is the problem.

    I tried the solution suggested here, and get exactly the same error message. I will keep trying, though.

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • Scott McGuire Administrator

    Rbohn,

    I would recommend that you try using the command line SSH program to connect to the server and see if you can connect successfully, or if not, what error message you get. (When you use SFTP in Fetch, it uses the same procedure as the SSH program to connect.)

    To do this:

    * Open the Applications folder.
    * Open the Utilities folder.
    * Open the Terminal application.
    * At the prompt, type:

    ssh username@hostname

    Replacing username with your username for that server, and hostname with the hostname of the server.

    * If everything is working normally, you should be prompted for a passphrase or a password; enter it. If things are not working correctly, you may receive an error at this point.
    * If you connect successfully, you can quit your SSH connection by typing "exit" (without the quotes).
    * Then you can quit Terminal.

    Let us know if you connect successfully using SSH, or if not, what error you get. This will help us determine if the problem lies with Fetch or elsewhere.

    Thanks,

    Scott McGuire
    Fetch Softworks

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • Rbohn Member

    Thanks for inquiring.
    I was able to log in to the same site using Cyberduck and SFTP. So the problem appears to be with Fetch. But at least, I CAN get in, so I'm not in distress. (Although Fetch has a much nicer interface than CD :-)

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • Scott McGuire Administrator

    Hi Rbohn,

    If Cyberduck can connect successfully and Fetch cannot, that is something we would like to investigate and fix.

    If you could please send us some additional information, we will work on figuring out what the problem is.

    In Fetch:

    * Quit Fetch.
    * Open Fetch again.
    * Type Option-Command-Shift-Control-D (that is, hold down the Option, Command, Shift, Control and D keys all at the same time). This will turn on the Fetch Debug menu.
    * Go to the Debug menu, to the Logging submenu, and choose SFTP log.
    * Try to connect to your server.
    * After you receive an error, go to the Window menu, and choose Fetch Transcript.
    * Copy the entire contents of the transcript window, and send it to:

    bugs at fetchsoftworks dot com

    Then please send us your system log (which is where all the debug info went to). To find the system.log file:

    * In the Finder, go to the Go menu, and choose "Go to Folder..."
    * Enter "/var/log" (without the quotes).

    Then, please email the system.log file you'll find in that folder to:

    bugs at fetchsoftworks dot com

    We'll take a look and try to figure out what is going on.

    Let us know if you have any questions about the above.

    Thanks,

    Scott McGuire
    Fetch Softworks

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • mzolen Member

    My client called me to tell me that she cannot connect to her printer using Fetch (5.3). Her OS is 10.5.5. I used her login info and was able to connect with my OS of 10.5.4. After upgrading my Mac to 10.5.5, I was unable to connect to her printer using her login info. I deleted the SSH host key, but the problem remains. I sent the Fetch transcript, and my system log as described to Rbohn. I did this before I was registered to this forum. If you need me to resend the info, let me know.

    Posted 15 years ago #

  • Scott McGuire Administrator

    Rbohn -

    An update. It appears there is a bug in Mac OS X's built-in ssh that was introduced by the Mac OS X 10.5.5 update. This bug prevents Fetch from being able to connect successfully to certain servers. This may be the problem you are running into.

    We are investigating to see if we can work around the problem, but it would be helpful to know if you are running into the same problem that we are investigating.

    If you could please follow these instructions to try the built-in ssh and and let us know what it outputs, we would appreciate it.

    To do this:

    * Open the Applications folder.
    * Open the Utilities folder.
    * Open the Terminal application.
    * At the prompt, type:

    ssh username@hostname

    Replacing username with your username for that server, and hostname with the hostname of the server.

    * If you are prompted for a passphrase or a password; enter it.
    * If things are not working correctly, you will probably receive an error at this point.
    * If you connect successfully, you can quit your SSH connection by typing "exit" (without the quotes).
    * Make a note of the error you receive.
    * Then you can quit Terminal.

    Please let us know what happens.

    Thank you,

    Scott McGuire
    Fetch Softworks

    Posted 15 years ago #

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