sFTP and Retrieving Multiple Files

[jflem]

I have an application that uses Xceed components to provide me with sFTP capabilities (not a server). Many times, my application performs a multiple file retrieval using a file name mask such as XXUPD*.txt. I have two environments - lab and production. Both environments have servers running the Ability FTP Server.

Our application, in the production environment, has no problem retrieving multiple files if one or more files are present that match the file name filter passed to the FTP server (this is a third-party provider using Agility FTP server).

In the lab, however, I'm seeing that my application is not receiving any files from the server running the Ability FTP server even though files are present. Using the logs, it appears that the correct folder on the server is being referenced. Multiple connections (the client connects every 5 minutes) will ultimately retrieve the files. However, it is somewhat random in terms of the elapsed time. Some times the FTP server will return all the files the first time it is contacted by the client. Or it could take several minutes to hours before the files are retrieved.

The files in question are visible in the file system (Windows Server 2003) but theserver does not return them. I'm not exactly sure what Xceed uses for an FTP command (since I can't see it) but I assume it is an MGET. As I noted earlier, I know this normally works and I have also tested against another third-party service provider without any issues.

My guess is that we might not have something configured correctly but I'm at a loss to identify what configuration option this might be. Is this an issue that you have seen before?

You assistance is appreciated.

Regards,

Jim

[rob]

My first recommendation would be to examine the log files to see if there are any obvious problems there. However, one thing I should point out is that the FTP server has no direct support for requests such as xxx*.txt (although its entirely possible that the windows file system would perform this automatically anyway). Of coures what would also help is if you could examine any logs generate by the client software, as these may contain important error messages which help track down the source of the problem (without any error messages its hard to find where to start). If you would like me to examine any logs, please send them to rob@code-crafters.com.