CrushFTP 5.5.0 Released! (This is a big release!)

Major Enhancements for Everyone:

1.) New SSH Engine

--faster, robust, and more compatible with SFTP/SCP clients in general.

2.) New HTTP Engine

--new engine is faster at handling HTTP requests, and handles reverse proxy scenarios correctly.

3.) New HTML WebInterface

--All based on CSS, Javascript, and HTML. Includes integrated invisible Java applet when needed.

--No more Flash interface! Same interface works on any modern browser now.

--Supports native browser drag and drop upload for modern browsers.

--Uploading and downloading in the WebInterface can now use zipstreaming for faster performance.

4.) Support for IPv6

Major Enhancements for Enterprise Customers:

1.) High speed file transfers using accelerated HTTP tunnels.

--regardless of distance, or packet loss, you can now get full speed on file transfers around the world.

--20Mbit connections from Australia to the US.

--100Mbit connections from Europe to the US.

--So whatever your bandwidth is from your ISP, you can utilize it all if the other end also has the bandwidth.

2.) Task Scheduler

--You can run scheduled CrushTask instances to do various things when needed.

Other general enhancements:

Added option to require both public key and password authentication for SFTP.

Added support for @AutoDomain where the user's domain on their login determines where CrushFTP finds the user account.

Added event for when a user connects.

Added event for deleting files.

Added button to send email notices of new accounts.

Increased speed of remote admin handling.

Added more compatibility for AS2 and AS3 file transfers including ASYNC MDN replies.

Stores the last 200 hours of prefs.xml files for longer history to recover from.

Added ability to easily restore an older prefs.xml file from the main window.

Added STOU FTP command. (Store Unique)

Added ability to restrict server bandwidth, but exclude some IPs

Added user manager customizations for the WebInterface to insert your own CSS or Javascript.

Added SQL "modified" table to we can track when data has been altered externally. (Better caching support for SQL.)

Added safeguards to prevent accidental deletion of config files.

Added protection against reading a file that is only partially written.

Directory listings are now sorted by default.

Increased the speed of ASCII mode handling.

Added ability to get URL parts in an email event

Added hammering alert for user accounts connecting too frequently.

Added some additional logging customizations.

Added support for the same CrushFTP folder to do remote admin for multiple places.

Added control for proxy mode to do active or passive mode on FTP connections.

Added ability to set the home path of a user who logs in with SFTP.

Added configuration option for maximum threads the server can do.

Added support for SITE restart command.

Added support for ASCII mode when using proxy.

Cleans up older stats out of the statistics DB.

Added upload and download counts to the GUI user info window.

Added support for SFTP proxy mode to keyboard interactive servers.

Improved efficiency of Chunked encoding in HTTP handlers.

Added control over the index of the ethernet adapter in the ServerBeat protocol (High Availability.)

Added helpful message about AES256 encryption and how to enable it.

Increased speed of SFTP proxy mode.

Added preliminary support for XML API to do server administration.

Added additional debug logging throughout the server.

Events now run multithreaded.

User manager can now do batch copying, linking, and deleting of events to users in that group.

Created stronger warning message on what monitor folders does.

Added create local folder button into user manager.

Added display item to see "filetree" listings statuses on really large listings

User manager automatically displays hidden items now when using the quick jump feature.

Now uses better privilege escalation for installing a daemon, or using ports below 1024. Less annoying popup window.

Added ability to create user home directories.

Bug Fixes:

Better socket management when CrushFTP is acting as a proxy

Fixed tunnel configuration in remote admin mode

Binds to the same IP that the incoming FTP connection used for data channels

Fixed caching bug on local files

GUI tweaks for better sizing and layout

Fixed bugs with synching plugins to remote admin session

Fixed new folder bug with Windows FTP client, and Windows WebDAV.

Fixed GUI issues in User Manager when using the quick find for a particular config item.

Improved searching algorithm to be more reliable and faster.

Fixed formatting on expiration date in user accounts.

Fixed ServerBeat (high availability) function for Linux machines.

Fixed bug in creating command line users.

Fixed bug in "Forgot my password" link not working.

Fixed bugs in proxy mode when using SFTP.

Fixed bugs in service install when port configuration is not correct.

Fixed STAT command in FTP.

Fixed bug with monitor folder settings not being cancelled properly.

Fixed bug with multiple PASV commands breaking the FTP session.

Fixed bug with installing daemon when using SQL mode.

Fixed error conditions when using a proxy in RFC mode.

Fixed bug with duplicating an event not making that vent unique.

Fixed bug with plugins using public key authentication.

Fixed beforeLogin plugin hook.

Fixed bug where the user manager reset permissions when renaming.

Fixed bug with some characters on remote admin passwords.

Fixed IP banning for HTTP sessions.

Fixed bug with jails proxy connections and merging multiple proxy FTP connections.

Fixed user manager concurrency issues.

Fixed inheritance in user manager.

Fixed browser's BASIC authentication popup.

Fix for events thread dieting and no events being triggered.

Fixed bug that showed the root SFTP VFS item's path.

Fixed reports to handle the display of larger file sizes.

Fixed out of memory issues when using inline plugins for the user manager's events.

CrushFTP 5.1.1 Released!

New:

***initial support for UDP tunneling for faster transfers (Enterprise Licensed Customers only)

***UDP support includes FTP proxy, SFTP proxy, and HTTP/TCP proxies (Enterprise Licensed Customers only)

***warns if you use different versions of CrushFTP for remote admin and actual serving

***added case sensitive filtering flag on dir listings

***added flag for controlling FTP proxy mode on non standard FTP dir listings

***defaults to Binary mode if the using FTP and the user never specified (flag can control this)

***significantly improved proxy performance

***folder monitors can now run in intervals of seconds if the value is negative

***added flag to allow disabling the stats DB engine

***fixed memory consumption scenario for FTP transfers

***set AES ciphers to be higher priority by default

***added support for higher strength AES ciphers in SFTP if your Java has the right policy files

***added support for automatically resuming failed uploads or downloads with the FTP proxy

***added mdtm_gmt flag to make MDTM use GMT format for dates

***alert's can now execute a plugin by specifying it in the "To:" header. Example: PLUGIN:CrushTask

***added flag for determining if reports should be emailed in HTML or Plain Text mode

***added support for SFTP key renegotiations

Fixes:

***A CRITICAL BUG in CrushFTP 5.1.0_37-5.1.0_45 was fixed. (Denial of Service)

***fixed bug saving changes to the connection groups

***fixed bug where the last window size wasn't being preserved

***fixed log location filename

***fixes bugs when reading in ASCII mode to prevent character translation

***fixes potential port conflict bugs with port race conditions on Solaris

***fixed bug with the SCP handling of flags

***fixed bug creating the default user in MySQL

***fixed idle handling for HTTP sessions

***fixed bugs with Safari 5

***fixed bug with Flash 10.1 removing menu items

***fixed bug with HTTP sessions behind a reverse proxy

***fixed bug with owner/group/priv information with non ASCII filenames

CrushFTP 5.1.0_37 to CrushFTP 5.1.0_45 URGENT BUG FIX!

If you downloaded CrushFTP from the time period 6/11/2010 to 6/22/2010 your version of CrushFTP will fall in this range.

Please update your copy of CrushFTP5 immediately to the latest build by selecting check for update from the File menu. Click the button to check for update, and answer YES to update even though you have the latest version. Tonight I will update my official version number forcing everyone to see the new update.

The bug is specific to CrushFTP 5, and causes a Denial of Service where CrushFTP is unusable. Do not wait to see if the bug can effect you, rather update immediately if your version ends in _37 through _45.

This is a critical bug.

Please update if you have those versions. Sorry I'm not going to give more info on the bug, but I don't want people accidentally, or maliciously to hurt themselves or others.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

--Ben

CrushFTP 5.1.0 has been Released!

Finally, a new official public version. Lots of testing and bug fixes went into making this version.

New:

***uses fewer threads for all sessions

***client certificate authentication is now supported for FTPS as well as HTTPS

***improves WebInterface to display logos, welcome messages and honor some color customizations

***added control to block access to specific directories or files matching a pattern

***improved server prefs GUI to be less confusing on what "Server Groups" do

***added default for WebInterface to hide the upload method choice

***added defaults for WebInterface sharing, and allowing uploads

***supports recursive MKDIR command in FTP now

***added customization to force slideshow only mode

***added browse and test buttons for DB setup on the User Config tab

***windows service will now work in 64bit mode instead of 32bit mode

***faster exiting of failed remote admin sessions

***added support for dumb proxy mode

***SQL compatibility improvements

***removes temp files when using remote admin mode from a web browser

***added flag for disabling an account in the user manager

***added additional plugin hooks to monitor and control CrushFTP

***added flag to make events be able to be run immediately (_NO_DELAY at the end of the event name)

***added support for SFTP public key files being stored in the user manager field

***allows for multiple copies of CrushFTP to technically be run from the same machine

***now propagates error messages back to WebInterface or SFTP client if an upload fails.

***improved servu import to capture notes field

Fixes:

***WebInterface compatibility fixes

***bug fixes for webdav clients

***bug fix for editing inline plugin info in user manager

***fixed who downloaded report to only show downloaded files

***bug fixes for the WebInterface sharing feature

***bug fix for downloading PDF files with Adobe Reader browser plugin

***bug fix for event handling processing a file multiple times

***fixed bug when writing files in encrypted mode

***fixed bug for making previews of images when not on the C drive

***fixed bug with chmod in SFTP

***fixed bugs with CCC command in FTPS mode

***fixed bug with IIS FTP proxying

***fixed compatibility with Adobe Contribute and WebDav

***fixed bug with chunked HTTP tunneling

***fixed potential memory leak when in proxy mode

***fixed bug with importing CrushFTP 4 user databases to CrushFTP 5

***fixed bugs with SFTP proxy handling of files and directories

FTPS Client based authentication

The HTTPS server in CrushFTP has been able to authenticate users by a client based certificate allowing for auto user/password authentication based solely on the certificate installed in the browser.

Technically, the FTP protocol can do this as well, and so I have added support for it with the FTP protocol too. I verified this using the command line client "curl". Its still a bit of a pain dealing with all the certificates, so I'll be writing up some entries in my Wiki to help people with the process.

The summary? CrushFTP now supports FTPS client based certificates for authentication where the common name is the username. The cert the user provides must exist in your trust store file as a certificate that was issued from your server, or it won't be accepted.

CrushFTP 5 WebInterface

The flash WebInterface is finally getting some attention. I've enabled the header, logos, and some other customizations for it.

I'm working on the flash stuff pretty regularly now. Its still not the way I want it to be, but its definitely getting closer.

More features to come soon for the slideshow ability on photos in it too.

CrushSync 1.6 was just posted.

My favorite part is its self update. Now I can set my parents computer to self update to newer versions automatically without me getting involved. See my FAQ on how to configure self updating on CrushSync: http://www.crushsync.com/faq.html

New:

***improved logging to have more meaningful data

***added log rolling ability to keep logs files from growing to big

***added ability for OS X to do self updates

Fixed:

***fixed schedule bug where schedules may not run

***fixed bug so self updating will work

***fixed bug so post script commands will complete

Just posted a new version of CrushFTP 4 and CrushFTP 5

New:

***will act as CrushFTP 5 is CrushFTP detects you meant to start CrushFTP5 but forgot the flag (linux)

***uses new events system for more reliable event execution

***made it easier for generating Previews

***can now set the title on the login page

***added additional support for dump proxy mode in CrushFTP when dealing with bad FTP servers

***folder monitor can now call third party plugins (CrushTask)

***added support for allowing uploading to temp accounts

***added additional hooks for plugins

***changed dir filtering to use regex (partially)

***added flag to be able to start Crush with all ports stopped

***WebDAV is now supported on Windows Vista / 7

***WebDAV now passes most of the 'litmus' tests.

***some plugins can now be created inline in the UserManager instead of just globally in the server prefs

***creates groups in CrushFTP 5 when importing CrushFTP 4 users

***added variable %user_dir% that does not include the root directory of a user

***added ability to set a alternate source port for active mode connections

Fixes:

***fixed bug with ServerBeat not being disabled properly

***fixed bug with inheriting the user/group/privs in OS X and Linux when writing a new file.

***fixed bug with scp handling multiple uploads per connection

***fixed bugs with generating Previews on Windows

***fixed bugs with Flash and UTF8 characters (another work around)

***fixed bug with CrushUploader uploading files

***fixed bug with backing up prefs.xml, and restoring a backup file if a main one fails

***fixed bugs with Custom VFS's by third parties

***fixed bug where modified dates were lost when you copied and pasted files in the WebInterface

***fixed bugs with editing temp accounts when using remote admin mode

***fixed bug with lowres downloads of images

***fixed bug with UTF8 characters in emails

***fixed bug with a memory leak

***fixed bug where files coulee be left in use

***fixed admin user creation to write file in the CrushFTP 5 default location

***fixed bug where uploads seemed to be failing even though they were not

***fixed bug with the IP in response to PASV

***fixed bug with timeouts for hammer banning

***fixed bug with the folder monitor GUI

***fixed bug with CCC synchronization

***fixed bug with blocking WebDAV connections

***fixed bug with empty directory listings

***fixed bug with logging in and out using different user accounts within the same browser session

***fixed bug with linked events

***fixed bug with miniURLs and the default flash/html mode

Just Updated CrushSync to version 1.5

New:

***added ability to start multiple syncs at once

***added MD5 hash checking with CrushFTP servers

***can now set the next time to run by clicking on the time

***added ability to rename the source file after a sync

***email notifications can now be customized

***added support for UTF8 on more servers

***prevents caching of DNS names int eh event the DNS changed

***handles more complex invalid URLs

***can now handle multiple hosts by separating them with a comma

***windows version can be set to self update (see FAQ instruction)

Fixes:

***fixed bug with FTP listings

***fixed bug with installing and removing the daemon in OS X

***fixed bug where a scheduled sync could be missed if the machine had been off

***fixed bug where a group of syncs could be running at the same time

***fixed bug where multiple source items could make the sync run very long

***fixed how pre-scripts and post-scripts run

***fixed bug where group licenses might check frequently

CrushSync Scheduling

CrushSync scheduling got some fixes over the weekend too. It will now pick up on syncs that may have been missed while the machine was shut off. The new algorithm results in less CPU usage to calculate when syncs should be run, as well as finding out when a sync was missed.

Big new feature coming to CrushFTP and CrushSync is the ability to sync the contents of large files, where only the changed portions of the file are transferred. This makes perfect sense for a database file, log files, etc. In addition, it will also support encryption on the synched file, so you can store an encrypted version of the file on the remote server, and still synchronize tis contents.

--Ben

WebDAV finally fixed!

CrushFTP now will work with Vista and Windows 7's WebDAV client. MS fails to handle a date format that isn't in GMT format, and this subtle issue had eluded me for quite a long time. Finally tracked it down, and now CrushFTP works great with all known Windows versions.

CrushFTP still works great with OS X 10.4+ and many other WebDAV client too. I'll probably post a new official build of CrushFTP this week when i get some time.

--Ben

CrushFTP 5 User Manager Events

There is another great feature I just added to the CrushFTP 5 User Manager. The events section can now create plugin configurations on the fly, to be used by that event only.

What does this mean?

It means you can create very specific CrushTask plugin configurations to do specific tasks without having to go back and forth between the global server preferences. While you can still have global plugin configurations, you can now also have per user, per event type configurations. It makes for easier editing too.

I also finally tracked down a rare session bug that sometimes prevented getting a directory listing in CrushFTP 5's WebInterface. New builds have been posted, and new public versions coming soon!

Publishing and Sharing Files

Did you know using CrushFTP 5, you can easily share files with other people? Just enable the "Publish/Share" feature on a folder and use the flash based WebInterface.

Login, upload a few files, then right click and select "Share...". Now enter a few details such as their email address, some comments int eh body, and your done.

They get a random self expiring account generated, tied to your account, with access to only the items you shared with them.

Find out more on the CrushFTP5 Wiki: http://crushftp.com/crush5wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Sharing

CrushTask

A brand new plugin is coming to CrushFTP called CrushTask. As for now, I plan on this being a free plugin. It adds a complex task system for CrushFTP events on uploads or downloads.

For example, some images just arrived from a designer of yours. You setup an event to run a CrushTask set of tasks.

Move the files to a new location.

Execute an external task to create thumbnails of the images.

Copy the files to several other FTP servers.

Wait for simultaneous copies to complete.

Send an email notification to a coworker about the files being posted.

Delete the original files.

You get the idea? Additionally, third party hooks are going to be allowed with the plugin as well.

With the rewritten event system in CrushFTP 5, events are more reliable too!

CrushFTP is under very active development!

I sort of forgot about this blog. A couple people mentioned that it looked like CrushFTP wasn't under development anymore since the blog postings were so old.

This isn't true!

Every day, CrushFTP is under development. Since 2007 there have been hundreds of features added to CrushFTP4. CrushFTP 5 was released in August of 2009, and is under active development as well.

I'll start using posts here to make brief notes about changes and new builds of CrushFTP going forward.