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ftp

WordPress Asking for FTP Details

If WordPress is asking for FTP details when you’re trying to update a theme, plugin, or WordPress itself, you will need to edit your wp-config.php file to add the following line to your configuration.

define('FS_METHOD','direct');

Save the file and try updating again. It shouldn’t ask you for FTP details.

Passive FTP Firewall

Passive FTP is a FTP mode that alleviates the issues with client firewalls. The client initiates a call to the server. The return traffic is allowed as long as the client has initiated it. In addition, the server sends a port command along with an ephemeral port that the client can connect to. The client initiates a call on that ephemeral port, and the connection is then established.

Egress port 21 and ephemeral ports 1024-65535 needs to be opened from the client side.

# From the client side, egress port 21 must be open.
tcp:21
# From the client side, ephemeral ports from port 1024 to 165535 must be open.
tcp:1024-165535

Add Files in WordPress Without FTP

I’m working on a client site running WordPress but without any access to FTP. It’s an interesting dilemma because WordPress will allow you to add new themes and plugins via its interface. It does so by allowing you to upload zipped files of the themes and plugins. Obviously, you don’t want to keep doing this especially you want to add just one file to the theme.

I needed to create a new page template on the Genesis platform. My client is using the Enterprise Pro child theme. There’s a command in PHP called ‘touch’ which allows you to create a new file. You can insert this command on the top of your theme’s header file in WordPress. Since I’m using Genesis, the child theme doesn’t have a header, therefore I had to do insert the command in the parent theme.

In the WordPress Dashboard under Appearance, choose the Editor. On the top right-hand side of the page, select the Genesis parent theme from the dropdown menu to edit. Click on the ‘Theme Header’ to edit, and add this line of code on top of the header.php file.

touch('wp-content/themes/enterprise-pro/template.php');

The command has to run once, so you’ll need to access the website at least once. Remove the line of code afterwards. The PHP ‘touch’ function will create a new empty file called template.php inside the Enterprise Pro theme. You can check it by navigating the editor once again, and selecting this time the ‘Enterprise Pro’ theme. Look for the new file called ‘template.php.’

In my case, I decided to change the page template to another filename, so I ended running it for the second time by inserting the rename function on the header.php file once again. Here’s the command to rename template.php to newtemplate.php.

rename('wp-content/themes/enterprise-pro/template.php', 'wp-content/themes/enterprise-pro/newtemplate.php');

Anyway, it works, but use this with extreme caution. If you’re not familiar with PHP and WordPress, you can render the entire website useless if you somehow inserted the wrong PHP code. There’s no FTP to back out the files. The WordPress Dashboard may no longer work. So, work on your own peril.

530 Incorrect Login Error On Vsftpd

I installed a FTP server called vsftpd on my Ubuntu Server recently. After the install, I’ve been unable to login at all. It turned out to be a bug within the vsftpd program. I found a fix here. Essentially, the fix was removing the vsftpd program first, deleting the /etc/pam.d/vsftpd file and forcing the application to recreate the file. The third step is to reinstall the vstfpd once again.

From the Terminal, type the following commands.

sudo apt-get remove vsftpd
sudo rm /etc/pam.d/vsftpd
sudo apt-get install vsftpd

After making the changes, I was able to log in successfully using the Filezilla client. Success.