HOW TO Perform a Server to Server FTP Transfer by

Using IIS
The information in this article applies to:
• Microsoft Internet Information Server 4.0
• Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the
registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a
problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following
article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
IN THIS TASK

• SUMMARY
o Requirements
o Server Configuration
o Example
• REFERENCES

SUMMARY
This step-by-step article describes how to configure a computer that is running Internet Information
Services (IIS) to allow server-to-server FTP transfers by modifying values in the system registry.

NOTE: By default, these values are disabled to prevent malicious attacks against the file transfer
protocol (FTP) service. Although details for configuring server-to-server transfers are listed in this
article, Microsoft does not recommend modifying these registry keys on IIS-based FTP servers that
are connected to the Internet.

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Requirements

The following list outlines the recommended hardware, software, network infrastructure, and service
packs that are required:

• Two computers that are running the IIS FTP Service, with the configured changes
that are described in the "Server Configuration" section.
• A third computer with the command-line FTP that is included with Microsoft
Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me),
Microsoft Windows NT, and Microsoft Windows 2000, or another FTP client that
supports issuing literal FTP commands.

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Server Configuration

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may
require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve
problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

IIS 5.0
 1. Set the following value in the registry on both FTP servers to allow server-to-
server FTP transfers when you issue commands from a client that is not located on
either of the two FTP servers:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSFTPSVC\
Parameters\EnablePortAttack = 1

2. Set the following value in the registry on the server that will issue the literal
port command (Client1 in the example):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSFTPSVC\
Parameters\EnablePASVTheft = 1

NOTE: By default, this value does not exist in the registry, and it requires Windows 2000
Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later to be recognized.

IIS 4.0

1. Set the following value in the registry on the server that will issue the literal
port command (Client1 in the example) to allow server-to-server FTP transfers
when you issue commands from a client that is not located on either of the two FTP
servers:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSFTPSVC\
Parameters\EnablePortAttack = 1

2. If you are using IIS 4.0 computers that are running Windows NT 4.0 Service
Pack 6a or earlier, install the fix that is described in the following Microsoft
Knowledge Base article to allow the EnablePortAttack registry key to function
properly:

Q246173 FTP Server Does Not Allow FTP Server-to-Server Connection

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Example

In typical client/server FTP transfers, the user is only responsible for sending "friendly" commands
to the server; the client responds automatically. When a server-to-server FTP transfer is performed,
another server is the client. Therefore, the user is responsible for sending all FTP commands to both
servers (in RFC959 format, these are preceded by the "literal" keyword).

To transfer a binary file (named myFile.xls) from Server1 (IP address: 192.168.0.10) to Server2 (IP
address: 192.168.1.20) by using the command-line FTP client on Workstation1, follow these steps:

NOTE: You must have Write permissions enabled on Server2 for this example to work.

1. Connect to Server1 by using a command-line FTP client. (This connection will

be referred to as Client1).
2. Connect to Server2 by using a command-line FTP client. (This connection will
be referred to as Client2).
3. Issue the following command in Client2:
 literal pasv

The response is as follows:

227 Entering Passive Mode (192,168,1,20,15,61)

Note that 15,61 represents the low and high order bytes of the port number (port 3901 in
this case), which is randomly assigned with each FTP connection. As a result, the last two
numbers of this string are different.

4. Issue the following command in Client1:

literal port 192,168,1,20,15,61

The response is as follows:

200 Port Command Successful

Use the IP and port string that is returned in step 3.

5. Issue the following command in both Client1 and Client2:

literal type i

The response is as follows:

200 Type set to I

6. Issue the following command in Client1:

literal retr myFile.xls

The response is as follows:

125 Data Connection already open; Transfer Starting

7. Issue the following command in Client2:

literal stor myFile.xls

The response is as follows:

Opening BINARY mode data connection for myFile.xls

8. Continue to issue the following command on Client2 until you receive a 211
"No data connection" response message:

literal stat
 This 211 response message is several lines long and indicates that the transfer is no longer
in progress.
To transfer files from Server2 to Server1, issue the literal retr command from Client1 and the
literal stor command from Client2.

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REFERENCES
For additional information about the FTP Bounce attack, click the article number below to view the
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q185378 IIS 4.0: FTP Bounce Attack and CERT Advisory CA-97.27
For additional information about the registry keys that are listed in this article, click the article
number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q260934 IIS Answers PASV Commands with Port Numbers in Sequential Order
For additional information about how to keep IIS secure, click the article number below to view the
article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q282060 Resources for Securing Internet Information Services
For additional information about the FTP service that is included with IIS, click the article number
below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q283679 Information About the IIS File Transmission Protocol (FTP) Service
For more information about port, pasv, stor, retr, stat, and other literal FTP commands, visit the
following World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web site:
RFC 959 - FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP)
http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc959