Re: unable to visit /ftp:USER@MACHINE.com:~

[Gregor Zattler <telegraph@gmx.net>]

Hi Michael,
* Michael Albinus <michael.albinus@gmx.de> [2017-08-13; 10:57]:
> Gregor Zattler <telegraph@gmx.net> writes:
>> I'm unable to visit /ftp:USER@MACHINE.com:~
>> although there is a line
>>
>> machine  MACHINE.com port ftp  login USER     password "PASSWORD"
>>
>> in my ~/.authinfo.gpg
>>
>> with the correct infos instead of the capitalised parts.
>>
>> This is no configuration issue, since this:
>>
>> EMACS -Q -nw --eval "(setq auth-source-debug 'trivia)" --eval '(setq
>> ange-ftp-netrc-filename "~/.authinfo.gpg")' /ftp:USER@MACHINE.com:~
>>
>> does not work for emacs24, emacs25 and emacs-snapshot (emacs from
>> git as of today) as values of EMACS.  I'm asked by gpg-agent for
>> my passphrase to the key which decrypts ~/.authinfo.gpg and
>> actually I am able to visit this file and see it's decrypted
>> content.
>
> I believe ange-ftp.el is not prepared to use auth-source.el. It is still
> using good old ~/.netrc, with proper entries. Your entry above shall
> seerve in ~/.netrc, without the "port" token.

I copied the respective line to a new ~./netrc, deleted the "port
ftp" part and redid the test with the above quoted command line:
I was asked for the passphrase for the key to .authinfo.gpg and
the problem was the same.  Without .authinfo.gpg I'm asked for
the ftp password but the problem keeps the same.

When I reuse the ftp process in *ftp USER@MACHINE.com* issuing a
ls command I get a "530 Please login with USER and PASS" which
for me indicates that ange-ftp did not log me in, either did not
try or it failed.  I guess it's the former, since I'm able to log
in manually in the *ftp USER@MACHINE.com* buffer:

ftp> user USER
user USER
331 Password required for USER
Password: PASSWORD

230 User USER logged in
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> dir
dir
200 PORT command successful
425 Unable to build data connection: Connection timed out
ftp>

Therefore ange-ftp should at least be able to log me in.
Actually with argument -p I even see the directory listing.

> I've just tried plain ftp in Emacs to "/ftp:anonymous@ftp.gnu.org:",
> this works w/o problems on my machine. Could you try it also?

Aha!:

ftp> open ftp.gnu.org
open ftp.gnu.org
Connected to ftp.gnu.org.
220 GNU FTP server ready.
530 Please login with USER and PASS.
530 Please login with USER and PASS.
SSL not available
ftp>


I then installed netkit-ftp from package inetutils-ftp.  With
this AND argument -p it works wonderfully, without -p ls won't
finish -- but without ssl encrytion, meaning passwords go
unencrypted over the wires.


It's strange that ange-ftp does not work with ftp/ftp-ssl as in
debian stretch since I'm able to use it manually (with -p):

$ /usr/bin/ftp-ssl -p  ftp.gnu.org
Connected to ftp.gnu.org.
220 GNU FTP server ready.
Name (ftp.gnu.org:grfz): anonymous
530 Please login with USER and PASS.
530 Please login with USER and PASS.
SSL not available
230-Due to U.S. Export Regulations, all cryptographic software on this
230-site is subject to the following legal notice:
230-
230-    This site includes publicly available encryption source code
230-    which, together with object code resulting from the compiling of
230-    publicly available source code, may be exported from the United
230-    States under License Exception "TSU" pursuant to 15 C.F.R. Section
230-    740.13(e).
230-
230-This legal notice applies to cryptographic software only. Please see
230-the Bureau of Industry and Security (www.bxa.doc.gov) for more
230-information about current U.S. regulations.
230 Login successful.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> ls
227 Entering Passive Mode (208,118,235,20,96,200).
150 Here comes the directory listing.
lrwxrwxrwx    1 0        0               8 Aug 20  2004 CRYPTO.README -> .message
-rw-r--r--    1 0        0           17864 Oct 23  2003 MISSING-FILES
-rw-r--r--    2 0        0            4178 Aug 13  2003 MISSING-FILES.README
-rw-r--r--    1 0        0            1962 Dec 22  2016 README
-rw-r--r--    1 0        0          405121 Oct 23  2003 before-2003-08-01.md5sums.asc
-rw-r--r--    1 0        0          238005 Aug 12 10:25 find.txt.gz
drwxrwxr-x  316 0        3003        12288 May 17 04:15 gnu
drwxrwxr-x    3 0        3003         4096 Mar 10  2011 gnu+linux-distros
-rw-r--r--    1 0        0          444682 Aug 12 10:25 ls-lrRt.txt.gz
drwxr-xr-x    3 0        0            4096 Apr 20  2005 mirrors
lrwxrwxrwx    1 0        0              11 Apr 15  2004 non-gnu -> gnu/non-gnu
drwxr-xr-x   90 0        0            4096 Mar 31  2015 old-gnu
lrwxrwxrwx    1 0        0               1 Aug 05  2003 pub -> .
drwxr-xr-x    2 0        0            4096 Nov 08  2007 savannah
drwxr-xr-x    2 0        0            4096 Aug 02  2003 third-party
drwxr-xr-x    2 0        0            4096 Apr 07  2009 tmp
drwxr-xr-x    2 0        0            4096 May 07  2013 video
-rw-r--r--    1 0        0            1112 Mar 22 17:32 welcome.msg
226 Directory send OK.
ftp>

It also works with the credentials to the ftp account to my
webspace.

So there seems to be no ftp client in debian/stretch compatible
with ange-ftp which supports ssl :-(


Do you think this merits a bug report against emacs?


Thanks for your help, Gregor

P.S.: Thanks also for your super fast action regarding the
documentation bug about defunct ange-ftp-lovers mailing list.