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I've been tasked with setting up an FTP directory for a client of ours. I'm working from a Windows 2008 Server with IIS 7 installed.

To create the FTP user directory I've followed this eHow tutorial.

The FTP site is already set up on IIS 7, so I skipped that bit and followed the rest exactly. However, when I try to connect via FileZilla, I get the following errors:

Status: Connecting to xxx.xx.xx.xx:21...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Response: 220 Microsoft FTP Service
Command: USER userFTP
Response: 331 Password required for userFTP.
Command: PASS ********
Response: 530 User cannot log in, home directory inaccessible.
Error: Critical error
Error: Could not connect to server

I've double checked the permissions of the user and everything appears to be as it should. If anyone has any advice, I'd be so grateful.

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  • I know you said you double checked the permissions, but I wanted to verify that you'd checked the file- level permissions as well as the share permissions? Oct 14, 2010 at 12:02
  • I've double checked those also. Seem fine.
    – 109221793
    Oct 14, 2010 at 12:18
  • Similar question: serverfault.com/questions/62784/… Oct 15, 2015 at 20:36
  • I followed everything from Microsoft website but was not able to get rid of this issue. the only thing missing was to restart the FTP service from Services panel after complete configuration. please follow this URL for more information. windowstechupdates.com/… Dec 21, 2016 at 8:56
  • I'm going to add one more to the answers. I had 3 users two worked perfectly, while the third kept giving this error. Then I finally figured out I had changed the server name from the system setting to match the 3rd user name and that was denying making the home directory inaccessible. The username cannot be same the server name!
    – rboy
    Nov 8, 2023 at 21:13

10 Answers 10

5

It's not clear to me from reading your post and the link you provided as to whether or not you're using user isolation. My suggestion would be to determine whether or not you want to use user isolation or not and then start from scratch.

Here's a link that may help:

http://learn.iis.net/page.aspx/305/configuring-ftp-75-user-isolation/

3
  • Hi, User isolation is in place. I'm taking over the management of the server (despite a complete lack of server experience!) from the guy who originally set it up.
    – 109221793
    Oct 14, 2010 at 13:19
  • In the end I gave up and started from scratch. I appeared to do the exact same thing I was doing before but for some reason this time it worked! Thanks for your help.
    – 109221793
    Oct 14, 2010 at 15:07
  • Glad to help...
    – joeqwerty
    Oct 14, 2010 at 15:14
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I just hit this issue and for anyone googling the error would like to add the solution that worked on Windows Server 2012 IIS 8.0. It was very simple in the end you have to create a LocalUser folder in the FTP root you specified when creating the FTP site. Then create your username folders under this folder.

For e.g. D:\ftp-root\LocalUser\user1

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6

It is the user isolation setting.

You will need change it to "do not isolate users, start users in "user name directory" "

1
  • This fixes the problem but will expose other directories to the users.
    – Rahatur
    Jun 1, 2021 at 19:43
2

Another cause of this error can be the use of FTP IPv4 Address and Domain Restrictions.

If your IIS FTP Site, or one of its parents including the Default site, is using IPv4 Address Restrictions then you'll need to ensure that your IP address is allowed.

I had this same issue you've described, with the exact same Error returned to FileZilla. Here's how I fixed it:

  1. Open the IIS Manager
  2. Click on the Sites > Default FTP Site settings
  3. Open FTP IPv4 Address and Domain Restrictions
  4. Ask Google what is my ip
  5. Add your public IP address to the allowed list under FTP IPv4 Address and Domain Restrictions
  6. Open Services from the Start Menu
  7. Find the Microsoft FTP Service in the Started Services list
  8. Restart the Microsoft FTP Service

IIS Manager FTP IPv4 Address and Domain Restrictions

1

We had the same issue . (530 user cannot log in, home directory inaccessible)The problem was a new opening (To allow more sessions) in our firewall allowed another IP to our FTP server (We have IP restrictions setup) Solution was to add the IP to the IPRestrictions ALLOW LIST

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Check the FTP logs recorded by IIS. The status and sub-status codes will give you more information about the issue. Here is a list of the status codes: The FTP status codes in IIS 7.0 and later versions

In my case, this issue occured because my IIS wasn't configured for passive mode. After entering a port range and external IP address in FTP Firewall Support feature, the error message disappeared:

enter image description here

In this blog post, it mentions a few more root causes: 530 User cannot log in, home directory inaccessible

Authorization rules. Make sure to have an Authorization rule that allows the user or anonymous access. Check “IIS > FTP site > FTP Authorization Rules” page to allow or deny access for certain or all users.

NTFS permissions. The FTP users (local or domain users) should have permissions on the physical folder. Right click the folder and go to Properties. In the Security tab, make sure the user has required permissions. You can ignore Shared tab. It is not used for FTP access.

Locked account. If you local or domain account is locked or expired, you may end up seeing “User cannot log in” error. Check local user properties or Active Directory user settings to make sure the user account is active.

Other permission issues. The user account may not have “Log on locally” or “Allow only anonymous connections security” rights.

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I had the exact same issue as the OP after adding a new user and associated user folder to an existing FTPS site. The solution in the end was simply to restart the site in IIS. After that I could connect with the new user account successfully.

0

Adding the following to this excellent source of unusual things that need to be checked:

When using 'User name directory (disable global virtual directories)' with local computer accounts The first folder in the FTP site should be 'LocalUser', this however experiences a problem when the machine has a computer name longer than 15 characters.

If that is the case: Rename LocalUser to the first 15 characters of the computer name. Not sure if basic auth also had to be alerted to set the default domain as the same string, would be great if someone could test and revert.

PS: I was a little perplexed, when first setting this up, but with user isolation enabled (disabled global virtual directories) the FTP site's first directory (LocalUser or the first 15 chars of the computer name, when longer) can either be a physical directory or a virtual directory, goes without saying that this is true for the username directories as well (no length limit on these).

0

There are clearly many different possible causes for Error 530, User cannot log in, home directory inaccessible. Here's another possible cause.

There may be a problem with the "Connect as" credentials that the FTP service uses to access the file system. This may be configured to use a specific user.

If the specified user account can't log in, or can't access the folder structure due to an expired password, intruder lockout, or a recent password change, then the FTP user will see this same error message.

However, a password change on the service account may not be immediately obvious as the cause of the problem. Depending on the environment, there could be a long delay between when the password was changed and when the error actually starts happening. This can make it harder to recognize the password change as the cause of the problem.

To address this, in the IIS FTP configuration screen, click Basic Settings... under actions. Click the Connect as... button, and enter the correct service account and password. Use the Test Settings to verify the setup.

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You will need to verify the Physical Path of the FTP. Following is the steps to check.

Go to IIS.

Right, Click on Default FTP site. Manage FTP Sit >> Advance

Settings >> Physical Path.

It must be correct or you will find home directory inaccessible.

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