[BlueOnyx:21229] Re: FTP login defaultroot wrong path

[Tobias Gablunsky]

Hi all,

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Blueonyx [mailto:blueonyx-bounces at mail.blueonyx.it] On Behalf Of
> Michael Stauber
> Sent: Monday, July 31, 2017 8:01 PM
> To: blueonyx at mail.blueonyx.it
> Subject: [BlueOnyx:21227] Re: FTP login defaultroot wrong path
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Jochen wrote:
> > Maybe it's possible to opt out of this behaviour so you can leave the
> > default as is but give a switch per user so that they land into the
> > directory I'm wishing for.
> 
> Joachim wrote:
> > I cannot think about the time I have lost for customer support
> > about this.
> 
> I agree with both of you that the current FTP implementation is a silly
> anachronism. The reason why it is this way is: Because it always was
> this way. Which isn't really a good reason to begin with.
> 
> On the other hand: We know from experience that changing default
> "expected behavior" of a feature will always exacts a price to pay and
> makes nobody really happy.
> 
> Making the default directory for uploads configurable on a per Vsite
> level is not possible. At best we could make it configurable on a per IP
> level. Even that would cause immediate legacy problems with certain
> components that create/recreate/change proftpd.conf and proftpds.conf.
> 
> Furthermore: "User owned webs" in itself are - for the most part - a
> thing of the past. Almost nobody still uses it and certain offered PHP
> implementations (suPHP and PHP-FPM) outright don't work that way. Hence
> - if enabled - they disable "User owned webs".
> 
> But here is the kicker: If we set the Vsite document root as default
> directory for FTP logins, then anyone who is *not* a siteAdmin and who
> connects via an FTP account will receive an error message during login,
> as their FTP client will be unable to "CWD" to that directory.
> 
> Of course the GUI allows you to disallow FTP for any Vsite member who
> isn't a siteAdmin. That would get around this particular issue.
> 
> Still: We'd be breaking traditional behavior, cause confusion, throw in
> more potential problems and possible misconfigurations and at the end of
> the day the support overhead for you (and us!) doesn't change at all.
> 

I agree with you that there is no use for ftp for non-siteadmins any more these days. 

For siteadmins we indicate the need to change the directory to "/web" after login (in our login documentation - but who is reading a documentation? At least not further as to the credentials..). Most of them will configure this as the start directory in their ftp client.

But nonetheless if they do or don't: Changing the default will not break anything: after login they will change to "/web" or to "../../web", either manually or automatically. If they have started there already this is redundant, but they will still end up in the same directory.

I would love to see this to be the default login folder for siteadmins!

> The current plan is to provide WebDAV as a simple, more robust and more
> usable alternative in the short to mid-term. That way users could either
> use a WebDAV client or even a browser that supports WebDAV to handle
> their file uploads. And it won't take away FTP, which can still be
> provided as it currently is for those that didn't get the memo or have
> other reasons to continue to use it.
> 
> Any thoughts or reservations against this?
> 

I am not too particular about WebDAV. Sure it would be a nice addition. But in short and mid-term I don't see it replacing ftp.

> --
> With best regards
> 
> Michael Stauber
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Tobias