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FTP error: access denied (reason code 3E-09)

Article ID: 835

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Symptom:  You receive an error similar to the following when attempting to log into your FTP account:

421 Not logged in, access denied (reason code 3E-09).
Connection closed by remote host.

OR

You may get a connection timeout/rejection when trying to connect via FTP, HTTP or any protocol.

The symptoms may vary based on which server you are hosted on.  Due to some variations in 3Essentials infrastructure, some servers may block with the 3E-09 code, and some servers may simply block all traffic from your IP address.


Answer: This indicates our security mechanisms have been activated due to suspicious activity related to your account. 

The most common scenario is that your IP has been blocked due to failed FTP login attempts.

The first step to address this is to have us remove the block against your IP (directions below).

Next, you need to identify and stop the failed login attempts from your IP.  The most common reason is due to the use of IE (Internet Explorer) for making an FTP connection.  Frequently, customers will use Internet Explorer, and specify the FTP connection in the address bar using ftp://ftp.mydomain.com.  This causes IE to attempt to login using anonymous login, and since we don't allow anonymous access to the FTP server, this is considered a failed login.  Unfortunately, IE makes multiple attempts like this automatically, and will then ultimately prompt you for your ftp username and password.  But at that point, it's too late, multiple failed login attempts have already triggered our intrusion detection mechanisms to block your IP address.  You can continue to use IE, just modify the way you use it... instead of putting ftp://ftp.mydomain.com in the address bar, put ftp://user:password@ftp.mydomain.com in the address bar.  This provides IE the ftp credentials right up front, and it makes no anonymous connection attempts... instead it presents your login credentials on the first attempt.

To have your IP removed from the block, submit a ticket to the support team specifying the error message you get , and providing us your IP address**.  If you've reviewed this article, please let us know that, so we'll know you're familiar with the scenario, and ask that we unblock your IP address.

**TO FIND YOUR IP ADDRESS: some folks are behind a NAT device and don't even know it, which can mean they have one IP address on their PC, but another is used when connecting to the internet.   We strongly recommend you simply use this URL which will identify the IP address associated with your PC when you're accessing internet sites: http://www.3essentials.com/ip.asp

If you're not using IE, or are otherwise unable to determine why you're triggering the blocking again even after we remove you from the blocking, we can whitelist your IP or your FTP user so you're not blocked in future.  Simply submit a support request indicating you'd like to be whitelisted from FTP intrusion detection security, and specify which of the following whitelisting options you prefer:

* optionA: whitelisting your IP address. Best choice for customers with dedicated/static IPs or IPs that change infrequently.
* optionB: whitelisting yoru FTP username. Best choice for customers with frequently changing IPs, however less secure.
 
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