Stefan Helander

FileZilla FTP-client retrieve directory listing failed on MLSD command using TLS

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Some week ago FileZilla released a new version – 3.10.0.1. After installing this version some clients had problems connecting with their web hosting servers using FTP. One of the changes in FileZilla was that it now defaults to TLS encrypted connections if the server supports it, which many web hosting providers do.

However, if the FTP server is not properly configured together with it’s firewall the client will connect but fail to retrieve the directory listing (timeout).

A workaround on the client side is to connect with plain old FTP using no encryption. To do this in the later versions of FileZilla you must create a connection in the site manager and select plain FTP (unsecure) in the encryption field. (This option is not availible in the quick connect.)

A better solution is to solve the problem on the server side. To do this the FTP server must be configured to use a specific range of ports for passive mode and allowing traffic to them through the server firewall. The example below shows how to do this with pure-ftpd and iptables. In the example we setup pure-ftpd to use ports 50000-55000 for passive transfers and then we allow the same range in iptables.

echo “50000 55000” > /etc/pure-ftpd/conf/PassivePortRange
/etc/init.d/pure-ftpd restart

Then add the following to your iptables rules and reload them:

iptables -I INPUT -p tcp -m tcp –dport 50000:55000 -j ACCEPT

Stefan Helander

Convert Microsoft Outlook PST email to IMAP without Outlook

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A client was going to stop using Microsoft Outlook and Exchange server and move their email to an ordinary web hosting company using IMAP. The client was downscaling and had no use of the benefits of Microsoft Exchange like shared contacts and calendars. They where just using it for email which could be obtained much cheaper by using the IMAP account at their web hosting provider.

So I was faced with the task of converting their old email contained in PST files. They had already shut down their Exchange server and I could not use the Outlook program. I just had the PST files that where exported before the server shutdown and needed them imported into the IMAP account without using Outlook as it was not availible for me.

This is how I solved it.

Tools used:

  1. Download and install Thunderbird. Set it up with the target email account both as an IMAP account and a POP3 account (it was a problem importing the converted eml files directly to the IMAP account so I had to import them to the POP3 account which is stored locally and then drag them over to the IMAP account, more about that later on). Make sure you setup the POP3 account to leave mail on server and not delete mail when deleted locally.
  2. Download the ImportExportTools extension for Thunderbird. Drag the downloaded file onto Thunderbird in the task bar to install it.
  3. Download the free trial of the SysTools PST converter and install it. The free version is limited to 25 emails per folder so if you have more emails you need to purchase it ($49 when writing this article). You can make a test run with the free version so you see everything works before you go on and buy it.
  4. Run the SysTools PST converter.
  5. Click the Add file button and select your PST file.
  6. Click the Export button and select EML format, and check the folders you wish to export (normally the top folder). Enter a target folder. Then click the Export button.
  7. In Thunderbird, right click the POP3 email account and select New folder and call it “From PST” for example.
  8. Select the “From PST” folder and go to the menu icon in Thunderbird and select Tools -> ImportExport-tools -> Import all EML from a folder -> and it’s subfolders. Select the top folder of your email export in step 6 and click Select folder.
  9. All subfolder and it’s email should now turn up in the “From PST” folder. Now drag the “From PST” folder from the POP3 account to the IMAP account in Thunderbird.
  10. Finally delete the POP3 account in Thunderbird.
Stefan Helander

Akeeba Backup for WordPress Internal Server Error 500 XHR ReadyState: 4

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I experienced this error when trying to run a backup on a site hosted at the One.com provider.

The solution is to manually adjust the JPA part size for split archives. Even if the configuration wizard had been used, it didn’t work.

  1. Go to Akeeba Backup -> Settings
  2. Scroll down to Archiver engine where JPA is selected.
  3. Click on the Configure button to the right of JPA.
  4. In my case the Part Size for split archives was set to over 2 GB. I lowered it until it worked, which for me was 100 MB.
Stefan Helander

Joomla! 1.5 menu items not visible

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I was moving a Joomla! 1.5 site to a new hosting server. The site had been running on PHP 5.2 on the prevoius server but on the new host only PHP 5.6 or later was available. Joomla! was version 1.5.14.

After installing the site on the new server, no menu items were visible, not in backend, nor in frontend. I checked the database tables and the menu items were present in the database, they just didn’t show up in Joomla!.

The solution was simply to upgrade Joomla! to the latest verion, 1.5.26, which is compatible with PHP 5.6 (something that I would have done anyway as the next step).

Joomla! 1.5 upates can be downloaded here.

Stefan Helander

Change sorting / position of products in PrestaShop featured section on the start page

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  1. In the PrestaShop backoffice (admin), go to Catalog -> Products
  2. Above the product list, tick the “Filter by category”
  3. Select the “Home” category in the category list that drops down under the “Filter by category”
  4. Now far to the right you will find a “Position” column where you can use the arrows to move the products up and down