Cumulus Support

I'm really frustrated over this....My current web host has been having server issues. I haven't been able to upload data since Friday. It got me thinking about moving to a new host. I tried to do that on Monday. They gave me all the hostname/login info, but now Cumulus can't FTP to the site.
I get this: FTP connect error Error code=421 FTP time out. The little Cumulus update box says:FTP component already connected,aborting.

I've spent hours on this including online chat and emails to the new host. Out of frustration I entered the old hostname settings and I now get the same errors. Does anyone know whats happening? I'll attach the FTP log. A week ago everything was working perfectly, now its one thing after another.......I really don't know where else to turn

I'll appreciate any help with this...
EDIT: I'll add this, Cumulus is sending data to the PWS site, WeatherUnderground, and Twitter, so no problems there...
EDIT 2: I just tried using Filezilla to connect to the new host and it worked. I can see the few files that are on the server. These are not Cumulus files....more confusing!!

The server requires secure FTP, and Cumulus does not support this:

01:53:23:403 FTP Response: 421 Sorry, cleartext sessions are not accepted on this server.
01:53:23:403 FTP Response: Please reconnect using SSL/TLS security mechanisms.

You would have to use an external program to perform the FTP, e.g. WinSCP, as described in the wiki - http://wiki.sandaysoft.com/a/SFTP

I am probably in over my head on this. I've been on a couple different host servers and none required any special FTP operations.
So I need to run WinSCP, in addition to Cumulus. Do I have to make an entry somewhere for every file from Cumulus that gets updated and uploaded everytime Cumulus updates? Where does the WinSCP script go? Somewhere on my webpage? As you can see, I am quite confused by this new procedure. Do all hosting companies require this SFTP? It all seemed simple before.....

The script goes on your PC, as it says in the wiki - it's the file that WinSCP reads to know what it has to do. If you're using the standard Cumulus files, then as it says in the wiki, you can get Cumulus to process them automatically by omitting the server name from the config. If you're not using the standard files, then you presumably have them already listed in Cumulus, and you just unset the 'ftp' option. In either case, your WinSCP script has to handle every file that you want uploading.

Some web space providers are now insisting on secure FTP, but they are still by far in the minority. Some of them allow you to disable the requirement and let you use 'normal' FTP.

Can you explain why it says this...FTP component already connected,aborting.
Do I have to do any sort of reset to clear that message?
When I find a server that accepts FTP, do I just need to enter the hostname/user/pass info and then do a web update? Or should I re-start Cumulus before trying any new settings?

Thanks

bnwrx wrote:Can you explain why it says this...FTP component already connected,aborting.
Do I have to do any sort of reset to clear that message?

It's just one of the messages that the FTP component generates after a connection error.

When I find a server that accepts FTP, do I just need to enter the hostname/user/pass info and then do a web update? Or should I re-start Cumulus before trying any new settings?

It's probably best to restart Cumulus to make sure that the failed connections don't hang around and interfere with anything.

Wanted to update this thread.....
The issues I was having were all related to the host servers. I changed hosting companies once, only to find out that the new host servers only accepted SFTP. Cumulus uses FTP. After considering options, I then changed hosting companies again, this time to a host that still uses FTP. All now seems fine(fingers crossed!!). The original hosting company I had been with for 4 years, after switching my server(this process took them over 6 days!) now informs me that I would have to use SFTP with them, so all these changes would have had to occur anyway it seems.

Thanks to those who helped on this for me.

Bob