Running IIS FTP and MOVEit Transfer on the Same Port Using Different IP Addresses

Some sites might opt to run IIS FTP and MOVEit Transfer FTP on the same server node on the same port (usually 21). This configuration is possible if the host has multiple IP addresses. One reason sites might apply this pattern would be to maintain an existing file store for legacy FTP users on the same FTP host where MOVEit Transfer is installed. (So far, this has only happened when a third-party hosting service is involved.) Another reason people do this is to use IIS FTP as a way to access the log files, backup files and other data stored locally on a MOVEit Transfer server.

In this situation, MOVEit Transfer binds to the port on one IP address (usually the main IP address) and IIS FTP binds to the port on the other IP address. This is not how either FTP server behaves by default, however. Instead, both IIS FTP and MOVEit Transfer FTP bind particular ports to ALL IP addresses available on a system (for example, "0.0.0.0").

Changing IIS FTP to listen on only one IP address

Run the "Internet Services Manager" from the Start menu. For Windows Server 2008, use the "Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Manager" shortcut. Open the Properties panel for your FTP site. On the "FTP Site" tab, change the IP Address from "(All Unassigned)" to one of the specific IP addresses on your machine. Apply/OK changes and then close the Internet Services Manager.

Changing MOVEit Transfer FTP to listen on only one IP address

  1. Open the MOVEit Transfer Config Utility and go to the "FTP Ports" tab. Enter the IP address you wish to bind the MOVEit Transfer FTP server to in the "Bind to IP Address" field. Close the MOVEit Transfer Config Utility.
  2. Restart the MOVEit Transfer FTP service.