How to Troubleshoot 3600 Download Error

Most Common Causes

3600 download errors most often end up being one of these:

• The encrypted file is missing from disk while the database entry remains.
• Antivirus quarantined or locked the file.
• IIS/application pool instability causing temporary access failures.
• Permissions changes preventing download access.
• Storage issues (disk full, SAN outage, backup software interference).

1. Determine whether the problem affects one file or many

Ask:

• Does every download fail?
• Or is it only a specific file?

If only one file fails:

Possible causes include:

• File corruption
• File removed from disk
• File quarantined by antivirus
• Metadata/database mismatch

Other rare cases may include these error messages:

• Task "x": Failed to retrieve local file \\Share/FILE.PDF on try 1 of 1: A device attached to the system is not functioning.
• $ Logging \\Share/FILE.PDF to size 0 err 3600 The semaphore timeout period has expired.

One of these two messages may indicate a corrupt file. Please investigate the 3600 error on the file that fails to download by isolating the file or trying different files on that UNC share.

2. Verify the file exists physically

From the MOVEit server:

1. Open the MOVEit Transfer Admin interface.
2. Locate the file in question.
3. Note the File ID.
4. Check whether the corresponding encrypted file exists in the MOVEit filesystem.

Progress specifically identifies missing encrypted files as a common cause of Error 3600.

3. Review the MOVEit audit logs

Navigate to:

Admin → Logs → Audit Logs

Look for entries around the failure time.

Pay attention to:

• Additional text after the 3600 code
• User account involved
• Folder involved
• Whether antivirus scanning completed successfully

The text accompanying the error is often more useful than the numeric code itself.

4. Check antivirus integrations

If MOVEit is configured to scan downloads:

• Verify the antivirus service is running.
• Confirm MOVEit can communicate with the AV engine.
• Determine whether the file was quarantined.

A quarantined file can produce a 3600 download failure because MOVEit expects the file to exist.

5. Confirm permissions

Ensure the user has:

• Read permission on the folder
• Download permission on the file

If permissions changed after upload, the user may encounter download issues.

6. Examine the MOVEit Event Logs

On the server:

Open:

Windows Event Viewer

Applications and Services Logs

Look for:

• MOVEit Transfer errors
• IIS errors
• Antivirus errors
• Storage subsystem warnings

7. Check available disk space

Check disk space on MOVEit storage volumes.

8. Restart IIS application pools (if widespread)

If many users suddenly experience 3600 errors, restart the MOVEit web components:

1. Open IIS Manager
2. Navigate to Application Pools
3. Recycle:
   • moveitdmz ISAPI Pool
   • Any MOVEit-related application pools

This is generally safe and can resolve transient issues involving file handles.

9. Determine whether the issue follows the file

Test with:

• A newly uploaded file
• A different user's file
• A different folder