cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/58872408

Hey,

So I’ve been connecting to an ftp server which I worked on with apps like GNOME Builder, and backed up the contents of with Pika Backup, connecting to it via the GNOME Files application, Nautilus, from the Network tab.

Recently, apps stopped being able to read files I opened with the file picker hosted on the ftp server, and after a lot of debugging I realised that was because Nautilus had for some reason switched from mounting the files under /run/user/1000/gvfs/ftp_address to the more abstract path ftp://ftp_address, under the virtual directory computer:///. Now apps can’t read those files as they are not mounted under an actual path.

I couldn’t find a way in Nautilus, FileZilla, or Dolphin to mount the ftp server files under a specified path /mnt/ftp_username, or even to put it back to the unwieldy but still working path it was under before, using a GUI.

I was recommended by an LLM assistant to use the curlftpfs command, but even with several variations of a command such as the following

sudo curlftpfs -v -o "uid=$UID,gid=$GID" ftp://username:correct%20password@ftp_address /mnt/ftp_username

it always gave the same error

Error setting curl:

I’m not sure what else to try, could I have some advice please?

  • Xanza@lemm.eeEnglish
    2·
    21 hours ago

    So rclone remotes I have to be added through the rclone configuration. I’m not 100% sure you can Mount a remote the way that you’re trying to.

    You’ll have to run rclone config and then add your FTP server as a remote. Then you’ll be able to use it as a mount point. For example if in the configuration you add it as jack_ftp you will then be able to mount it like so:

    rclone mount jack_ftp:/ /mnt/jack --network-mode

    But as far as I know you first have to add the remote to the rclone configuration.

    • JackGreenEarth@lemm.eeOPEnglish
      1·
      17 hours ago

      Hmm, ok, I tried that, and the command hung without logging anything to the terminal or terminating, and /mnt/jack101 ceased to be a folder, and became a binary file - one I didn’t have permission to access

      aarvi@fedora:~$ rclone mount jack101: /mnt/jack101/ --network-mode
      • Xanza@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        16 hours ago

        Not sure if you setup the remote correctly or not, then.

        #> rclone config
Current remotes:

Name                 Type
====                 ====
http                 http
nas                  sftp

e) Edit existing remote
n) New remote
d) Delete remote
r) Rename remote
c) Copy remote
s) Set configuration password
q) Quit config
e/n/d/r/c/s/q>

        Setup your SFTP/FTP remote with the name you want. If it’s hanging, only thing I can think of is that you didn’t setup the remote correctly. This is how it looks in Windows: https://x0.at/ogeG.png