1003635 - ftp.mozilla.org gives contradictory messages about releases.mozilla.org when logging in by console ftp

Status: VERIFIED FIXED

(Infrastructure & Operations Graveyard :: WebOps: Product Delivery, task)

Description

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

Not sure I found the right Product/Component, please move if appropriate.

This is a recent development (a few days IIRC) but I don't have an exact date.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:

The following STR are for Linux but I believe similar (not necessarily identical) steps would give similar results under any OS

1. Make sure that you have a ~/.netrc file containing one or both of the following lines (where the email address at the end SHOULD be replaced by your own):

machine ftp.mozilla.org login anonymous password [e-mail]
default login anonymous password [e-mail]

The "default" line, if present, MUST be last. The file MUST be owned by you and have permissions 0400 i.e. -r-------- (i.e. to modify it, either use chmod before & after, or do it with an editor which can be told to override temporarily the editfile's readonly status).

2. At the shell prompt: type
ftp -i ftp.mozilla.org

Actual results:
Trying 63.245.215.46:21 ...
Connected to ftp.mozilla.org.
220-
220-   ftp.mozilla.org / archive.mozilla.org - files are in /pub/mozilla.org
220-
220-   releases.mozilla.org now points to our CDN distribution network and no longer works for FTP traffic
220 
331 Please specify the password.
230-
230-   ftp.mozilla.org / archive.mozilla.org - files are in /pub/mozilla.org
230-
230-   Notice: This server is the only place to obtain nightly builds and needs to
230-   remain available to developers and testers. High bandwidth servers that
230-   contain the public release files are available at ftp://releases.mozilla.org/
230-   If you need to link to a public release, please link to the release server,
230-   not here. Thanks!
230-
230-   Attempts to download high traffic release files from this server will get a
230-   "550 Permission denied." response.
230 Login successful.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp>

Expected results:
I'm not sure, but certainly not (as seen above) telling us in one breath that releases.mozilla.org is not available, and in the next one that it must be used for high traffic files.

Additional info:
Step 1 is not strictly needed; its purpose is to be able to log in with (memorized) username & password without displaying either of them in everyone's plain view. *Don't* use it on a public machine (e.g. in an Internet café). See "man ftp" under "THE .netrc FILE" for details.

I'm not sure if (and how) this bug is related to bug 871120.

Comment 1

[Philippe M. Chiasson (:gozer)]

I agree that's a confusing message, but the main issue is with ftp:// vs. http://

ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/ will always be available and hold *all* releases.

https?://releases.mozilla.org/ is our CDN backed delivery channel, and that's where things should generally be linked to.

I think the confusion came mostly from the fact the message pointed incorrectly to ftp://releases.mozilla.org/

I've fixed that message to use http:// as it should have been.

Comment 2

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

Here is the current message, including the parts before and after the password (which the ftp utility fills in from my ~/.netrc file, without displaying it on the console):

linux:~/Minefield # date; ftp ftp.mozilla.org
Tue 23 Sep 03:16:49 CEST 2014
Trying 63.245.215.56:21 ...
Connected to ftp.mozilla.org.
220-
220-   ftp.mozilla.org / archive.mozilla.org - files are in /pub/mozilla.org
220-
220-   releases.mozilla.org now points to our CDN distribution network and no longer works for FTP traffic
220 
331 Please specify the password.
230-
230-   ftp.mozilla.org / archive.mozilla.org - files are in /pub/mozilla.org
230-
230-   Notice: This server is the only place to obtain nightly builds and needs to
230-   remain available to developers and testers. High bandwidth servers that
230-   contain the public release files are available at http://releases.mozilla.org/
230-   If you need to link to a public release, please link to the release server,
230-   not here. Thanks!
230-
230-   Attempts to download high traffic release files from this server will get a
230-   "550 Permission denied." response.
230 Login successful.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> exit
221 Goodbye.
linux:~/Minefield # 


It is less contradictory than before, but note that some releases (e.g. all SeaMonkey releases, which admittedly aren't "high-traffic" compared to Firefox ones) are published only on ftp.m.o. (by ftp and http) and not on releases.m.o. (not even by http: see for instance bug 850339, RESOLVED WONTFIX on 1 May 2013). I'll live with the latter, but I would be happier with a note in the ftp.mozilla.org login message that this _is_ the place for _low_ traffic releases such as SeaMonkey's. Shall I open a followup bug, or do you think it's going to end up WONTFIX? Or should this bug be REOPENED instead?

Comment 3

[Philippe M. Chiasson (:gozer)]

Let's reopen and make a suggestion for what kind of text would work for you.

Comment 4

[Tony Mechelynck [:tonymec]]

(In reply to Philippe M. Chiasson (:gozer) from comment #3)
> Let's reopen and make a suggestion for what kind of text would work for you.

What about keeping it almost as it is, but adding at the very end of the 230 message: "Low-traffic files, including SeaMonkey releases, are OK."

I'm open to other suggestions.

Comment 5

[Philippe M. Chiasson (:gozer)]

[gozer@maximus zxtm]$ ftp -i ftp.mozilla.org
Trying 63.245.215.46...
Connected to ftp.mozilla.org (63.245.215.46).
220-
220-   ftp.mozilla.org / archive.mozilla.org - files are in /pub/mozilla.org
220-
220-   releases.mozilla.org now points to our CDN distribution network and no longer works for FTP traffic
220 
Name (ftp.mozilla.org:gozer): anonymous
331 Please specify the password.
Password:
230-
230-   ftp.mozilla.org / archive.mozilla.org - files are in /pub/mozilla.org
230-
230-   Notice: This server is the only place to obtain nightly builds and needs to
230-   remain available to developers and testers. High bandwidth servers that
230-   contain the public release files are available at http://releases.mozilla.org/
230-   If you need to link to a public release, please link to the release server,
230-   not here. Thanks!
230-
230-   Attempts to download high traffic release files from this server will get a
230-   "550 Permission denied." response.
230-
230-   Low-traffic files, including SeaMonkey releases, are OK.