JFTP The Universal FTP Client

Frequently Asked Questions

Most Frequently Asked Questions

Invalid Serial Number Error

Can not find the data directory

Error working with favorites

What version of Java or JRE (Java Runtime Environment) is required to run JFTP?

Do I need to have Java or JRE (Java Runtime Environment) already installed on my system to install/run JFTP?

What all platforms does JFTP works on?

What kind of security mechanism does JFTP supports? Does it supports SSL or SSH or both?

Why am I getting Invalid Serial Number error? I just requested and received a license. I installed the license to the data directory. But, when I start JFTP, it errors out with the message "Invalid Serial Number". How do I fix this error?

I can not find the data directory of JFTP to place the license file in. Any ideas?

I get the unexpected error during JFTP startup. How do I fix this?

I'm getting an error when opening and/or saving favorites. How do I fix this?

What version of Java or JRE (Java Runtime Environment) is required to run JFTP?

JFTP requires JRE 1.4.0 or higher. However, we strongly recommend using JRE 1.4.2 or higher. Some users have reported problems with the favorites manager using Java versions prior to 1.4.2. For more details on this issue please refer to this frequently asked question.

Do I need to have Java or JRE (Java Runtime Environment) already installed on my system to install/run JFTP?

Depends. For most platforms we distribute two types of installers - one that bundles an appropriate version JRE and the other that does not. If you download the package that does not have a bundled JRE, then you must first install an appropriate version of JRE before attempting to install JFTP.

What all platforms does JFTP works on?

JFTP works on any platform that has a compatible JRE (Java Runtime Environment). JFTP is tested or known to work on the following platforms:

1. Windows
2. Mac OS X
3. Linux
4. Solaris
5. OS/2
6. HP-UX

What kind of security mechanism does JFTP supports? Does it supports SSL or SSH or both?

The current version of JFTP supports SSL (Secure Socket Layer), which is the industry standard to securely transmit data over the Internet or a network.

Why am I getting Invalid Serial Number error? I just requested and received a license. I installed the license to the data directory. But, when I start JFTP, it errors out with the message "Invalid Serial Number". How do I fix this error?

This happens if you specify an incorrect serial number when requesting a license. The common mistake most users do is:

• Use of letter 'O' instead of digit '0' (zero) or vice versa
• Use of letter 'B' instead digit '8' (eight) or vice versa
• Use of letter 'S' instead for digit '5' (five) or vice versa
• Or similar

Please triple check your serial number before requesting a license. For your convenience, You can use the "Copy Serial Number to Clipboard" function in JFTP to copy your serial number which you can paste back on the License Request form. Please note that you don't have to highlight the serial number (in fact you can not highlight) before pressing this "Copy Serial Number to Clipboard" button.

I can not find the data directory of JFTP to place the license file in. Any ideas?

JFTP stores user data such as preferences and favorites in $HOME/.jftp/data, where $HOME is the home directory of the currently logged in user. The exact path of this is platform-dependent and also depends on your system's configuration.

Some operating systems treat all file names and directories that start with a period (or dot) as hidden files and you may not be able to see the .jftp directory with out changing some option(s) in your file manager. Examples of such operating systems are Mac OS X and all flavors of UNIX such as Linux, Solaris etc.

For Mac OS X Platform:

If you are on Mac OS X, you can search for this directory as shown in the screen shot below:

As shown above, make sure you add "visible and invisible items" to your search criteria. Once the directory is found, simply drag the license file to that directory to complete the installation of license.

For All UNIX Flavors:

If you are on any of the UNIX flavors, open a Shell and execute the following commands:

• cd $HOME (Changes the working directory to $HOME, the user's home directory)
• ls - la (this will lists all files and directories including hidden files)
• cp full_path_to_jftp.lic $HOME/.jftp/data (This copies the jftp.lic from the directory where you have saved the e-mail attachment to the JFTP's data directory).

I get the following error when I start JFTP:

"Unexpected Error
An unexpected error occurred while validating the license. The original error is:
java.io.EOFException"

How do I fix this error?

This error occurs if the license file is modified some how. There is really no way to fix the license file other than requesting and installing a new license. Please avoid opening and/or saving the license file in any text editor or any other editor as this will corrupt the license file.

I'm having problems saving favorites. I get the "java.io.IOException" when try to open the favorites manager. When I add a site and try to save it, I get the java.lang.NullPointerException. How do I fix this?

JFTP uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) to encrypt your favorite sites data. If your JRE does not have a security provider that supports AES, you will see the above error. To fix this error, please upgrade your JRE to 1.4.2 or later. You may also download and install JFTP package that installs a private JVM for JFTP.