ZitaFTP Server user experience

I know I'm late to the game with user feedback but I thought I'd leave a few comments on Hans de Ruiter's ZitaFTP Server.

Nowadays most people use a PC for daily work while the Amiga remains an active hobby. In such a setting, the exchange of data becomes a relatively frequent task. Having given up on Samba, for years I used either a USB flash disk or my employer's FTP to transfer files to/from my OS4 system.

Towards the end of the previous year I bought Hans de Ruiter's ZitaFTP Server, and just like his graphics drivers (published by A-EON), it was money well spent! In case you're unsure what Zita actually does: it installs a secure FTP server on your OS4 Amiga which you can then easily access from other systems. Configuration was a breeze thanks to this video.

On the PC side I use Directory Opus 12 as FTP client, and it really works like a charm. The data copied from DirOpus12 to Zita ends up in a dedicated directory on my X5000 (which I have referenced by a DOS assign for easier access). And vice versa: when I need to transfer something from the X5000, I just leave the data in Zita's drawer and then pick it up from there using DirOpus12.

Now call me a man of simple pleasures but I really like that!

@trixie
Did you try with TotalCommander? For me, in some first versions of Zita, I have issues but didn't check maybe Hans deal with them in the last versions.

@kas1e

Sorry, no experience with Total Commander

In DirOpus 12 I had to set the FTP "Connection:" setting to "Secure TLS Explicit"; this was the only catch.

I also have bought Zita FTP server and like it a lot.
For me its a simple and easy way to transfer files from my PC`s to the X5000. Its software still in development and getting better every release.
Besides all of this... supporting the developent community is also nice!

@kas1e

I had issues with earlier versions and some Linux tools.
Later versions of Zita worked fine so maybe worth testing Total Commander again with the latest version of Zita.

Cheers

@TiredOfLife

Tested the latest ZitaFTP with the latest beta of Total Commander 9.50.
Transferred a zip file over no problem.

Cheers

@trixie

I will buy the Zita Server too sometime in the next months just to support the author Hans De Ruiter.
I don't really need it, as macOS -since MacOS X times- has had an integrated FTP and SFTP server. It's in System Settings -> Sharing. The newest macOS has SFTP only and one has to install FTP if he wishes to use it. (Eg Homebrew).
The macOS FTP Server can be accessed w/o problems with both AmiFTP and pFTP. The Secure Server only with pFTP.

Oh, this almost reads as if it is a hideous advertisement, sorry Trixie and Hans, it really isn't. I was about to delete the post, but I'll post this purely for its informational value. I'll delete it if it is bothering s.o.

@Amigo1

No worries, it's perfectly fine

@Trixie, Skateman, & TiredOfLife
Thanks. I'm glad that it's working well for you even though it's still a prerelease.

@kas1e

TotalCommander works with the latest version, although I am working on one last issue where TotalCommander will sometimes cancel queued uploads. I can't reproduce that issue myself, but am working with someone who has that problem.

Hans

@Hans
Is it possible with current Zita to set up a smaller size of the dockie image in all states? What I mean is that I want to put it to the top bar where I have mini docks, so to make it like this (press open in newtab for fullsize):



I.e. not just "resize" the icon by amidock settings (as there will be bad scaling and stuff), but instead use 24x24 image. Like, maybe some option in zita-dockie "MINIDOCK=ON" or something?

Or maybe I already can do so if will use smaller images? (if the size no hardcoded)

Really like Zita, makes transferring files between my windows pc and my X5000 simple.

I had been using winscp to transfer and even though it would transfer files completely it would give an error. Cant remember the error now but it would say it had failed but the files would be there on my X5000.

Have just tried the latest Total Commander (using the same settings as winscp) and that works perfectly, no errors.

👍@hans.

@Hans
Give a go latest version, and while total commander works now (i can create directories, can copy files to x5000), I found a bug though: if I try to connect to Zita via TotalCommander with wrong username/pass, with username like "123" or "amiga1200" and any pass, then once total-commander says me "invalid user/pass" and I hit "chancel", then Zita crashes.

Always 100% reproducible.

With correct username/pass it connects fine and download things fine.


I also found that it appdocky which fits well to top-bar-tray-dock at top of workbench screen, but what annoyed me is that it seems Amidock itself didn't have the ability to set up where appdockies will be placed: at the end (as it now as default) or at beginning of a dock.

So to mimic what I want (to show Zita's info dockie at beginning of my tray-dock), I had to create 3rd dock which mimick settings of tray dock, point amidock to play AppDockies in it, and move it close to the tray-bar dock. With removing all borders and stuff, it visually looks like now Zita's AppDock show ups at beginning of the tray-bar dock :)

Check this out:

https://youtu.be/HCkOplF9X-o

Btw, did you know maybe from the coder's side, can you can point to AmiDock where place AppDockies, at the beginning or at end of the dock? Or it just some default thing which can't be changed not from AmiDock, not can it be controlled from coder's side ?


Quote:

And seems i hit now issue with totalcommander : when i tried to upload lot of data, at some point it just halt. Pause going to be bigger and bigger, CPU loading on amigaos4 hit 100%, and nothing can be done, only quit/run ZITa again.

@kas1e
Can you please contact me via email for bug reports.

Quote:
I haven't seen anything that would allow me to control where it gets put from the app itself.

Hans

From the prefs of AmiDock, the user can control in which dock AppDockies are put, but not the position in it.

A workaround can be to define a separate dock only for AppDockies and place that where you want them.

Best regards,

Niels

@nbache
Quote:
Yeah, that what I wrote in the last post and that what I do now :)

@Hans
Sended crashlog. From crashlog i can see that it can be again issue about "non opening of dos.library where need it".

@trixie

I would like to use opus12 on my pc to my 5000 this way.
Can you please explain the details.

AS of now, Zita is working but when I try to connect from my pc, I keep getting a log-on password loop..

Maybe a firewall thing?

thanks,

M

@trixie
"Nowadays most people use a PC for daily work while the Amiga remains an active hobby."

Not true for me, my X5000 is my daily computer and ONLY if I need I VNC into my Mac and thats for printing and... thats about it.

But yeah I got an A500/ACA500+ to my left and an Utimate64 to my right,
it's a 3 monitor setup, so we can call it a daily hobby!


EDIT: And oh yeah, sorry for getting half/totally off topic! ;)

EDIT2: And Hans I will buy ZitaFTP Server, amazing job you've done!
Remembering my MP3 server I had on my microA1, my friends where amazed by how they could access all my music on their computer.

@all
Bough Zita today as in the last few weeks use it actively in pair with TotalCommand on win32, instead of older RcFtpd which was always pain and unlogical to setup.

And as Hans deal with all the bug-reports, it was time. Also with the latest update, you can set default file permission being set on files you uploaded, so good when you upload aos4 binaries and want them to be with executing flag being set right after they uploaded, which was last missing bit I need.

@kas1e

Quote:
Yes, that's a very welcome addition.

Thanks, Hans!

using|Zita with no issues & easy to setup with DOpus on my PC and netbook transferring files mighty fast to and from my X1000