SFTP: Problem with resolution of symlinks

[chrroe]

Hi there!

Some issues with build 440:

The resolution of symbolic links while accessing servers via SFTP is a kind of broken.
First take a look at the following directory listing (it's a SuSE Enterprise Server 9):

server:/bin # ll
total 6244
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr 3 2007 .
drwxr-xr-x 19 root root 4096 Oct 11 13:00 ..
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 3136 Nov 17 2005 arch
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 96184 Jun 30 2004 ash
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 600713 Jun 30 2004 ash.static
lrwxrwxrwx 1 bin bin 4 Mar 15 2007 awk -> gawk
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 17198 May 4 2005 basename
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 448312 Dec 15 2004 bash
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 21526 May 4 2005 cat
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 38592 May 4 2005 chgrp
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 38280 May 4 2005 chmod
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 42603 May 4 2005 chown
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 4680 Jun 30 2004 chvt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 65798 May 4 2005 cp
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 64080 Nov 17 2005 cpio
lrwxrwxrwx 1 bin bin 4 Mar 15 2007 csh -> tcsh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 47328 May 4 2005 date
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 35465 May 4 2005 dd
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 5136 Jun 30 2004 deallocvt
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 38984 May 4 2005 df
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 4628 Nov 17 2005 dmesg
lrwxrwxrwx 1 bin bin 8 Mar 15 2007 dnsdomainname -> hostname
lrwxrwxrwx 1 bin bin 8 Mar 15 2007 domainname -> hostname
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 49680 Jun 30 2004 dumpkeys
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 18688 May 4 2005 echo
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 51052 Jun 30 2004 ed
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 38 Jun 30 2004 egrep
-rwsr-x--- 1 root audio 42380 Jun 30 2004 eject
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 15888 May 4 2005 false
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 4320 Jun 30 2004 fgconsole
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 38 Jun 30 2004 fgrep
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 32008 Jun 30 2004 fillup
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 23028 Jun 30 2004 fuser
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 221395 May 23 2005 gawk
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 5284 Jun 30 2004 getkeycodes
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 126348 Jun 30 2004 grep
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 24492 Nov 17 2005 guessfstype
-rwxr-xr-x 3 bin bin 60431 Nov 17 2005 gunzip
-rwxr-xr-x 3 bin bin 60431 Nov 17 2005 gzip
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 9384 Dec 8 2004 hostname
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 18551 Jun 30 2004 initviocons
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 339 Jun 30 2004 ipg
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 5904 Jun 30 2004 kbd_mode
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 6092 Jun 30 2004 kbdrate
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 21895 May 4 2005 kill
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 208453 Apr 4 2005 ksh
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 29722 May 4 2005 ln
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 70032 Jun 30 2004 loadkeys
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 14764 Jun 30 2004 loadunimap
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 8180 Nov 17 2005 logger
-r-xr-xr-x 1 bin bin 38244 Nov 17 2005 login
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 90559 May 4 2005 ls
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 8421 Nov 17 2005 lsmod
lrwxrwxrwx 1 bin bin 16 Mar 15 2007 lsmod.old -> /sbin/insmod.old
lrwxrwxrwx 1 bin bin 13 Mar 15 2007 mail -> /usr/bin/nail
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 14412 Jun 30 2004 mapscrn
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 27580 May 4 2005 mkdir
-rwxr-xr-x 1 bin bin 25320 May 4 2005 mknod

...


Now take a look at the first screenshot, there you can see, how Cirrus has parsed the directory. There are 11 entries displayed as symlinked folders. But they are files! For example the first entry awk -> gawk .
When you try to double-click such a entry an error is displayed in the log-section: Unable to load awk: No such file

http://i21.tinypic.com/2rwruz4.png

Some symbolic links are parsed correctly, for example lsmod.old -> /sbin/insmod.old.
This one can be opened, but is not marked as symlink.

The second screenshot shows how WinSCP has parsed the directory (all correct).

http://i24.tinypic.com/whic3.png

Two more things I stumbled upon:

Although I've selected "Save password" when connecting to that server I repeatedly get asked for it when I use the green arrow for "Full Refresh".
Sorting a folder-view for Owner or Group crashes Cirrus.Bye
Christoph

[Aaron]

This is actually expected behavior. Under FTP Profiles, Listings tab, there is a Link Resolution section for Fast and Simple. Fast will not detect files unless they have an extension. (like .old). Simple should work for you. You will need to restart the program after changing the setting for it to take affect.

We currently don't have an overlay for symlinked files (to give them a different appearance from files).

The group sort crash will be fixed in the next release.

How do you create your ftp profiles? When I type in sftp://user@address/ and then when prompted, enter the password and Save is already checked, it seems to save it just fine. I am encountering other odd issues, just not the one you describe.

[chrroe]

... Screenshots added ...


Bye
Christoph

[Aaron]

If you select Simple Mode, and restart the application (all instances), do the symlinks correctly identify? Or are you still having problems? There is no overlay for the files, currently. They will look just like files.

Do you have additional info on how you created your ftp profiles without remembered passwords?

I found other odd behavior/bug when testing this, where it would not accept changes to a saved password profile, but not the "repeatedly get asked for it" issue.

[chrroe]

Hi!

Selecting Simple and restarting did the trick! I hope the need to retsart Cirrus will go away in the next releases ;).
Of course it would be very nice when symlinked files get marked in someway ...



Later I deleted FtpProfiles.xml to have a clean environment. Then I tried two ways in order to connect to my SFTP-Server:

- Entering the URL sftp://user@server in folder-viewer.
- Using the Browse FTP Site... dialog-box.

In both cases I'm re-prompted for a password in the Keyboard Authorization dialog-box. And again and again when using Full Refresh. :(


Bye
Christoph

[Craig]

Christoph,

If Cirrus is showing the "Keyboard Authorization" dialog that means that the server has explicitly told us to ask the user questions. We try to only use keyboard interactive authentication if password-based and public key-based authentications fail. Can you post a copy of the log that shows the connection negotiation?

[chrroe]

Well, the whole log is visible in the first screenshot. The keyboard authentication box is displayed between the lines "Server key [..." and "Authentication successful."

Funny thing: When I enter nothing and press the "Cancel" button in that box, the connection gets established, too. Only when I enter a wrong password it fails.

Using WinSCP (IMHO the reference of SFTP-clients in the Windows world), I don't get asked for the password since it is saved there in a profile.


Bye
Christoph

[chrroe]

[ Annoying "Keyboard Authorization" dialog ]

The described problem is still present in Build 443! :(

Bye
Christoph

[chrroe]

[ Annoying "Keyboard Authorization" dialog ]

The described problem is still present in Build 443! :(

Bye
Christoph

:( Still present in Build 445 :(

[chrroe]

Still present in Build 446.

(I think about collecting my observed SFTP issues and check back this thread when build 450 or higher is out)

[Chris]

Christoph,

Thanks for your patience with this problem. I'm trying to figure out why this is happening.

Please send me a copy of the "/etc/ssh/sshd_config" file from the system you're connecting to so I can duplicate the ssh settings on my own system. You can email it to support@scootersoftware.com.

[Chris]

I responded to Christoph by email, but for anyone else following this thread, I did reproduce this problem once I matched my SSHD server configuration with Christoph's. I logged this in our bug tracker and we'll work on a fix.

[chrroe]

YEAH!
The issue with the annoying password dialog seems to be finally fixed in build 457. I will check in my job environment after my holidays, too.

Thanks a lot :)

Bye
Christoph