Re: non-interactive ftp

[Craig Sanders <cas@taz.net.au>]

On Mon, Nov 28, 2005 at 03:43:27AM +0100, Christian wrote:
> Craig Sanders schrieb:
> >and i'd certainly use ssh rather than ftp. even on a local network, ftp
> >is exposing the operator account's password in cleartext.
> 
> yes, i'm aware of that. this is a local network but sftp/ssh is not 
> supported on the backup server. i could gpg-encrypt the backups (on the 
> fly?)....

i was thinking more of the plaintext login/password than the data being
copied.  ssh secures both, of course.

any sniffer on the LAN could easily get a password from an ftp session.

just on general principles, it's a good idea to get in the habit of
using secure tools whenever possible rather than insecure tools....plus
whatever you build with them will work just as well (if slower) over the
internet, and not just on your own firewalled LAN.

> > for large data sets like /home, i'd buy a decent tape drive [...]
> > and set up amanda.
>
> no, this is a somewhat big (and cheap) hosting provider, no
> extra devices could be attached. and i really want to go with
> always-on-bord-utilities as much as possible - ncftp is exotic enough
> ;)

i've been using debian for so long that i tend to think of anything packaged
for debian as being "always-on-board".  at most, it's an apt-get away from
being "on-board".

that's one of the things i like about debian - it's an enormous grab-bag of
useful tools that i can pick and choose from to buile EXACTLY the system i
need to build at the present moment.

craig

-- 
craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au>           (part time cyborg)