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Server Applications

CrushFTP

Home Page Release Notes Screen Shots License:
Shareware; $40

Current Version: 5.1.1 (June 23, 2010)

CrushFTP is a cross-platform, Java-based file server that provides FTP, SFTP (SSH FTP), FTPS (FTP over SSL), HTTP, HTTPS, WebDAV, and WebDAV SSL services. The "Crush" in CrushFTP comes from its ability to compress transfers on the fly seamlessly.

CrushFTP provides an expandable feature set via plugin support. Currently, most CrushFTP plugins are free, and they include:

  • AutoUnzip (decompresses .zip files when a user uploads them)
  • MagicDirectory (make a directory, and a user can login)
  • WebStatistics (OS X widget to monitor your server)
  • CrushSQL (use SQL tables to load your users from)
  • LaunchProcess (launch external actions on uploaded files)
  • HomeDirectory (make a user, and their home folder and permissions are created automatically)
  • CrushLDAP (use ActiveDirectory, or LDAP to load your users from)
  • BlockContent (only allow files with specific extensions)

Version 5.1.1 adds/changes the following:

  • Initial support for UDP tunneling for faster transfers (Enterprise Licensed Customers only)
  • UDP support includes FTP proxy, SFTP proxy, and HTTP/TCP proxies (Enterprise Licensed Customers only)
  • Warns if you use different versions of CrushFTP for remote admin and actual serving
  • Added case sensitive filtering flag on dir listings
  • Added flag for controlling FTP proxy mode on non standard FTP dir listings
  • Defaults to Binary mode if the using FTP and the user never specified (flag can control this)
  • Significantly improved proxy performance
  • Folder monitors can now run in intervals of seconds if the value is negative
  • Added flag to allow disabling the stats DB engine
  • Fixed memory consumption scenario for FTP transfers
  • Set AES ciphers to be higher priority by default
  • Added support for higher strength AES ciphers in SFTP if your Java has the right policy files
  • Added support for automatically resuming failed uploads or downloads with the FTP proxy
  • Added mdtm_gmt flag to make MDTM use GMT format for dates
  • Alert's can now execute a plugin by specifying it in the "To:" header. Example: PLUGIN:CrushTask
  • Added flag for determining if reports should be emailed in HTML or Plain Text mode
  • Added support for SFTP key renegotiations
  • A CRITICAL BUG in CrushFTP 5.1.0_37-5.1.0_45 was fixed. (Denial of Service)
  • Fixed bug saving changes to the connection groups
  • Fixed bug where the last window size wasn't being preserved
  • Fixed log location filename
  • Fixes bugs when reading in ASCII mode to prevent character translation
  • Fixes potential port conflict bugs with port race conditions on Solaris
  • Fixed bug with the SCP handling of flags
  • Fixed bug creating the default user in MySQL
  • Fixed idle handling for HTTP sessions
  • Fixed bugs with Safari 5
  • Fixed bug with Flash 10.1 removing menu items
  • Fixed bug with HTTP sessions behind a reverse proxy
  • Fixed bug with owner/group/priv information with non ASCII filenames

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Also See . . .

Can't find what you're looking for? Try a search:

Also, if you have an older Mac, be sure to check out the "Classic" applications page for more options.

Finally, take a look at ALEMIA if you think you know that name of an application, but aren't quite sure.

Built Into Mac OS X

Mac OS X has a huge amount of TCP/IP-based server software built into it that I don't specifically cover here. Your "Sharing" Preference Pane allows you to enable and disable these services with a click of the mouse. The software running behind the scenes to provide many of these services is generally of the open source variety. The standard release of Mac OS X includes, among many others:

  • Apache httpd (web server; enabled via the Sharing Preference Pane).
  • Postfix (mail server; see Mac OS X Hints for more information).
  • tnftpd (FTP server; enabled via the Sharing Preference Pane).
  • OpenSSH (Secure Shell server; enabled via the Sharing Preference Pane via "Remote Login" but additionally configurable via selected applications listed on this page).
  • BIND (Domain Name System server; see Mac OS X Hints for more information).
  • Samba (Windows file sharing; enabled via the Sharing Preference Pane).
  • XFree86 (X Window server; enabled via the "X11" application in your "Utilities" folder, if you elected to install it with Mac OS X).

Of course, Mac OS X Server includes many more, in addition to offering more recent versions of many of the above servers.

Related Links

Graham Orndorff has written a superb collection of articles on setting up email servers and secure email clients on Mac OS X.

Also Consider . . .

These are applications that are newer and of potential interest, but which I haven't yet selected for permanent inclusion. Have a look, and let me know if you think they deserve to be part of the permanent collection!