[RPi] FTPS Broken in LE12

dembala · July 12, 2024 at 7:28 AM

Hello!

Seems that FTPs connectivity (with TLS) is broken in LE12 as i found.

I've used LE 11.0.6 on 4 different devices (Raspberry 2-3-4-5) where i was able to connect to an FTP server with TLS authentication (FTPS). I upgraded / clean installed LE 12.0.0 where the same source gives me empty folder.

I have had this in sources.xml on both versions, i replaced username and password and server URL here:

Code

        <source>
            <name>FTPs</name>
            <path pathversion="1">ftp://username:password@servername:customport/folder/|auth=TLS&verifypeer=false</path>
            <allowsharing>true</allowsharing>
        </source>

Here is my log from LE 12.0.0 during attempt to enter in this source. Debug log was enabled in KODI. I've replaced my server details here again:

Code

2024-07-02 20:54:22.993 T:1031    debug <general>: LIRC: - NEW 1c 0 KEY_ENTER devinput (KEY_ENTER)
2024-07-02 20:54:22.994 T:1027    debug <general>: HandleKey: 11 (0xb, obc244) pressed, window 10025, action is Select
2024-07-02 20:54:22.997 T:1027    debug <general>: CGUIMediaWindow::GetDirectory (ftp://storeey.myds.me:2525/|auth=TLS&verifypeer=false)
2024-07-02 20:54:22.997 T:1027    debug <general>:   ParentPath = [sources://video/]
2024-07-02 20:54:22.999 T:1316    debug <general>: Thread waiting start, auto delete: false
2024-07-02 20:54:23.001 T:1316    debug <general>: CurlFile::Open - <ftp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@servername:customport/>
2024-07-02 20:54:23.001 T:1316    debug <general>: easy_acquire - Created session to ftp://storeey.myds.me
2024-07-02 20:54:23.099 T:1027    debug <general>: ------ Window Init (DialogBusy.xml) ------
2024-07-02 20:54:53.033 T:1316    error <general>: CCurlFile::CReadState::FillBuffer - (0x7f5000080fb0) Failed: Timeout was reached(28)
2024-07-02 20:54:53.034 T:1316    debug <general>: Thread waiting 139979756955328 terminating
2024-07-02 20:54:53.053 T:1027    debug <general>: ------ Window Deinit (DialogBusy.xml) ------
2024-07-02 20:54:53.063 T:1326    debug <general>: Thread BackgroundLoader start, auto delete: false
2024-07-02 20:54:53.064 T:1027    debug <general>: [threads] name: 'BackgroundLoader' priority: '1'
2024-07-02 20:54:53.072 T:1326    debug <general>: Thread BackgroundLoader 139979795723968 terminating

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I've downgraded one of my machines from 12.0.0 and FTPs started to work as expected in 11.0.6. Then upgraded again to 12.0.0 and it stopped working. Definitely something wrong in 12.0.0

Here is the log from LE 11.0.6 which works fine. I replaced servername and port here again, notice that USERNAME AND PASSWORD are not in the log, those were replaced to these CAPITAL words by KODI, not by me.

ALSO PLEASE NOTICE, THAT THE /FOLDER AFTER THE SERVERNAME EXISTS HERE, WHILE IN ABOVE NON-WORKING SCENARIO ON 12.0.0 THE FOLDER IS MISSING AFTER THE SERVERNAME:PORT !! THIS WAS THE DIFFERENCE I COULD OBSERVE HERE IN THE LOGS.

Code

2024-07-11 18:25:34.444 T:852     debug <general>: LIRC: - NEW 160 0 KEY_OK devinput (KEY_OK)
2024-07-11 18:25:34.445 T:848     debug <general>: HandleKey: 11 (0xb, obc244) pressed, window 10025, action is Select
2024-07-11 18:25:34.445 T:848     debug <general>: Clearing cached fileitems [ftp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@servername:customport/folder/|auth=TLS&verifypeer=false]
2024-07-11 18:25:34.446 T:848     debug <general>: CGUIMediaWindow::GetDirectory (ftp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@servername:customport/folder/|auth=TLS&verifypeer=false)
2024-07-11 18:25:34.446 T:848     debug <general>:   ParentPath = [sources://video/]
2024-07-11 18:25:34.446 T:1084    debug <general>: Thread waiting start, auto delete: false
2024-07-11 18:25:34.446 T:1084    debug <general>: CurlFile::Open - <ftp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@servername:customport/folder/>
2024-07-11 18:25:34.446 T:1084    debug <general>: easy_acquire - Created session to ftp://servername
2024-07-11 18:25:34.546 T:848     debug <general>: ------ Window Init (DialogBusy.xml) ------
2024-07-11 18:25:36.329 T:1084    debug <general>: Thread waiting 3321881216 terminating
2024-07-11 18:25:36.345 T:848     debug <general>: ------ Window Deinit (DialogBusy.xml) ------
2024-07-11 18:25:36.345 T:848     debug <general>: Saving fileitems [ftp://USERNAME:PASSWORD@servername:customport/folder/|auth=TLS&verifypeer=false]
2024-07-11 18:25:36.345 T:848     debug <general>:   -- items: 45, sort method: 0, ascending: true
2024-07-11 18:25:36.349 T:1085    debug <general>: Thread BackgroundLoader start, auto delete: false
2024-07-11 18:25:36.355 T:1086    debug <general>: Thread JobWorker start, auto delete: true
2024-07-11 18:25:36.357 T:1085    debug <general>: Thread BackgroundLoader 3641938560 terminating

Display More

Any clue what's going on in LE 12.0.0 ?

Thanks so much !

tokul · July 12, 2024 at 11:53 AM

TLS provides encryption and not authentication. You are probably connecting to regular FTP service with StartTLS support and not to FTPS (or FTP-over-SSL)

dembala · July 12, 2024 at 11:56 AM

I haven't talked about SFTP, i was hoping to have been clear.

This is FTPS also known as FTP over TLS/SSL.

I'm not using any FTP service on LE, as i want to connect to one and not hosting one. In this sense, i'm FTP client.

All this above has worked in LE 9, 10, 11 from stock. Broken in LE 12.

**chewitt** · July 12, 2024 at 3:04 PM

Seems to be something in Kodi as the same is reported on Android https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/issues/25118

**chewitt** · July 12, 2024 at 3:06 PM

Also possibly related https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/issues/23785

dembala · July 13, 2024 at 7:55 AM

chewitt Thanks for these links. Very interesting indeed. I was expecting an OS component here that could have been the root cause, but seems its rather KODI related indeed. Not sure how Android and LE shares versions of certain linux components that could be the cause. Anyway, this is a NO GO for me to use LE12, as i'm relying on FTPS to access my NAS from different places. I'll just skip LE12 for now and use LE11. Hoping there will be an update eventually on KODI and/or LE12.

**chewitt** · July 13, 2024 at 10:11 AM

Quote from dembala

Not sure how Android and LE shares versions of certain linux components

They don't share components, they share code. The NFS client is internal to Kodi.

quev · August 18, 2024 at 4:40 PM

Hi guys, I can confirm that the problem exists - tested on a self-built .ova image based on latest 21.1 kodi (commit 7938029863608416aaf85ee1dd2bb9cb84dc6d7b from LE repo).

I was able to fix the issue by upgrading the curl package to the latest version - 8.9.1 (previously was 8.6.0). Versions 8.7+ have some fixes related to FTP - https://curl.se/changes.html

**heitbaum** · August 19, 2024 at 3:33 PM

If the issue is the same as the WebDAV issue, then the le12 nightly has the fix. https://github.com/LibreELEC/LibreELEC.tv/pull/9178

quev · August 19, 2024 at 4:38 PM

No, my first build had this patch already and it was not working.

**vpeter** · August 19, 2024 at 6:31 PM

It works on LibreELEC-Generic.x86_64-12.0-nightly-20230309-5426f16.img.gz.

You need to enable component logging in Kodi and select libcURL as component. This will show you much more information in log file to compare.

quev · August 19, 2024 at 9:49 PM

Curl was at 7.88.1 at that point (https://github.com/LibreELEC/Libr…l/package.mk#L6) which is the same major version as in LE 11 (7.86) so that does not tell us much.

I believe there must have been a regression going to version 8 which is fixed in 8.9.1 (maybe it also works on versions in between 8.6.0 and 8.9.1, have not tested but on 8.6.0 it does not work for sure and on 8.9.1 works ).

dembala · December 25, 2024 at 6:38 PM

Hi Guys,

What’s the conclusion here? Any fix in mainstream? 12.0.1?

Any plans for a fix? Do you know?

Cheers

**heitbaum** · December 27, 2024 at 4:28 AM

Nightly 12 has the fix (after 12.0.1) RE: SFTP broken in LE12

**mglae** · December 27, 2024 at 9:49 AM

heitbaum 20230309 is older than 12.0.1 of 2024-10-17

**heitbaum** · December 27, 2024 at 10:38 AM

Quote from mglae

heitbaum 20230309 is older than 12.0.1 of 2024-10-17

Oops - didn’t read that.

dembala please try current LE12 nightlies. As if the issue is the same as the WebDAV issue, then the le12 nightly has the fix. https://github.com/LibreELEC/LibreELEC.tv/pull/9178

These are at https://test.libreelec.tv/12.0/ (scroll to the end an use the latest 202412xx image.

sittich · April 25, 2025 at 7:35 PM

There is a comparison table that indicates which versions of curl, along with their libraries, are used in the different LibreELEC versions. It is evident that under LibreELEC 12.0.1, 12.0.2, and the current nightly-20250415-e25b5e0 (v12.x), ftps does not function.

LibreELEC Generic.x86_64 and RPi2.arm curl comparison table:
183

With the current LibreELEC nightly-20250424-067110d (v13.x), ftps is operational again; however, various elements (folders/files) are constantly being omitted. This renders it completely unusable!

Examples pictures for missing Elements (Folder or Files):

My questions are as follows:

- Why is the nightly version (v12.x) still unfixed? The included curl version has been outdated for a year.
- Why are the folders/files not fully listed in the nightly version (v13.x)?

sittich · April 26, 2025 at 3:58 PM

For me, this FTPS issue is quite new. It illustrates how long I have not used it, even though it has been set up in each of my LibreELEC installations for years. A downgrade to LibreELEC 11.0.6 is not an option for me, nor are the latest nightlies of v13, as in this case, FTPS incorrectly lists elements (folders/files).

Through a valuable tip from another post by vpeter on how to overlay files in the file system, I have found a provisional solution. I extracted the files curl and libcurl.so.4.8.0 from the LibreELEC 11.0.6 images (Gen eric.x86_64|RPi2.arm). The two required files are hidden within the archive in the SYSTEM file, located in the directory structures /usr/bin/curl and /usr/lib/libcurl.so.4.8.0. For Windows users, extracting works well with the PeaZip free archiver utility, as the SYSTEM file is also gz compressed.
Once the two files are available, it is time to copy them to your current LibreELEC installation. For this purpose, SSH must be enabled on LibreELEC.

_{Default access for ssh/sftp:}
ssh root@<LibreELEC-IP>
user: root
pass: libreelec

Via SFTP, the two required files are copied to the /storage/ directory. For Windows users, the tool WinSCP is recommended, but the display of hidden files must be enabled beforehand; otherwise, you will not be able to see the hidden .config directory. The file autostart.sh in /storage/.config/autostart.sh is added with the two commands listed below. Ensure that the file attributes for both files for fully functionallty are set back to rwxr-xr-x. Then reboot the media center, and FTPS should function again.

_autostart.sh
#!/bin/sh -e
# curl and libcurl.so.4.8.0 extracted from LibreELEC 11.0.6
mount -o bind /storage/libcurl.so.4.8.0 /usr/lib/libcurl.so.4.8.0
mount -o bind /storage/curl /usr/bin/curl
exit 0

_{This is approximately what the contents of the}_/storage/_{directory look like:}

For those who do not want to experience any headaches or wish to avoid the entire process of extraction, I am offering these two files. This is of course a matter of trust. libcurl.so.4.8.0 and curl.zip

[RPi] FTPS Broken in LE12

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