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Use Rclone FTPS

Rclone is a command-line file-transfer tool that supports FTP, FTPS, SFTP, and many cloud-storage services. This guide explains how to install Rclone on a local Linux machine, connect it to your Ultra service with explicit FTPS, and optionally schedule downloads.

Ultra Support can help verify your service hostname and credentials. For advanced or platform-specific Rclone troubleshooting, see the official Rclone documentation or Rclone forum.

Use a secure connection: Ultra does not support unencrypted FTP. Configure Rclone to use explicit FTPS on port 21.

Prerequisites

Before continuing, you will need:

A local Linux machine.
An account on the Linux machine with sudo access.
Basic command-line knowledge.
Your Ultra service hostname.
Your Ultra service username.
Your SSH/FTP password.

To find your connection details:

Log in to the User Control Panel.
Select your Ultra service.
Open the Connect tab.
Copy the displayed hostname and service username.
Click Change password beside SSH access if you have not set an SSH/FTP password.

Use your service credentials: Enter your Ultra service username and SSH/FTP password. Do not enter your Client Area email address or Client Area password.

Install Rclone

Run the official Rclone installation commands on your local Linux machine.

sudo -v
curl <https://rclone.org/install.sh> | sudo bash

Verify the installation.

rclone version

Update an existing installation when necessary.

sudo rclone selfupdate

For alternative installation methods, see the official Rclone installation guide.

Configure Rclone as your normal Linux user: Do not run rclone config with sudo. Rclone stores the configuration for the user who runs the command.

Configure the FTPS Remote

Open the Rclone configuration menu.

rclone config

Select n to create a new remote.
Enter a descriptive name, such as ultra-ftps.
Select the backend named FTP.

The number assigned to the FTP option can change between Rclone versions. Select it by name instead of relying on a specific number.

Enter the hostname shown in your UCP Connect tab.
Enter your Ultra service username.
Enter port 21.
Select the option to enter an FTP password.
Enter your SSH/FTP password twice.
Set Use FTP over TLS (Implicit) to false.
Set Use FTP over TLS (Explicit) to true.
Select n when asked whether to edit the advanced configuration.
Confirm and save the remote.
The resulting settings should be equivalent to:

type = ftp
host = <hostname-from-UCP>
user = <Ultra-service-username>
port = 21
tls = false
explicit_tls = true

Keep certificate verification enabled: Do not enable no_check_certificate as a general configuration setting. Disabling verification prevents Rclone from confirming the identity of the FTPS server. Use the hostname displayed in your UCP instead of an IP address.

Test the Connection

Replace ultra-ftps if you used a different remote name.
List the directories in your Ultra service’s FTP home directory.

rclone lsd ultra-ftps:

List the contents of a specific directory.

rclone ls "ultra-ftps:path/to/directory"

Paths without a leading slash are relative to the FTP home directory. Use relative paths unless you specifically require an absolute server path.

If the test fails:

Run the command again with verbose logging.

rclone -vv lsd ultra-ftps:

Review the output for authentication, TLS, or connection errors.
Remove usernames, hostnames, IP addresses, paths, and other identifying information before sharing logs publicly.

Download Files Manually

Create a local destination directory.

mkdir -p "$HOME/Downloads/Ultra"

Preview the transfer before copying files.

rclone copy --dry-run --progress \
  "ultra-ftps:path/to/source" \
  "$HOME/Downloads/Ultra"

Confirm that the source and destination are correct.
Remove -dry-run to start the transfer.

rclone copy --progress \
  "ultra-ftps:path/to/source" \
  "$HOME/Downloads/Ultra"

Replace path/to/source with the directory on your Ultra service that you want to download.

Understand the copy operation: rclone copy transfers new or changed files without deleting extra files from the destination. Do not replace it with rclone sync unless you understand that sync can delete destination files.

Automate Downloads

Create directories for the script, lock file, log, and downloaded files.

mkdir -p \
  "$HOME/bin" \
  "$HOME/.cache" \
  "$HOME/.local/state" \
  "$HOME/Downloads/Ultra"

Open a new script.

nano "$HOME/bin/rclone-ftps.sh"

Paste the following content into the file.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

set -Eeuo pipefail
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin

REMOTE="ultra-ftps:path/to/source"
DESTINATION="$HOME/Downloads/Ultra"
LOCK_FILE="$HOME/.cache/rclone-ftps.lock"
LOG_FILE="$HOME/.local/state/rclone-ftps.log"

mkdir -p \
  "$DESTINATION" \
  "$(dirname "$LOCK_FILE")" \
  "$(dirname "$LOG_FILE")"

exec 9>"$LOCK_FILE"

if ! flock -n 9; then
  printf '%s\n' "Another Rclone FTPS transfer is already running."
  exit 0
fi

rclone copy "$REMOTE" "$DESTINATION" \
  --log-file="$LOG_FILE" \
  --log-level INFO

Replace ultra-ftps if you used a different remote name.
Replace path/to/source with the source directory on your Ultra service.
Change DESTINATION if you want to use a different local directory.
Save and exit nano by pressing Ctrl+X, Y, and Enter.
Make the script executable.

chmod +x "$HOME/bin/rclone-ftps.sh"

Run the script manually.

"$HOME/bin/rclone-ftps.sh"

Review the transfer log.

tail -f "$HOME/.local/state/rclone-ftps.log"

Press Ctrl+C to stop following the log. This does not stop the transfer.

Do not delete the lock file to bypass an active lock: flock releases the lock automatically when the process exits. A lock message normally means another copy of the script is still running.

Schedule the Transfer

Display the absolute path to your home directory.

printf '%s\n' "$HOME"

Open your user crontab.

crontab -e

Add the following line.

Replace /home/<local-user> with the path returned by the previous command.

0 4 * * * /home/<local-user>/bin/rclone-ftps.sh

The script will run every day at 4:00 AM according to the local machine’s timezone. See crontab.guru to create a different schedule.
Check the log after the scheduled time.

tail -n 100 "$HOME/.local/state/rclone-ftps.log"

Troubleshooting

Resolve Authentication Errors

Confirm that you are using your Ultra service username instead of your Client Area email address.
Confirm that you are using your SSH/FTP password.
Reset your SSH/FTP password from the UCP Connect tab if necessary.
Wait 10–15 minutes before retrying if repeated failed login attempts caused a temporary IP restriction.
Avoid repeated login attempts during the restriction period because additional attempts may restart the timer.

Resolve TLS Errors

Confirm that the remote uses the following settings:

Host: <hostname-from-UCP>
Port: 21
Implicit TLS: false
Explicit TLS: true
Certificate verification: enabled

Use the hostname from the UCP instead of an IP address.
Confirm that your device’s date and time are correct.
Do not disable certificate verification solely to suppress an unexpected certificate warning.
Stop and verify the connection details if the certificate does not match the expected hostname.

Resolve Cron Errors

Run the script manually before scheduling it.
Confirm that the script path in the crontab is absolute.
Confirm that the script is executable.

ls -l "$HOME/bin/rclone-ftps.sh"

Locate the Rclone executable.

command -v rclone

Confirm that Rclone is installed in /usr/local/bin, /usr/bin, or /bin.
Review the transfer log.

tail -n 100 "$HOME/.local/state/rclone-ftps.log"

Understand FTP Limitations

Rclone’s FTP backend:

Uses passive FTP mode.
Does not support active FTP mode.
Cannot compare file checksums.
Cannot report free space with rclone about.
May have limited modification-time accuracy depending on the FTP server.
See the official Rclone FTP documentation for the complete list of options and limitations.

If you require further assistance, you can open a support ticket here.

Use Rclone FTPS
Prerequisites
Install Rclone
Configure the FTPS Remote
Test the Connection
Download Files Manually
Automate Downloads
Schedule the Transfer
Troubleshooting
Resolve Authentication Errors
Resolve TLS Errors
Resolve Cron Errors
Understand FTP Limitations