--- title: FTP Monitoring: Uptime & Login Checks description: FTP monitoring by WatchFor. Connect to your FTP servers from around the world, verify they accept connections and logins, and get alerts when file transfers would fail. Included from the Pro plan. canonical: https://watchfor.io/ftp-monitoring --- # FTP Monitoring for File Servers That Partners Depend On FTP still moves nightly exports and partner feeds, unattended. WatchFor checks that your server accepts logins and alerts you before a transfer fails. [Get started for free](/auth/sign-up)[View pricing](/pricing) ## Real FTP checks, not just an open port Because port 21 answering doesn't mean transfers work. ### Full protocol handshake Each check speaks actual FTP — connecting, reading the server banner and verifying the session, not just confirming the port is open. ### Login verification Optionally authenticate on every check, so expired credentials or a broken auth backend are caught before your partners hit them. ### Directory listing checks Optionally list a directory on every check — verifying the file system responds and tracking file counts, not just the login prompt. ### Write & throughput tests Turn on a real write test and upload/download speed measurement via alert rules — proving transfers work end to end, at the speed partners expect. ### Stage timings Connect, login, listing and transfer are timed separately, so you see exactly which stage is degrading. ### Multi-region checks Partners connect from everywhere. Verify your FTP service is reachable globally, not just from your own network. ### Confirmed alerts Failures are re-verified from multiple regions before an incident opens — real outages only. ### Uptime history & SLA Availability records for every file server, ready for partner SLAs and audits. ## A closer look Separate rules for connect, login, listing, TLS, write test and speed. Each check stores the login result, TLS state and the full listing. ## Why monitor FTP? FTP failures are usually discovered by the worst possible person: the partner whose upload failed at 3 AM, or the analyst whose morning report never arrived. Because these transfers run unattended, a dead FTP server can go unnoticed for days while queues silently back up. Monitoring turns it into an alert within minutes instead. [Start monitoring now](/auth/sign-up) Know a file server is down before a partner's transfer fails Catch expired or broken credentials with real login checks Optional listing, write and throughput tests prove transfers work Protect scheduled exports and imports that run unattended Verify global reachability, the way partners actually connect Response-time trends to spot degradation early Confirmed multi-region alerts — no false alarms Alerts to Slack, PagerDuty, email and 13 other channels Uptime history for partner SLAs and compliance ## How FTP monitoring works From setup to alert in a couple of minutes. 1 ### Add your FTP server Enter the hostname and port; optionally add credentials to verify logins as part of every check. 2 ### We connect on schedule Probes perform a real FTP session at your chosen interval, from the regions you select. 3 ### Failures get confirmed A failed connection or login is re-checked from other regions before an incident opens. 4 ### You get alerted with detail The alert shows what failed — connection, banner or login — from where, and since when. ## Who needs FTP monitoring Anywhere files still move on a schedule. ### B2B integrations and EDI Orders, invoices and inventory files exchanged with partners over FTP. When the endpoint dies, business processes stall — monitoring catches it before the queue backs up. ### Data and reporting pipelines Nightly extracts dropped onto an FTP server for downstream systems. A silent outage means missing reports in the morning; an alert at 2 AM means the on-call fixes it first. ### Media and print workflows Agencies, printers and broadcasters still receive large assets over FTP. Keep the intake door open — and know within minutes when it isn't. ### Hosting providers Customers upload sites over FTP. Independent monitoring shows the service is healthy as customers see it, and gives support hard data when they claim otherwise. ## FTP monitoring FAQ Common questions about monitoring file servers. [All questions→](/faq)[Ask us directly](/contact) What is FTP monitoring? FTP monitoring connects to your FTP server on a schedule, logs in (anonymously unless you give it an account) and alerts you when connections or authentication start failing. It can also list a directory, write a test file and measure transfer speed. Isn't checking that port 21 is open enough? Can the check verify logins? Can it test actual transfers, not just logins? Do you support FTPS? Do you support SFTP too? How often are checks performed, and on which plans? How do alerts reach my team? ## Keep the files flowing Add an FTP monitor in under a minute. FTP monitoring is included from the Pro plan. [Get started for free](/auth/sign-up)[View documentation](/docs/monitors/performance) --- Canonical page: https://watchfor.io/ftp-monitoring · Site guide: https://watchfor.io/llms.txt