How can i open ftp port(s)?

Question

Hi,,
I have attached to my AE a Internet HD - WdMyCloud.
I've tried connect to my MyCloud outside my network without success (from a imac - ftp and afp)
What am I doing wrong? When I'm on the same network I do connect through ftp , but when I'm away home I can't .
Here's a print screen of my Airport Extreme configuration . Someone could help me please?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a48jexr3dlokod7/Screen%20Shot.jpg?dl=0

Answer 1

Port 5900 is for VNC (screen sharing), the WD will not support VNC. Leave that port alone.
What you want to to is complex to setup securely…
Enable ssh on the WD.
Fix the WD's IP local address on the router so that it is always the same (this makes port forwarding stable).
On your router open a port to use ssh…
Port 22 is 'privileged' & is often scanned by bots just like port 21, choosing another port will reduce that exposure to an extent (a determined hacker will still know ssh is running on this port).
Pick port 23895 or something else high (over 1024) that is the external port to use to 'dial in'. The router needs to direct to the internal port 22 on the WDMyCloud.
To test the connection use ssh in Terminal (do this from inside & outside the WD network)…
ssh -p 23895 username@external-IP-address
accept the 'ID' if they match (first time only, unless the IP changes)
enter password for username
This allows you to run commands or browse files via Terminal commands etc.
Type exit & hit return to leave the remote session.
You can also use apps like Panic's Transmit to mount the share points over ssh or sftp - frankly it's easiest to stop here - Transmit has a 'mount remote disk' feature that basically does the same as Connect to server in Finder. Use ssh or sftp as the settings & it will be secure.
Mounting remote in Finder
If you want to mount the disk via AFP in Finder you need to use 'ssh local port forwarding'. The principle is to forward a custom local port through the ssh connection to the AFP port on the WD.
This will setup the forward…
ssh -p 23895 username@external-IP-address -L 22548:localhost:548
Note -L is 'local forward' here it uses local port 22548 on localhost to connect to 548 on the remote end.
Then you can connect in Finder to localhost.
afp://username@localhost:22548
You are connecting to the local port 22548, which is actually a tunnel to the WD's port 548.
Some things to note.
You need to disconnect & kill the ssh connection when finished, otherwise the local forwarded port will remain in use, this prevents connections & makes it frustrating.
Your external IP address may change depending on your ISP & internet service type, whatsmyip.com will help you see changes but only from inside the network. dyndns.com or no-ip.org can help with this issue. Either the WD or the router should be made responsible for updating any dyndns records.
I haven't mentioned setting up ssh keys, there are many guides on the web. Once keys are setup you can disable password login via ssh on the WD, just be aware that if the keys do not work you get locked out of ssh - potentially catastrophic on these NAS's that have limited access. Transmit will use keys saved in your user account.
Local forwarding seems complex (it is) but once it works you can save the commands in two scripts, one to connect & mount the disk(s), another to disconnect & kill the ssh connections. It makes life easier. Transmit skips the need for these altogether.
I suspect that is very scary, sorry it is just complex to setup. Test locally is my advice (use the internal IP when inside), then move onto testing from outside. If you have an iPhone apps like Prompt or iSSH can allow you to test connections via cellular data which is outside the LAN.
I'll try to clarify if you have questions, but it's very difficult to troubleshoot via forums, so good luck