FTP is a simple method to upload files to the server.

Although, it is rather easy to transfer files, FTP users often get stuck with errors. One such FTP error is “550 No such file or directory“.

Broadly speaking, this error means that the file or folder do not exist.

As part of our Outsourced Technical Support Services, we regularly fix these type of FTP errors for our customers.

Today, we’ll see the causes for the error “FTP 550 no such file or directory” and how our Support Engineers fix them.

What is FTP 550 error?

Firstly, let’s get a quick idea on the FTP 550 error.

The 5xx error falls under the permanent negative completion reply status of the FTP server. And, it means that the FTP server did not accept the command and the requested action did not take place. Further more, x5x error denotes File system errors in FTP server.
Overall, the 550 error means the file was not found or there are access restrictions for the file.

Causes for “FTP 550 no such file or directory”

Recently, one of our customers reported trouble with FTP upload. The logs of his FTP session looked as shown below.

STATUS:> Transferring file "/mydir/home.html"...
COMMAND:> SIZE home.html
550 home.html: No such file.
STATUS:> Requested action not taken (e.g., file or directory not found, no access).
COMMAND:> CWD /mydir/home.html
550 /mydir/home.html: No such file or directory.

Here, the customer was trying to PUT the file home.html via FTP. And that resulted in the error.

Now, let’s see the top causes for the error.

1. Incorrect path

Usually, “FTP 550 no such file or directory” error happens when the customers try to upload files from the wrong directory.

For example, when the file is present in the folder /home/user/abc.html, an attempt to upload from the path /home will cause this error.

This error also happens when customer uses the relative path in FTP.

2. Permission problems

Similarly, wrong permission on the files or folders can also cause this 550 error. When the user do not have privileges on the file they are trying to access, it will report the 550 error.

Additionally, a typo in the file name will also lead to this error.

3. Wrong Mount points

Again, we often see FTP 550 errors when users trying to access files in the mounted file systems.

For instance, recently a customer complained about the problems accessing files via FTP. In his server, he had a mounted file system. But, this mount failed after a server reboot. And, when he tried to access a file in this mounted directory, it resulted in the error:

550 : No such file or directory

How to fix FTP 550 error?

Till now, we saw the various causes for the FTP 550 error. Let’s now have a look on how to fix it.

We already know that the underlying reason for the FTP 550 error could be file not residing at the path.

That’s why, our Support Engineers first check the exact path that the customer uses via FTP. We connect to the server via SSH and confirm the presence of the file. If the file is not found on the path, we advise customer on the correct path. Or, for file name typo issues, we educate customer on the exact file name.

We always encourage customers to use the absolute path of the file in FTP connections.

Similarly, we check the server mount points and confirm the availability of file system and its contents too.

[Are you getting 550 error while accessing files via FTP?  We can quickly fix it for you.]

Conclusion

In short, FTP error “550 no such file or directory” happens mainly when the file do not exist at the path, due to permission problems, etc. Today, we saw the top causes for the error and how our Support Engineers fix them.