You might receive the following error when trying to connect to your cPanel shared hosting account with FileZilla (image):
The server's certificate is unknown. Please carefully examine the certificate to make sure the server can be trusted.
Proceeding past this error will then generate this error (image):
Error: The data connection could not be established: ECONNREFUSED - Connection refused by server
Solutions
To resolve this error, you must either connect via sFTP or disable TLS in FileZilla's Site Manager.
This solution applies only to Linux-based hosting accounts (more info).
This solution only works if you're connecting with the primary FTP user.
- Enable SSH on your account (Web & Classic / cPanel).
- In FileZilla, use the following information to connect:
| Field |
What to enter... |
| Host |
sftp://your hosting account's IP address (Web & Classic / cPanel) |
| Username & Password |
Your hosting account's username and password |
| Port |
22 |
This solution works for any FTP user.
- In FileZilla, from the File menu, select Site Manager.
- Click New Site.
- Complete the following fields, and then click Connect:
| Field |
What to do... |
| Host |
Enter your hosting account's IP address (Web & Classic / cPanel). |
| Protocol |
Select FTP - File Transfer Protocol. |
| Encryption |
Select Use plain FTP. |
| Logon Type |
Select Normal. |
| User & Password |
Enter your hosting account's username and password. |
