“The key of … isn't known yet” or “changed”

AnyBucket checks every SFTP server's host key against your own ~/.ssh/known_hosts, the same file Terminal uses. It asks you when a key is new or has changed.

A key that isn't known yet is normal the first time you connect to a server.

  1. Find the server's fingerprint where its administrator publishes it, or ask them. On a server you run yourself, ssh-keygen -lf /etc/ssh/ssh_host_ed25519_key.pub prints it.
  2. Compare it with the fingerprint AnyBucket shows.
  3. Trust it only if they match. AnyBucket adds it to known_hosts, and Terminal knows it from then on too.

A key that changed is expected after a server is rebuilt or moved. Otherwise, don't connect: someone may be between you and the server.

  1. Confirm with the server's administrator that the key really changed.
  2. Remove the old key in Terminal: ssh-keygen -R example.com (use the host name or address you connect to).
  3. Connect again and check the new fingerprint as above.

SFTP keys or jump hosts don't work

AnyBucket runs /usr/bin/ssh, the ssh that comes with macOS. Whatever works with ssh user@host in Terminal works in AnyBucket: your agent, your ~/.ssh/config (Host, IdentityFile, ProxyJump) and security keys.

So try the same host in Terminal first:

  1. Run ssh user@host with the same user and host name as the bookmark.
  2. If it fails, run ssh -v user@host to see which keys it offers and where it stops.
  3. Fix it there: add the key to your agent with ssh-add, set IdentityFile for the host in ~/.ssh/config, or add a ProxyJump line for a host behind a bastion.
  4. When it works in Terminal, connect again in AnyBucket with the same user and host name.

More in SSH keys and jump hosts.

FTPS doesn't connect

AnyBucket runs FTPS's TLS through a small Python bridge, so FTPS needs python3 from Apple's Command Line Tools.

  1. Open Terminal and run python3 --version.
  2. If macOS offers to install the Command Line Tools, or the command isn't found, run xcode-select --install and follow the prompts.
  3. Connect again.

Self-signed certificate? AnyBucket asks once whether to trust it, and remembers your choice for that bookmark. Check with the server's administrator before you trust a certificate you didn't expect.

Still not connecting? Check that the server offers explicit TLS on its FTP port. AnyBucket connects in passive mode, which most firewalls allow.

An S3-compatible store lists nothing or refuses

Stores other than Amazon S3 need their own endpoint, and many expect path-style addresses.

  1. Edit the bookmark (or pick the provider's own tile: Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, DigitalOcean Spaces or Google Cloud Storage).
  2. For any other store, choose S3-compatible and set the endpoint URL your provider gives you.
  3. Turn on path-style addressing for MinIO, LocalStack and most self-hosted stores.
  4. Check with your provider that the access key is allowed to list the bucket.

A transfer stopped

Transient failures, like a dropped connection, a timeout or a server restart, retry by themselves on a fresh connection after 1, 3 and 8 seconds. You usually won't notice them.

A transfer that still fails waits under Needs attention, with its error, in two places:

  • the Transfers window (⌥⌘T)
  • the menu bar panel

Read the error, fix its cause (a full disk, a permission on the server, an expired password), then press Retry. The transfer resumes.

If you quit AnyBucket, or the Mac restarts, interrupted transfers come back when you open it again. The queue is saved in ~/Library/Application Support/AnyBucket/.

No notifications

  1. Open System Settings → Notifications, find AnyBucket and allow notifications.
  2. In AnyBucket, open Settings → Notifications. It shows whether macOS allows them, and has a switch for each kind: finished batches, failures, lost connections, finished syncs and license problems.

Finished batches are announced when AnyBucket is in the background or the batch took a while, so a quick copy while you watch doesn't need one.

AnyBucket asks for the license again

Without internet, AnyBucket keeps working for seven days after its last successful license check. After that it asks to check again.

  1. Make sure the Mac is online, then open AnyBucket. The next check renews the seven days.
  2. If Polar refused the activation, for example because this Mac was removed in the customer portal, choose AnyBucket → Manage License…, deactivate, and activate again with your key.
  3. If both of your Macs are already active, deactivate one of them first. See license and updates.

Still stuck?

Email support@clevermechanisms.dev. Every message gets read. To get an answer quickly, include:

  • your macOS version and AnyBucket's version, from AnyBucket → About AnyBucket
  • the protocol, and for S3 the provider
  • what you did, what you expected, and the exact error message
  • for SFTP, whether ssh user@host works in Terminal

Please never send passwords, secret keys or your license key.