Error Uploading to Centova Cast by FTP: Quota, Disk Space and Permission Denied Fixes

Updated: 8 October 2026 · Applies to: Centova Cast v3 (current release 3.3.4); FTP error replies tested with Pure-FTPd 1.0.50 on Debian 13

If you can log in to Centova Cast by FTP but the upload fails, the server's error message tells you the cause. According to Centova there are two usual reasons: the stream's disk quota (or the server's disk) is full, or the file permissions on the server are damaged. For a quota or disk space error, delete files you no longer need and upload again. For "Permission denied" or "Access denied", the server administrator runs Centova Cast's fixperms tool.

1. Read the exact error

In FileZilla, the server's reply appears in the message log at the top of the window, and the file moves to the Failed transfers tab at the bottom. Right-click it there and choose Reset and requeue all to retry after you have fixed the cause.

Centova Cast's FTP server is a modified Pure-FTPd (according to Centova), so its replies are close to these, which we got from a standard Pure-FTPd. Centova's version may word them slightly differently.

# the target folder or file is not writable for the FTP account
553 Can't open that file: Permission denied

# the account's disk quota is full
552-Transfer aborted (quota)
552-0 Kbytes used (0%) - authorized: 1024 Kb
552 Quota exceeded: [media/big.mp3] won't be saved

# the server's disk filled up during the upload
451-Error during write to file
451-Transfer aborted
451 0.220 seconds (measured here), 7.32 Mbytes per second

A full disk is easy to miss, because the reply does not say "disk full". In that test, a 3 MB upload to a disk with only 2 MB free also left a broken 2 MB file behind.

2. Quota or disk space errors

Hosted stream customers can check this in their own Centova Cast panel:

1. Log in and look at the Disk usage meter on the dashboard. It shows the space used and your limit.
2. Delete what you no longer need: open Files under AutoDJ in the menu, select the files and click Delete, or delete them in your FTP program. Also delete any incomplete copy of the file that failed, because a broken file can stop the media library update (see Update Media Library does not update the library).
3. Upload the file again.

Two things often confuse people. The quota counts everything in your account folder, including logs and configuration files, not only your music. And Centova Cast updates the disk usage figures only every 12 hours by default, so the meter can still look full right after you delete files. More on this: why Centova Cast reports incorrect disk usage and disk space totals not updating.

If you need a bigger quota on a hosted stream, open a support ticket.

3. Checks on the server (root)

On a Centova Cast dedicated server or VPS, check these as root:

# free space and free inodes where the client data lives
df -h /usr/local/centovacast/var/vhosts
df -i /usr/local/centovacast/var/vhosts

# which accounts use the most space
du -sh /usr/local/centovacast/var/vhosts/*/ | sort -h | tail

# the last messages from Centova Cast's FTP server
tail -n 50 /usr/local/centovacast/var/log/cc-ftpd.log

• Account quota: raise it in the admin area in the account editor, Limits tab, Disk quota. To count only uploaded content and not logs or configuration files, Centova documents the setting QUOTA_SPOOL_ONLY=true in /usr/local/centovacast/etc/centovacast.conf.
• Server disk full: free space or add storage before anything else. Centova's guide for moving client data to a bigger disk is summarised in moving media files to a different partition.
• Permission denied: according to Centova, this points to damaged permissions under /usr/local/centovacast/var/vhosts. Run /usr/local/centovacast/sbin/fixperms as root. The full safe procedure, with more checks, is in fixing permissions problems in Centova Cast. Do not use chmod 777.

To see which files are wrong in one stream's media folder, list everything not owned by ccuser, the account that owns all client data. In our test tree it found one file that had been copied in as root:

# find /usr/local/centovacast/var/vhosts/radio1/var/spool/media ! -user ccuser -printf "%u:%g %m %p\n"
root:root 600 /usr/local/centovacast/var/vhosts/radio1/var/spool/media/copied-as-root.mp3

4. After the upload works

According to Centova, files uploaded by FTP appear in the media library by themselves within a minute or two. Files you copied to the server another way need a manual update: in the panel open AutoDJ › Media, then Options › Manual library update, or as root run /usr/local/centovacast/bin/ccmanage reindex USERNAME.

Other FTP errors

• "Connection refused" or "timed out": connection refused or timed out when uploading by FTP.
• "Authentication failed": authentication failed when uploading by FTP.
• No media folder after login: no media directory after uploading by FTP.
• 421 Too many connections: increase the maximum FTP connections per IP.

Official documentation: Uploading media (MP3) files, Centova Cast is incorrectly reporting disk usage.