1. Open the Windows File Explorer by either pressing Windows Key + E on the keyboard. Alternatively, you can type File Explorer into the Windows search box and click on Open

2. In the File Explorer window, type the FTP address, ftp://ftp2.interactivebrokers.com, into the file path at the top of the window and hit Enter.

3. A window prompting your for credentials will appear. Enter the FTP username and password IBKR provided you with into the correspondent fields and click Log On.

4. You now have direct access to your FTP folder. Documents and files contained in your FTP folder can now be decrypted using your PGP key, as described in IBKB4108.

Common issues and solutions

A. Could not log in to the FTP server with the username and password specified

Ensure the correct login details are being used to connect to the FTP server. The username and password you are entering should match the ones you have received from the Reporting Integration Team.

B. Connection Timed Out

1. Enable the Passive (PASV) mode for FTP connections. press Windows Key + S, type Internet Options and open the panel. Move to the Advanced tab and activate the option Use Passive FTP (for firewall and DSL modem compatibility). The passive mode is more firewall-friendly then the active one, since all the connections are initiated from the Client side. If you are using a specific FTP Client, check its connection settings or advanced settings in order to find and enable the Passive (PASV) mode switch.
2. In case you have an antivirus or a security software installed on your machine, make sure it is not blocking the FTP connection attempt. Normally, security software allows to set up exceptions for specific connections in order to whitelist them.
3. Should the above steps be unable to resolve the issue, ask your network administrator/s to confirm that your firewall allows traffic from/to ftp2.interactivebrokers.com. Note: Your network administrator should consider that every time your FTP Client attempts connecting to our FTP server with Passive mode, it establishes two connections: a command channel (outbound, from random TCP port above 1024 to TCP port 21) and a data channel (outbound, from a random TCP port above 1024 to the TCP port above 1024 which was negotiated through the command channel). Both connections are initiated by the Client side. In the picture below, you can find an example of this connections schema. Please notice that the ports 2000, 3000, 4000 are examples of randomly selected ports and may very well not correspond to the ones used within your specific FTP connection attempt.

 

Requirements:

• The IBKR Mobile app must be installed and IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) already activated on this Android device.
• For more information on the installation and activation on Android devices, please consult KB2277.

Instructions: 

1) On your Android device, open the IBKR Mobile app.

     1.a) If the app opens with the login screen (Figure 1), tap on Services on the top-left corner (red arrow) and proceed with step 2)

     1.b) If the app opens with your Home Page, Portfolio, Watchlists, or similar, tap on More on the top-left corner (Figure 2). Then tap on Two-Factor Authentication (Figure 3), followed by Add User (Figure 4) and proceed with step 3)

Figure 1                                                 Figure 2                                               Figure 3                         
    

Figure 4                                            

2) Tap on AUTHENTICATE (Figure 5) and then on Add User (Figure 6).

Figure 5                                                      Figure 6                                      
         

3) Read the instructions and then tap on SESSION ID (Figure 7).

Figure 7                                   

4) Type the alphanumeric string present below the QR code in the Session ID field (Figure 8).

Figure 8

5) Provide your PIN then tap ACTIVATE (Figure 9).

Figure 9                        

6) You will receive a message indicating the successful activation of IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key). Tap DONE to confirm (Figure 10).

Figure 10                              

Possible Issues and Solutions

• During the IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) activation, I receive an error message "An error has occurred. Please try again."

Figure 11

This error message (Figure 11) may indicate you are attempting to activate the IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) for a user which was already enrolled. Please try to log that user in to the Client Portal again. If you receive a notification on your smartphone once you have entered the credentials and you are able to complete the authentication once you tap on that notification, then the user was already enrolled and you no longer need to follow the steps on this article.

Alternatively, the error message may be displayed when the QR code shown in the Client Portal was already used to attempt an activation and is expired. In this case, please log out of the Client Portal and log back in to obtain a fresh QR code.

Requirements:

• The IBKR Mobile app must be installed and IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) already activated on this Android device.
• For more information on the installation and activation on Android devices, please consult the IBKR Knowledge Base.

Instructions: 

1) On your Android device, open the IBKR Mobile app.

     1.a) If the app opens with the login screen (Figure 1), tap on Services on the top-left corner (red arrow) and proceed with step 2)

     1.b) If the app opens with your Home Page, Portfolio, Watchlists, or similar, tap on More on the top-left corner (Figure 2). Then tap on Two-Factor Authentication (Figure 3), followed by Add User (Figure 4) and proceed with step 3)

Figure 1                                                 Figure 2                                               Figure 3                         
    

Figure 4                                            

2) Tap on Authenticate (Figure 5) and then on Add User (Figure 6).

Figure 5                                                      Figure 6                                      
         

3) Read the instructions and then tap on SESSION ID (Figure 7).

Figure 7                                   

4) Tap QR CODE (Figure 8).

Figure 8                                            

5) Tap Allow if asked for permission to use the phone camera (Figure 9).

Figure 9                     

6) Point the lens of your smartphone camera towards the QR code (Figure 10). You don't need to "take a picture." When the code is in focus, it is automatically captured. If your phone does not seem to recognize the QR code try to move your phone closer or farther away to the QR code in order to gain focus. If your phone does not recognize the QR code, please see the section Possible Issues and solutions at the bottom of this article.

Figure 10

7) Provide your PIN then tap on ACTIVATE (Figure 11).

Figure 11                               

8) You will receive a message indicating the successful activation of IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key). Tap DONE to confirm (Figure 12).

Figure 12                            

Possible issues and solutions

• My smartphone did not manage to read the QR code. What should I do?

Make sure you have activated the switch "Scan QR codes" from the Camera Settings of your smartphone (Figure 13).

Figure 13

• My phone activates the front camera. How can I switch to the rear one?

Usually there is a specific button in the camera view to switch from front to rear lenses (Figure 14).

Figure 14

• During the IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) activation, I receive an error message "An error has occurred. Please try again."

Figure 15

This error message (Figure 15) may indicate you are attempting to activate the IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) for a user which was already enrolled. Please try to log that user in to the Client Portal again. If you receive a notification on your smartphone once you have entered the credentials and you are able to complete the authentication once you tap on that notification, then the user was already enrolled and you no longer need to follow the steps on this article.

Alternatively, the error message may be displayed when the QR code shown in the Client Portal was already used to attempt an activation and is expired. In this case, please log out of the Client Portal and log back in to obtain a fresh QR code.

References:

• See KB2260 for instruction on how to activate and operate IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key).
• See KB2748 for instructions on how to recover IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key).
• See KB3236 for instructions on how to enable notifications for the IBKR Mobile app.
• See KB3234 for troubleshooting missing IBKR Mobile notifications.
• See KB3073 for instructions on how to migrate the IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) to a new smartphone.

You may have seen a QR code when you logged into Client Portal. In this article we will cover the steps for activating IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) using that code.

1) Log into Client Portal. You will see a banner recommending that you activate IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) by scanning the accompanying QR Code:

Figure 1

2) On your smartphone, launch the "Camera" app.

Figure 2

3) Point the lens of your smartphone camera towards the QR code. You don't need to "take a picture." When the code is in focus it is automatically captured. If your phone does not seem to recognize the QR code try to move your phone closer or farther away to the QR code in order to gain focus. If your phone does not recognize the QR code, please see the section Possible Issues and solutions at the bottom of this article.

Figure 3

4) If your device was able to read the QR code successfully, you will see a banner on the top of your smartphone screen.

• If the banner asks you to open the IBKR web site on your smartphone browser (as in Figure 4.1), please proceed directly to next step, 5)
• If the banner asks you to open the IBKR Mobile app (as in Figure 4.2), please jump to step 8)

Figure 4.1                                                                                Figure 4.2

5) Tap on the banner on the top of your smartphone screen, asking you to open the IBKR Web site. You will be redirected to the AppStore.

Figure 5

6) Tap the download icon GET to install IBKR Mobile on your phone.

Figure 6

7) Once the installation is complete, do not launch the IBKR Mobile app. Open your camera and again focus on the QR code displayed in Client Portal.

Figure 7

8) Tap on the banner on the top of your screen, asking you to open the IBKR Mobile app.

Figure 8

9) Tap Allow if asked whether to allow or disallow notifications for IBKR Mobile.

Figure 9

10) You will be asked to provide the security element you use to unlock your phone (FaceID, Fingerprint or Passcode).

Figure 10

11) You will receive a message confirming the successful activation of IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key). Tap Done to complete the procedure

Figure 11

Possible issues and solutions

• My smartphone did not manage to read the QR code. What should I do?

Make sure you have activated the switch "Scan QR codes" from the Camera Settings of your smartphone.

Figure 12

• My phone activates the front camera. How can I switch to the rear one?

Usually there is a specific button in the camera view to switch from front to rear lenses.

Figure 13

• During the IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) activation, I receive an error message "An error has occurred. Please try again."

Figure 14

This error message may indicate you are attempting to activate an IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB key) instance that is already activated. Please try to log in to the Client Portal again. If you receive a notification on your smartphone once you have entered the credentials and you are able to complete the authentication once you tap on that notification, then your IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) instance is already activated and you no longer need to follow the steps on this article.

Alternatively, the error message may be displayed when the QR code shown in the Client Portal was already used to attempt an activation and is expired. In this case, please log out of the Client Portal and log back in to obtain a fresh QR code.

References:

• See KB2260 for instruction on how to activate and operate IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key).
• See KB2748 for instructions on how to recover IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key).
• See KB3236 for instructions on how to enable notifications for the IBKR Mobile app.
• See KB3234 for troubleshooting missing IBKR Mobile notifications.
• See KB3073 for instructions on how to migrate the IBKR Mobile Authentication (IB Key) to a new smartphone.