43 Setting up an FTP server with YaST #

In the Service Start frame of the FTP Start-Up dialog set the way the FTP server is started up. You can choose between starting the server automatically during the system boot and starting it manually. If the FTP server should be started only after an FTP connection request, choose Via socket.

The current status of the FTP server is shown in the Switch On and Off frame of the FTP Start-Up dialog. Start the FTP server by clicking Start FTP Now. To stop the server, click Stop FTP Now. After having changed the settings of the server click Save Settings and Restart FTP Now. Your configurations will be saved by leaving the configuration module with Finish.

Figure 43.1: FTP server configuration — start-up #

 

In the General Settings frame of the FTP General Settings dialog you can set the Welcome message which is shown after connecting to the FTP server.

If you check the Chroot Everyone option, all local users are placed in a chroot jail in their home directory after login. This option has security implications, especially if the users have upload permission or shell access, so be careful enabling this option.

If you check the Verbose Logging option, all FTP requests and responses are logged.

You can limit permissions of files created by anonymous and/or authenticated users with umask. Set the file creation mask for anonymous users in Umask for Anonymous and the file creation mask for authenticated users in Umask for Authenticated Users. The masks should be entered as octal numbers with a leading zero. For more information about umask, see the umask man page (man 1p umask).

In the FTP Directories frame set the directories used for anonymous and authorized users. With Browse, you can select a directory to be used from the local file system. The default FTP directory for anonymous users is /srv/ftp. vsftpd does not allow this directory to be writable for all users. The subdirectory upload with write permissions for anonymous users is created instead.

In the Performance dialog set the parameters which affect the load on the FTP server. Max Idle Time is the maximum time (in minutes) the remote client may spend between FTP commands. In case of longer inactivity, the remote client is disconnected. Max Clients for One IP determines the maximum number of clients that can be connected from a single IP address. Max Clients determines the maximum number of clients that may be connected. Any additional clients are refused.

The maximum data transfer rate (in KB/s) is set in Local Max Rate for local authenticated users, and in Anonymous Max Rate for anonymous clients respectively. The default value for the rate settings is 0, which means unlimited data transfer rate.

In the Enable/Disable Anonymous and Local Users frame of the Authentication dialog, you can set which users are allowed to access your FTP server. You can choose between the following options: granting access to anonymous users only, to authenticated users only (with accounts on the system) or to both types of users.

To allow users to upload files to the FTP server, check Enable Upload in the Uploading frame of the Authentication dialog. Here you can allow uploading or creating directories even for anonymous users by checking the respective box.

Note: vsftp—allowing file upload for anonymous users

If a vsftpd server is used and you want anonymous users to be able to upload files or create directories, a subdirectory with writing permissions for all users needs to be created in the anonymous FTP directory.

An FTP server can run in active or in passive mode. By default the server runs in passive mode. To switch into active mode, deselect the Enable Passive Mode option in the Expert Settings dialog. You can also change the range of ports on the server used for the data stream by tweaking the Min Port for Pas. Mode and Max Port for Pas. Mode options.

If you want encrypted communication between clients and the server, you can Enable SSL and, additionally, Enable TLS. Specify the RSA certificate to be used for SSL encrypted connections.

Important

By default, new versions of the vsftpd daemon have the TLS protocol older than version 1.2 disabled. If you use an FTP client that requires an older version of the TLS protocol, you need to add the following configuration to the /etc/vsftpd.conf file:

ssl_tlsv1 = YES
ssl_tlsv1_1 = YES

Then restart the vsftpd daemon to reread the configuration:

> sudo systemctl restart vsftpd.service

If your system is protected by a firewall, check Open Port in Firewall to enable a connection to the FTP server.

For more information about the FTP server read the manual pages of vsftpd and vsftpd.conf.