Set up vsftpd on FreeBSD 12

Before starting with this installation, it is convenient to have sudo enabled for your regular user. It is not mandatory, but this will avoid working directly with the root user.

So, read our post about it:

How to enable sudo on FreeBSD 12?

We will also have to install the nano text editor to make file editing easier:

:~$ sudo pkg install nano

With this, we’ll be able to work quietly.

1.- Install vsftpd on FreeBSD 12

First, you need to install vvsftpd on FreeBSD 12.

So, open the terminal and navigate to the folder where the port is.

:~$ cd /usr/ports/ftp/vsftp

Then, install it with the following command:

:~$ sudo make install clean

During the installation process, you will see a screen as in the image above. You can leave everything as it is.

At the end of the installation, you will see an image similar to this:

Now install another port to increase the security of vsftpd.

:~$ cd /usr/ports/security/pam_pwdfile
:~$ sudo make install clean
===>  Staging for pam_pwdfile-1.0
===>   Generating temporary packing list
install  -s -o root -g wheel -m 444   -S  pam_pwdfile.so /usr/ports/security/pam_pwdfile/work/stage/usr/local/lib/
====> Compressing man pages (compress-man)
===>  Installing for pam_pwdfile-1.0
===>  Checking if pam_pwdfile is already installed
===>   Registering installation for pam_pwdfile-1.0
Installing pam_pwdfile-1.0...
===>  Cleaning for pam_pwdfile-1.0

As in the vsftpd installation, you will see an image where you can add a feature or not. Just keep it as it is.

To authenticate vsftpd users correctly, we have to add some lines to a pam.d configuration file

:~$ sudo nano /etc/pam.d/vsftpd
auth required /usr/local/lib/pam_pwdfile.so pwdfile /usr/local/etc/vsftpd_login.db
account required /usr/lib/pam_permit.so

Save the changes and close the file.

2.- Configuring vsftpd to work properly

Once vsftpd is installed, you have to make settings so you can start and work properly.

First of all, you have to create a new user on the system so you can use the server.

:~$ sudo adduser -v

And then, complete the information with the values you want.

Username: angeloftp
Full name: angelo
Uid (Leave empty for default): 
Login group [angeloftp]: 
Login group is angeloftp. Invite angeloftp into other groups? []: 
Login class [default]: 
Shell (sh csh tcsh nologin) [sh]: nologin
Home directory [/home/angeloftp]: 
Home directory permissions (Leave empty for default): 
Use password-based authentication? [yes]: 
Use an empty password? (yes/no) [no]: 
Use a random password? (yes/no) [no]: 
Enter password: 
Enter password again: 
Lock out the account after creation? [no]: 
Username   : angeloftp
Password   : *****
Full Name  : angelo
Uid        : 1003
Class      : 
Groups     : angeloftp 
Home       : /home/angeloftp
Home Mode  : 
Shell      : /usr/sbin/nologin
Locked     : no
OK? (yes/no): yes
adduser: INFO: Successfully added (angeloftp) to the user database.
Add another user? (yes/no): no
Goodbye!

So, you can modify the user and password parameters. The rest you can keep the same.

Now, let’s modify the vsftpd configuration file. In this file are all the settings we can have. Before modifying it, let’s make a backup of it:

:~$ sudo mv /usr/local/etc/vsftpd.conf /usr/local/etc/vsftpd.conf.bak

And now, yes, you proceed to modify it:

:~$ sudo nano /usr/local/etc/vsftpd.conf

In my case, the configuration that works for me without problems is the following:

anonymous_enable=NO
anon_upload_enable=NO
anon_mkdir_write_enable=NO
local_enable=YES
write_enable=YES
listen_port=21
dirmessage_enable=YES
xferlog_enable=YES
connect_from_port_20=YES
xferlog_file=/var/log/vsftpd.log
xferlog_std_format=YES
secure_chroot_dir=/usr/local/share/vsftpd/empty
max_clients=200
max_per_ip=100
chroot_local_user=YES
text_userdb_names=YES
force_dot_files=NO
anon_root=/home/ftp
async_abor_enable=YES
use_localtime=YES
listen=YES
background=YES
allow_writeable_chroot=YES

Of course, this is an example. You can always explore other options and for that we refer you to the vsftp official documentation.

Again, save the changes and close the file.

Now you have to add users to vsftpd, but first you have to create the file where the users and their passwords will be. To do this, we’ll use a tool called htpasswd. And use this command:

:~$ sudo htpasswd -c -b /usr/local/etc/vsftpd_login.db [username] [password]

Changes the permissions of the created file:

:~$ sudo chmod 0600 /usr/local/etc/vsftpd_login.db

In username and password replace it with the user we created earlier.

In case htpasswd is not available, you can get it by installing the apache web server.

:~$ sudo pkg install apache24
Updating FreeBSD repository catalogue...
FreeBSD repository is up to date.
All repositories are up to date.
The following 8 package(s) will be affected (of 0 checked):

New packages to be INSTALLED:
	apache24: 2.4.41
	libnghttp2: 1.40.0
	libxml2: 2.9.10
	expat: 2.2.8
	pcre: 8.43_2
	apr: 1.7.0.1.6.1
	gdbm: 1.18.1_1
	db5: 5.3.28_7

Number of packages to be installed: 8

The process will require 92 MiB more space.
20 MiB to be downloaded.

Proceed with this action? [y/N]:

If you want to add new users, you can do it with the following command:

:~$ sudo htpasswd -b /usr/local/etc/vsftpd_login.db USERNAME PASSWORD

Configure vsftpd to start with the system by editing the following file

:~$ sudo nano /etc/rc.conf

And in it he adds the following:

vsftpd_enable="YES"

Finally, the vsftpd service starts.

:~$ sudo /usr/local/etc/rc.d/vsftpd start

Now the creature is alive.

Access to the FTP server

Now that the service is working, we have to test it. Open your favorite web browser and go to ftp://server-ip.

First you will need to enter your username and password and then you will see the following:

You can also use a graphic client on your computer like Filezilla.

Add a new connection and type in your credentials:

After accepting the connection and entering the password, it will connect. And as you can see, everything has been successful:

So, everything’s in order.

Conclusion

An FTP server on FreeBSD can be a secure alternative for sharing files on a network. It is as easy to set up as you have seen it today.

Please share this post and join our Telegram channel.

The post How to set up vsftpd on FreeBSD 12? appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.

Configure a FTP server with vsftpd

vsftpd is a daemon that allows you to install and configure an FTP server. It is quite used for being very flexible in its configuration and secure. For example, it is the default in OpenSUSE and CentOS 7 but can be used in almost any Linux distribution.

Its configuration files are quite easy to understand because they are well documented. So this makes it the main option for our purpose.

So let us start.

Install and configure vsftpd on OpenSUSE 15.1

First, we must install it. The big advantage is that vsftpd is in the OpenSUSE repositories so we can install it using zypper.

:~$ sudo zypper in vsftpd

Now comes the configuration for everything to work properly.

The configuration file is this /etc/vsftpd.conf. If you open it you will see that it is very extensive, but it is because it has many commented lines. It is very well documented.

Before we edit it, let’s create a backup.

:~$ sudo cp /etc/vsftpd.conf /etc/vsftpd.conf.bak

There are several things we need to edit.

:~$ sudo nano /etc/vsftpd.conf

Firstly, we must make the service “listen”. IPV4 and disable IPV6.

listen=YES
#listen_ipv6=NO

Then, allow writing.

write_enable=YES

There is a clause that defines port 20 as the default. I have commented on it and used the listen_port clause to define another port. For example, port 21. It can be the one you want.

#connect_from_port_20=YES
listen_port=21

It is very likely that if you work with FTP you will need to create users. To do this, it is necessary to cage them before creating them. That is to say, that each user cannot upload or download files from other users and even less from the system. In other words, they are isolated to their folder. To do this, add the following lines.

chroot_local_user=YES
chroot_list_enable=YES
chroot_list_file=/etc/vsftpd.chroot_list

Then, create the file specified in chroot_list_file and add our system user there

:~$ sudo nano /etc/vsftpd.chroot_list
angelo

The pasv_min_port and pasv_max_port clauses define which ports FTP can use to be in passive mode. You have to work in the Firewall with them.

We can use the grep and cat commands to make the file more readable. With them I will show all the lines except the ones that start with a #.

:~$ sudo cat /etc/vsftpd.conf | grep -v "^#"

At this point, the configuration file would look more or less like this.

Now you have to open the necessary ports for vsftpd to work.

:~$ sudo firewall-cmd --add-port=21/tcp --permanent
Success
:~$ sudo firewall-cmd --add-port=30000-30100/tcp --permanent
Success
:~$ sudo firewall-cmd --reload
Success

Now let’s create the test user service.

:~$ sudo useradd -d /home/user1 -m -s /bin/bash user1
:~$ sudo passwd

Finally, you start the service and check its status.

:~$ sudo systemctl start vsftpd
:~$ sudo systemctl status vsftpd
● vsftpd.service - Vsftpd ftp daemon
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/vsftpd.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Wed 2019-06-05 10:44:50 -04; 32min ago
 Main PID: 2888 (vsftpd)
    Tasks: 1 (limit: 4915)
   CGroup: /system.slice/vsftpd.service
           └─2888 /usr/sbin/vsftpd /etc/vsftpd.conf

The anonymous user is enabled by default. Its folder is /srv/ftp/ you can create alli files for download. You can even access it from your web browser. ftp://your-server/

Now, it’s time to install an FTP client. In this case I will use Filezilla.

Using Filezilla as the FTP client on OpenSUSE

First you have to install it.

:~$ sudo zypper in filezilla

Then you have to create the connection. To do this, go to the File menu and click on the Site Manager option. In the window that appears, configure your connection. I’ve done it this way.

And this is it. Now you can start enjoying the FTP server. Note that I’ve already uploaded a test file.

Enjoy it.

The post How to configure a FTP server on OpenSUSE 15.1? appeared first on Linux Windows and android Tutorials.