FTP configuration on ubuntu using vsftpd

The configuration of the vsftpd FTP service (read as daemon ) simply requires three steps.

Step # 1: Install vsftpd

Type apt-get command to install vsftpd
$ sudo apt-get install vsftpd
Output:

Password:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  vsftpd
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 121kB of archives.
After unpacking 438kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com edgy/main vsftpd 2.0.4-0ubuntu5 [121kB]
Fetched 121kB in 0s (246kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package vsftpd.
(Reading database ... 31396 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking vsftpd (from .../vsftpd_2.0.4-0ubuntu5_amd64.deb) ...
Setting up vsftpd (2.0.4-0ubuntu5) ...
Adding system user `ftp' with uid 106...
Adding new user `ftp' (106) with group `nogroup'.
Not creating home directory `/home/ftp'.
 * Starting FTP server: vsftpd

Step # 2: Configure /etc/vsftpd.conf

The default vsftpd configuration file is /etc/vsftpd.conf. You need to edit this file using text editor such as vi:
$ sudo vi /etc/vsftpd.conf

Add the following line (uncomment line) to the vsftpd configuration file:
local_enable=YES
Above config directive will allow local users to log in via ftp

If you would like to allow users to upload file, add the following to the file:
write_enable=YES

For security you may restrict local users to their home directories. Add the following to the file:
chroot_local_user=YES

Save and close the file.

Step # 3: Restart vsftpd

To restart vsftpd type the command :
$ sudo /etc/init.d/vsftpd restart
Output:

* Stopping FTP server: vsftpd                                                                                       [ ok ]
 * Starting FTP server: vsftpd                                                                                       [ ok ]

How do I use ftp command line utility?

Now you should be able to FTP to this server with any account that exists on the system except for the root user. From Windows or other Linux system use ftp client, type the command:
$ ftp ftp.nixcraft.in
Output:

Connected to ftp.nixcraft.in.
220 (vsFTPd 2.0.4)
Name (ftp.nixcraft.in:vivek): vivek
331 Please specify the password.
Password:
230 Login successful.
Remote system type is UNIX.
Using binary mode to transfer files.
ftp> pwd
257 "/"
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful. Consider using PASV.
150 Here comes the directory listing.
-rw-r--r--    1 1000     1000        91798 Aug 16 08:26 apf-current.tar.gz
-rwxr-xr-x    1 1000     1000          156 Nov 10 07:05 iptables.stop
drwxr-xr-x    3 0        0            4096 Dec 23 11:11 postfix
-rw-r--r--    1 0        0        10481942 Nov 29 23:35 webmin_1.310_all.deb
226 Directory send OK.
ftp> quit
221 Goodbye.

Open FTP port using iptables (optional)

Add following rules to your iptables script. Assuming that default incoming policy is drop. If protocol is TCP and destination port is 21 (ftp):
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 21 -j ACCEPT
See - How do I open open ftp port 21 using iptables for more information.

There are a large number of other configuration options available for vsftpd that can be used to fine tune ftp server. Read vsftpd.conf man page by typing following command:
$ man vsftpd.conf

& its Done

Basic FTP Server Setup with vsftpd on Ubuntu

It’s pretty simple to install and to a basic configuration of an FTP server on Ubuntu. By default Ubuntu uses a package called vsftpd as an FTP server, which is currently the most popular FTP package for Linux systems. To install the vsftpd package, use the following command at the Terminal:

sudo apt-get install vsftpd

Follow the default prompts, and the vsftpd server will be installed on your computer. Generally, the default configuration for vsftpd is pretty secure, and good enough for casual use. Anonymous users are blocked, and no one can write files to the server (or, in FTP terminology, no one can upload files to the server). Anyone with a system account will be able to connect to the FTP server and download, though not upload, files.

If you want to change any settings, the configuration file for vsftpd is /etc/vsftpd.conf. Like any other configuration file, you can edit it with vi:

sudo vi /etc/vsftpd.conf

(If you’re using the desktop version of Ubuntu, you can of course use the graphical gedit editor.)

The vsftpd.conf file contains a large number of “directives” that govern how the server behaves and operates. If you want to change its configuration, you’ll need to alter the directives.

If you want users to be able to write files to your FTP server, change this directive:

#write_enable=YES

To this:

write_enable=YES

With the write_enable directive set to YES, users will be able to upload files to your FTP server. Note, however, that they will only be able to do so if they have proper permissions to the directories in question. They’ll be able to upload files to their home directories, but not, for instance /var or /usr.

Anonymous access is controlled with this directive:

anonymous_enable=NO

Under no circumstances should you allow anonymous access to your FTP server, especially if it is accessible from the Internet! There are certain circumstances when you might find it useful, but you should only enable it if you know exactly what you are doing. Generally, it is almost always best to keep anonymous_enable set to NO.

If you make any changes to the file, switch vi to command mode, save the changes, and then exit vi. Then restart the vsftpd server so it reads its new directives:

sudo service vsftpd restart

You can then test your Ubuntu machine’s FTP service from the server’s command line:

ftp 127.0.0.1

The FTP client will ask for your username. Enter that, and then the client will ask for your password. Enter that as well, and you should then see the FTP prompt, which looks like this:

ftp>

If you see that, you know the server is working. You can return to the regular command line with this command:

exit