vsftp

[mrberry]

I am running Fedora FC2 and am having problems getting vsftp working. After making changes changes to the /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf they did not appear to be taking affect. Then I noticed after stopping vsftpd I could still sftp into the box.

It seems that when I sftp it is using sftp-server and not vsftp. I have looked at doc everywhere but cannot find how to configure this.

Is there some configuration I need to change in order stop using sftp-server and start using vsftp?

Thanks.

 

[nokernel]

Check if you have sshd process running. By default sftp is enabled with sshd, so you should disable sftp with sshd if you want to use vsftp. The config file for sshd should be under /etc/ssh/sshd_config I think that the line about sftp is at the end of the config file.

 

[mrberry]

Thank you for your reply.

I think I found what you were refering to. This line in at the end of the file /etc/ssh/sshd_config:

# override default of no subsystems
Subsystem sftp /usr/libexec/openssh/sftp-server

What do I need to do with this line? Comment it out or replace it with something else? Do I need to restart the sshd after?

I started vsftpd after stopping sshd but I now get an error message after entering the username when sftp to the host:

ssh_init: Network error: Connection refused

Thanks.

 

[ericbrunson]

FTP and SFTP are two *entirely* different systems. The only similarity are that they are a Protocol for Transfering Files.

If you don't want sftp, comment the line out of your sshd_config and restart sshd.

 

[thedaver]

Yes, vsftpd is "very secure ftpd" whereas sftp is "secure ftp".

vsftpd's claim is to be a secure implementation of ftp server with respect to privileges and any accidents a user might cause while running regular old, plain-text ftp service. nothing encrypted, very UNsecure by another standard.

The ssh suite of services includes sftp as an encrypted method of using ftp-style file transfer services. Very encrypted, far more secure.

Ericbrunson said as much above, but you might have benefitted from a bit more narrative....

http://www.surfinbox.com/loans/

 

[ericbrunson]

Thanks Daver. ;-)

 

[mrberry]

thedaver, ericbrunson

Thank you for replies. I have been playing with this and figured what you have confirmed to me: sftp and vsftp are entirely different.

Based on what you have said I have decided to go with sftp.

I am trying to implement that the user doing the ftp:

1) Cannot change to a directory above their home directory

2) Cannot login to the system other than through sftp

I did some research with indicated that 1) could be done using the chroot feature so I added the following entry to /etc/sshd_config:

ChrootUsers ftpuser

but I get th following error when I start sshd:

Starting sshd:/etc/ssh/sshd_config: line 97: Bad configuration option: ChrootUsers
/etc/ssh/sshd_config: terminating, 1 bad configuration options


For 2) I understand that there is a special shell called ssh-dummy-shell , but this file does not appear to be on my system.


Thanks,

Mark

 

[ericbrunson]

You've taken a config directive for your ftp server and tried to use it in your sshd config. That won't work...

A Google search for 'chroot sftp' yielded this very good tutorial:

http://www.netadmintools.com/art294.html