vsftpd frequently asked questions!!
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Q) Does vsftpd support a limit on the number of users connected?
A) Yes, indirectly. vsftpd is an inetd-based service. If use the popular
"xinetd" as your inetd, this supports per-service per-IP connection limits.

Q) Help! I'm getting the error message "refusing to run with writable anonymous
root".
A) vsftpd is protecting against dangerous configurations. The cause of this
message is usually dodgy ownership of the ftp home directory. The home
directory should NOT be owned by the ftp user itself. Neither should it
be writable by the ftp user. A way to fix this is:
"chown root ~ftp; chmod -w ~ftp"

Q) Help! I'm getting the error message "str_getpwnam".
A) The most likely cause of this is that the "nobody" user does not exist on
your system. vsftpd needs this user to run bits of itself with no privilege.

Q) Help! Local users cannot log in.
A) There are various possible problems.
A1) By default, vsftpd disables any logins other than anonymous logins. Put
local_enable=YES in your /etc/vsftpd.conf to allow local users to log in.
A2) vsftpd tries to link with PAM. (Run "ldd vsftpd" and look for libpam to
find out whether this has happened or not). If vsftpd links with PAM, then
you will need to have a PAM file installed for the vsftpd service. There is
a sample one for RedHat systems included in the "RedHat" directory - put it
under /etc/pam.d
A3) If vsftpd didn't link with PAM, then there are various possible issues. Is
the user's shell in /etc/shells? If you have shadowed passwords, does your
system have a "shadow.h" file in the include path?
A4) If you are not using PAM, then vsftpd will do its own check for a valid
user shell in /etc/shells. You may need to disable this if you use an invalid
shell to disable logins other than FTP logins. Put check_shell=NO in your
/etc/vsftpd.conf.

Q) Help! Uploads or other write commands give me "500 Unknown command.".
A) By default, write commands, including uploads and new directories, are
disabled. This is a security measure. To enable writes, put write_enable=YES
in your /etc/vsftpd.conf.


