[Novices] public ftp access

[Bruce Smith]

> > Look through the config file (vsftpd.conf  either in /etc/
> > or /etc/vsftpd/  directory)  It should be well commented.
> > Go though it line by line and configure to your liking.
> > Restart vsftpd after you've made any changes.
> 
> I've gotten pretty far with vsftpd earlier today, reading their man 
> pages and their README and INSTALL, which come with FC3.  The INSTALL 
> notes were the most helpful.  I set up a vsftpd.conf, I think, that 
> blocked anonymous access (that's the only default I changed).  I added 
> 'listen=YES' to the last line, figuring I shouldn't go through xinetd or 
> whatever (but not really informed enough to know why, just they 
> recommend to do vsftpd standalone now).  I tried their "smoke test" for 
> ftp to localhost and it worked fine.  But access from my home machine 
> still doesn't work.

Can you try it from another nearby machine on the same subnet?

There may be some kind of firewall blocking FTP access from your home.
Are you running the FC3 firewall?  If so, open up FTP access!

Is there a firewall between your server and the Internet?
Does it allow FTP to pass though?

Try telnet to your FTP server from home.  "telnet your.ftp.server 21"
to see if you have connectivity.

> I think what's stumping me now is PAM.  I have no idea what that is, but 
> the vsftpd INSTALL notes say it may block non-anonymous access.  So I 
> just followed directions by rote, copying their vsftpd.pam from the doc 
> directory into /etc/pam.d/ftp.  But reading the file itself, it seems to 
> need an /etc/vsftpd_login file, and I have no idea what that format 
> should be, and can't seem to find that info anywhere.  Am I close?!  Or 
> do I now have to spend a great deal of time learning what the heck PAM 
> is?  Or is PAM just a red herring?

I've never had to muck with PAM to make vsftpd run.  At least on FC1 &
FC2 (and SuSE 9.x and Devil-Linux), but I've never run FC3.

I'd restore your PAM files to the default for now.  My bet is a firewall
somewhere is blocking access.

> Also, this is kind of embarrassing, but I don't know how to get the 
> demon started with bootup.  I know I used to do that kind of thing.

chkconfig --list  # should show all services and if they start of not.

chkconfig service on  # turns it on.  You can change "on" to "off".

You'll probably need to do something like:  "chkconfig vsftpd on"

Fedora probably has a fancy GUI for that, but I don't know it's name.

> (I'm sorry but there's *still* so much hard stuff to keep track of in 
> linux!  

It's only hard until you've done it once.  Then it's easy!  :-)

> I'm probably better informed about computer stuff than 99% of 
> the US population, and probably more informed than a fair number of IT 
> professionals... but I still get stumped pretty regularly by linux! 
> Don't get me wrong, I still love it... I just selfishly wish the 
> volunteer developers would spend more time making it easier.)

That'd take all the fun out of Linux!  :-)

 - BS