vsftpd

Lightweight secure FTP server daemon

TLDR

Start vsftpd in standalone mode

$ vsftpd

Start with a specific configuration file

$ vsftpd [/etc/vsftpd.conf]

Start the vsftpd service via systemd

$ sudo systemctl start vsftpd

Enable vsftpd on boot

$ sudo systemctl enable vsftpd

Print version information and exit

$ vsftpd -v

vsftpd (Very Secure FTP Daemon) is a lightweight, secure FTP server for Unix-like systems. It serves as the default FTP server on many Linux distributions including Ubuntu, Fedora, and RHEL.The daemon can run standalone (recommended) by setting listen=YES in /etc/vsftpd.conf, or be launched via inetd/xinetd. It listens on TCP port 21 by default for control connections.vsftpd supports anonymous FTP, local user authentication, virtual users via PAM, SSL/TLS encryption (FTPS), and passive mode for NAT environments. Access control is managed through /etc/vsftpd/ftpusers and /etc/vsftpd/user_list.

PARAMETERS

-v

Print version information and exit.

-ooption=value

Set a single configuration option as per the config file format.

CONFIGURATION

Key settings in /etc/vsftpd.conf:listen=YES

Run in standalone mode

anonymous_enable=NO

Disable anonymous access

local_enable=YES

Allow local user logins

write_enable=YES

Allow upload operations

chroot_local_user=YES

Confine users to home directories

ssl_enable=YES

Enable SSL/TLS encryption

pasv_enable=YES

Enable passive mode

pasv_min_port/pasv_max_port

Passive mode port range

INSTALL

sudo apt install vsftpd

sudo dnf install vsftpd

sudo pacman -S vsftpd

sudo apk add vsftpd

sudo zypper install vsftpd

brew install vsftpd

nix profile install nixpkgs#vsftpd

CAVEATS

FTP transmits credentials in cleartext; enable SSL/TLS for security. Passive mode requires firewall rules for the data port range. Consider SFTP (SSH-based) as a more secure alternative to FTP.

HISTORY

vsftpd was written by Chris Evans with a focus on security, becoming the most widely deployed FTP server on Linux. Its design prioritizes security through privilege separation and minimal attack surface.