RH 8.0 - VSFTPD - permissions and ftp access help needed.

[jeffvb9]

Running RH 8.0 one one box with XP on another. Both machines are behind a linksys router. Have roadrunner cable modem internet access (DHCP). Have vsftpd FTP service enabled and I can ftp in from other machine on network with no problems. Here are my questions:

1) What would a user need to have in order to ftp into my linux machine? Would it be the ip address my ISP provider gave me? That would change frequently for the most part wouldnt it?

2) If I let anonymous users or guest users ftp into my linux box how can I keep them limited to the /var/ftp/incoming or /var/ftp/outgoing directories. They need to be able to upload and download from those two directories only. Step by step instructions would be helpful.

 

[RhythmAce]

If you don't have your own domain name or a static ip, you might want to look into a dns pointer service such as noip, dns2go, dyndns or tzo. Most of these are very cheap if not free. They will give you a sub-domain like yourname.tzo.com and will provide you with a small ip udater program that will check you ip address as often as you'd like and if it changes, sends the info to their dns servers. If you'd like to have your own domain and host it yourself with a dynamic ip, you can buy a name at

http://www.godaddy.com

for about $8.00 a year. Your ip may only change about 2 or three times a year but it could be a pain going through your registrar every time it does. Then you have to wait for about 48 hours for dns to propogate. With a dns service such as

http://www.zoneedit.com

you can you can make changes as often as you want. You can even use web and mail forwarding if your server goes down.

The ftp daemons that come with redhat, don't have much to configure. You can use wu-ftp or better yet down load the rpm version of ProFTPD. Then you can create a chroot jail so they can't even see what is outside the directories you setup for the anan users. You can do the same for system users. Try to resist the temptation to allow root access. This is generally not a good idea.

 

[marsd]

vsftpd is an extrememly safe and durable ftpd, I would
recommend sticking with it over either of the other
recommendations.
Config info can be found here:

http://vsftpd.beasts.org/