I can't ftp to my linux and I'm getting "421 Service not available". I checked the inetd.conf in Linux box and it is uncommented. I tried to connect from a Win98 box. Heck, I even tried doing it even on my linux to FTP to itself and I'm getting the same error message. I don't see ftpd running though. Isn't it that this daemon is started by the inetd process? What do you think is wrong? I've checked also the following:

1. /etc/host is okay
2. no entries in /etc/hosts.allow or /etc/hosts.deny

My Win98 box is setup for a DHCP configuration.

In you case ftp is not actually running as a daemon, all the time, listening to the ftp port. The ftp daemon is actually started when someone makes a request to port 21 on your machine. The internet daemon (inetd) kicks off the ftpd process and the ftpd process will die when the ftp client disconnects.

Your problem? I suggest you take a look at the /etc/services file and see if the ftp 21/tcp line is there and uncommented. This maps the ftp services to port 21. Then the ftp service will be looked up in the inetd.conf file and start the correct process. It sounds like you machine does not know what port 21 is for.

You can look for a listener on a port by using telnet and specify a different port number besides the default for telnet.

telnet myhost.com 21

Hope this helps

Gary

Gary,

Thanks for the response. I checked /etc/services and the line "ftp 21/tcp" is there and uncommented. Any more ideas?