I have installed RedHat 7.2 (the download version) on a box. I can ping it by name from my Windows 2000 machine without problems. I can also connect to it via SSH with WinSCP2 or Putty, and via a browser with http.

I have installed proftpd on the machine and have it running standalone. I don't have ipchains running, and have turned off xinetd, and have also turned off the firewall (ZoneAlarm) on the Windows PC, and the RedHat box does not have Shorewall or any other firewall as far as I am aware. But when I try to FTP from the Windows 2000 machine, it doesn't get past:

connecting to 123.123.123.123:21

(Not the real IP address, obviously)

So it's not even connecting to the machine.

I also spent some time trying to get Samba working, but this also wouldn't work, I would get the following error when trying to connect from the Windows 2000 server:

No service is operating at the destination network endpoint on the remote system.


This is driving me nuts. I can find hundreds of different pages on the web about how to configure Samba and proftpd, but none of them have helped. I've already wasted about ten hours on it.

Is there not some logical troubleshooting process I can go through to find the source of this problem? It must be something pretty fundamental if the services aren't even connecting.

Anyone got any ideas? The Linux box does have a process called portmap running, but as far as I can tell from what I have read this shouldn't affect Samba or FTP.

Help!

See if iptables or ipchains are running. If so turn them off.

Thanks for replying Tom.

As I mentioned in my (long! sorry!) explanation, I don't have IPtables or IPChains running, unless they run as processes under another name.

Do you have nmap? If not get is, it is a port scanner. After you install it do a port scan and see if the services are advertised. The portmapper question, if I remember right, is only used on the client side of NFS and samba.

Thanks again Tom! Finally I seem to be progressing in the diagnosis.

I ran nmap. Port 21, which I believe is the main one FTP uses, was not listed. nmap states that those not show are in state 'filtered', in other words, blocked by a firewall.

Seeing as I can FTP successfully from the Windows 2000 box to other machines, I guess that means I have to assume the firewall is on the Redhat box.

I also assume that a firewall has to run as a process. However, I don't recognise any of the running processes as being firewalls. Here is a summary of the running processes:

/usr/sbin/httpd
/usr/sbin/mysqld
/usr/libexec/webmin/proc/index_size.cgi
sendmail
/usr/bin/perl /usr/libexec/webmin/miniserv.pl
smbd -D
/usr/sbin/sshd
-bash
nmbd -D
login -- root
/bin/sh /usr/bin/mysqld_safe
proftpd: (accepting connections)
sh -c ps -eo
klogd -2
rpc.statd
crond
portmap
/sbin/cardmgr
mail
syslogd -m 0
/usr/sbin/atd
init
/usr/sbin/apmd
/sbin/mingetty
[kjournald]
[khubd]
[kjournald]
[mdrecoveryd]
[kupdated]
[bdflush]
[kreclaimd]
[keventd]
[kswapd]
[kjournald]
[ksoftirqd_CPU0]
[kapm-idled]

Now, I can't see anything in that list that is a firewall, and I've looked up those processes I don't know.

So now what can I do? I think the port is blocked by a firewall, but can't find any evidence of one!

Does nobody have any idea what the answer to this could be? I don't want to give up!

Ever think about re-installing. I have no idea why you can't connect using ftp or samba.

Bananaman: check your log-file for any errors (/var/log/messages) or any logfile you have provided in your proftpd.conf file.

If there's an error in the conf file, it won't start, and write the error in a log file.

If there's no error whatsoever, can you connect to your ftp server locally? (ftp localhost)

Your ftp-server seems to be up and running (In your ps list is shows, so...)

Thanks Tangle, thanks Satriani.

Satriani, I will do what you say.

OK

I checked the log files, there wasn't anything wrong.

I logged into FTP locally successfully.

I ran nmap locally, showing that the port was open.

I ran nmap from the Windows 2000 machine again, showing the ftp port on the server to be closed. there is no firewall on the server, or the Windows 2000 machine.

Damn it. I'm giving up.

Is the linux machine in the same network as your w2k client?

(In other words, if your W2k is 192.168.0.1, is your linux-machine then 192.168.0.2 ? ) Or does the network differ (i.e. your linux is 10.0.0.1 ?)

This might cause some errors because of routing / natting.

Second, in your proftp.conf you can provide an ip address... Is this the correct one? (Or if not any, please enter one)

It should be working.

Yep, the Linux machine is on the same network.

They are both attached to the ethernet ports of a 3Com ADSL router, which filters external net connections, but not those on the local machines.

I will check the IP in proftp.conf.

Many thanks for your help Satriani. You're a star.

My proftpdconfig:

<SNIP>
ServerName "Whatever you Like"
ServerType inetd
DefaultServer on
DefaultRoot ~
ShowSymlinks on
UseReverseDNS off
IdentLookups off

# Port 21 is the standard FTP port.
Port 21
PassivePorts 2121 2121
Bind Your.internal.IP.address
MasqueradeAddress Your.external.IP..address

<SNIP>

This will bind your server to port 21, and (for my firewall) passive port to 2121.
Next, I let my server listen on my internal IP address, but it will reply with it's external address. (This is a limitation of the way FTP works, it's really a dumb protocol)

You might want to dig into the FTP protocol to find a solution, but this setup works fine for me.

Good luck, and if it works: Please let me (and all others) know!

i had a problem like this before on RH8 using vsFTPd, everything looked ok, i could ping, etc... but the problem was finally that i had wuFTPd running in the background and didnt even know it... so i killed that and it worked fine.

....

you can connect lo localhost, your can ping between two endpoints, 21 is open, youre config'd properly (i dont know much about proftp), and your win box can ftp to other sites...

that covers alot...

have you tried ftping in from another windows box? have you tried using a different ftpd? long shots, but youre running outta things to test!