Enabling/disabling VSFTPD via SSH

Entropy1024 · 07-24-2017, 10:49 AM

I have an FTP server set up on my Ubuntu box using vsftpd.

I only need to access it infrequently, therefore for security reasons I was wondering if there was a simple way to enable/disable it via SSH.

I did try SSHing in and using

Quote:

sudo service vsftpd stop

However it was still accepting clients fine.

Many thanks for any help.
Tim

dejank · 07-24-2017, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Entropy1024

I have an FTP server set up on my Ubuntu box using vsftpd.

I only need to access it infrequently, therefore for security reasons I was wondering if there was a simple way to enable/disable it via SSH.

I did try SSHing in and using

However it was still accepting clients fine.

Many thanks for any help.
Tim

If you are using ubuntu 15.04 or older:

1. To stop till next reboot

Code:

sudo stop vsftpd

2. To start till next stop/reboot

Code:

sudo start vsftpd

3. To check status

Code:

sudo status vsftpd

4. To restart

Code:

sudo restart vsftpd

5. To disable service activation on startup

Code:

echo manual | sudo tee /etc/init/vsftpd.override

6. To enable it again

Code:

sudo rm /etc/init/vsftpd.override

As a side note, not sure if vsftp service is called vsftp, or vsftpd. But it is easy to find out.

dejank · 07-24-2017, 11:34 AM

If you are using ubuntu 15.10 or newer, you are dealing with systemd.

To start

Code:

sudo systemctl start vsftpd.service

To stop

Code:

sudo systemctl stop vsftpd.service

To restart

Code:

sudo systemctl restart vsftpd.service

To enable

Code:

sudo systemctl enable vsftpd.service

To disable

Code:

sudo systemctl disable vsftpd.service

To check status

Code:

sudo systemctl status vsftpd.service

Entropy1024 · 07-24-2017, 11:34 AM

Sorry my version info was out of date, I'm on 16.04.

I did try

Code:

sudo stop vsftpd

and

Code:

sudo stop vsftp

with the following error:

Code:

stop: Unable to connect to Upstart: Failed to connect to socket /com/ubuntu/upstart: Connection refused

Entropy1024 · 07-24-2017, 11:45 AM

using your

Code:

sudo systemctl stop vsftpd.service

then

Code:

sudo systemctl status vsftpd.service

I get back

Code:

Jul 24 17:35:31 p5e systemd[1]: Stopped vsftpd FTP server.

However it's still letting clients connect!?

michaelk · 07-24-2017, 11:59 AM

What client application are you using to connect to the server?

Entropy1024 · 07-24-2017, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

What client application are you using to connect to the server?

I've just been using AndFTP on Android.

dejank · 07-24-2017, 12:05 PM

That client can use sftp, are you sure that you are not using that instead of ftp?

Entropy1024 · 07-24-2017, 12:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dejank

That client can use sftp, are you sure that you are not using that instead of ftp?

Yes i'm using SFTP to connect

michaelk · 07-24-2017, 12:09 PM

sftp is not the same as ftp.

Look at the output of the nmap command to confirm that the ftp port is inactive.

nmap IP_address -p 21

dejank · 07-24-2017, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Entropy1024

Yes i'm using SFTP to connect

Well, sftp uses ssh for connection, not ftp. So no wonder that you can connect

Disable ssh and you will not be able to.

Entropy1024 · 07-24-2017, 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dejank

Well, sftp uses ssh for connection, not ftp. So no wonder that you can connect

Disable ssh and you will not be able to.

Ah OK. But then I will not be able to turn it on again over SSH. OK I need another way of doing this then

Habitual · 07-24-2017, 12:22 PM

ufw possibly help?

short version on the ftp "server"

Code:

sudo ufw deny 21
sudo ufw allow from <friendly_IP> to any port 21

michaelk · 07-24-2017, 12:24 PM

vsftpd stands for Very Secure FTP Daemon. As stated it is not a sftp server which is a subsystem of ssh. There is no inherent reason to disable sftp as it is just as secure as ssh.

I assume that your not really using vsftpd so disabling it is a good idea.