vsftdp setup correctly, able to connect except with mac osx

rockhopper_penguin · 04-23-2018, 06:51 AM

Hi all,

This is kind of driving me bunkers.. I have a Ubuntu 17.10 setup which runs vsftpd. I can connect to it with another Ubuntu 16.04 OS on which I run FileZilla. I have a Mac OSX 10.13 MBP system (my wife's) on which I also installed FileZilla. The settings are exactly the same and they access wifi from the same router-accesspoint. Yet my buntu system is able to connect while the MBP is not.

The logs (/var/log/vsftpd.log) from vsftpd show only my connections with the buntu system. No errors, yet also no mac osx attempts. (I know this because there were several minutes between attempts and only the ones with my linux-os connected). Within FileZilla it just times-out when on the Macbook. I tried switching to CrossFTP, yes also without luck. The MBP runs no firewall (that I'm aware of) except from Little Snitch 4.0 which I disabled entirely.

Any suggestions?

michaelk · 04-23-2018, 03:35 PM

How is vsftpd configured? Are you running a straight ftp server or is it configured for ftps i.e ssl/tls?

You posted the settings are the same but are you positive that you have the Mac FileZilla configured for ftp/ftps and not sftp (ssh server). I am unfamiliar with CrossFTP but it is also capable of ftp,ftps and sftp.

rockhopper_penguin · 04-24-2018, 04:39 AM

Code:

listen=NO

listen_ipv6=YES

anonymous_enable=NO

local_enable=YES

write_enable=YES

#local_umask=022

#anon_upload_enable=YES

#anon_mkdir_write_enable=YES

dirmessage_enable=YES

use_localtime=YES

xferlog_enable=YES

connect_from_port_20=YES

#chown_uploads=YES
#chown_username=whoever

#xferlog_file=/var/log/vsftpd.log

#xferlog_std_format=YES

idle_session_timeout=600

data_connection_timeout=300

#nopriv_user=ftpsecure

#async_abor_enable=YES

ascii_upload_enable=YES
ascii_download_enable=YES

ftpd_banner=Hi

#banned_email_file=/etc/vsftpd.banned_emails

#chroot_local_user=YES

#chroot_local_user=YES
#chroot_list_enable=YES
#chroot_list_file=/etc/vsftpd.chroot_list

#ls_recurse_enable=YES

secure_chroot_dir=/var/run/vsftpd/empty

pam_service_name=vsftpd

rsa_cert_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
rsa_private_key_file=/etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
ssl_enable=NO

#utf8_filesystem=YES

So straight up ftp server no SSL no rsa, just for upping and downloading files quick and dirty between my own computers without a cloud /central server. This is also the reason why it is lacking security measures as this is a temporary solution. I am also certain that Filezilla is configured the same way as I did a side-by-side comparison.

michaelk · 04-24-2018, 09:25 AM

Just for comparison have you tried using MacOS builtin FTP client?

http://osxdaily.com/2011/02/07/ftp-from-mac/

rockhopper_penguin · 04-25-2018, 05:58 AM

Hi,

I tried the built in ftp from finder and chrome. Also Crossftp and Filezilla both have a reputation of being really good. I found an old external drive and managed to transfer all the files that way. There is no sense of urgency in this topic anymore. However I am still curious about a solution.

michaelk · 04-25-2018, 06:36 AM

If you run the Max port scanner against the Ubuntu server does it show FTP as being open?

rockhopper_penguin · 05-07-2018, 07:04 AM

This topic can be closed (remain unresolved). I'm no longer interested in finding out what exactly went wrong. Thanks MichaelK for the suggestions you made.