VSFTPD(8)

🦋 VSFTPD 💖

okay bestie, gather round, because today we're talking about vsftpd — aka the Very Secure FTP Daemon — and she is literally the main character of your FTP setup. no cap. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

vsftpd [configuration file and / or options]

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so like, vsftpd is the Very Secure File Transfer Protocol Daemon, right? she's the one serving up files over FTP, and she's very secure about it. iconic behavior honestly. 👑

now, you've got options for how you wake her up. the server can be launched via a "super-server" like inetd(8) or xinetd(8) — yes those old-school bouncers. or, alternatively, vsftpd can be launched in standalone mode, in which case vsftpd herself will listen on the network. and like, ngl, this latter mode is easier to use, and recommended. it's giving independent woman. 🫶

you activate it by setting listen=YES in /etc/vsftpd.conf. then directly executing the vsftpd binary will launch the FTP service ready for immediate client connections. no middleman, no waiting, she's just there, ready. 💖

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🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

an optional configuration file or files may be given on the command line. these files must be owned as root if running as root — yes that's a hard rule, don't play with her. 🙈

any command line option not starting with a - character is treated as a config file that will be loaded. and pay attention bestie: config files are loaded in the strict order that they are encountered on the command line. order matters, periodt.

if no config files are specified, the default configuration file of /etc/vsftpd.conf will be loaded, after all other command line options are processed. she saves the default for last, cute right?

supported options are:

• -v — print the version information and exit, even if other options are encountered. she's not sticking around to chat, she just wants you to know her version and then she's out. 💀
• -ooption=value — set a single option, value pair as per the format in the config file. multiple -o options are supported, and they are applied in strict order relative to their appearance on the command line, including intermingling with loading of config files. so yes, you can absolutely vibe-mix them with config files, but the order is sacred. ✨

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🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

vsftpd -olisten=NO /etc/vsftpd.conf -oftpd_banner=blah

okay so let's break this down because it's actually such a good example 🍓

that example overrides vsftpd's built-in default for the "listen" option to be NO, but then loads /etc/vsftpd.conf which may override that setting. sneaky! finally, the "ftpd_banner" setting is set to "blah", which overrides any default vsftpd setting and any identical setting that was in the config file. so the last one wins. she said last word goes to me. 💅

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📁 FILES 📁

• /etc/vsftpd.conf

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• vsftpd.conf(5)

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and that's the whole vibe bestie 🧚💜 this page is from March 8, 2001, and it's part of VSFTPD(8) — yes she's been iconic since 2001 and she's still serving. slay. 🌟