vsftpd problem on FreeBSD 4.9

[willy_ph]

I just recently put a clean install of FreeBSD 4.9 on a box I have laying around. I've successfully installed apache, mysql and php, but I need ftp access to this box to upload files.

Although the ftp service starts, when I connect I get the following error: 500 OOPS: vsftpd: too many arguments (I take an optional config file only). I'm not sure whether this is a problem with inetd.conf or whether it is a problem with the vsftpd.conf file. I'm leaning towards a problem with the inetd file.

I'll post the inetd.conf and vsftpd.conf files in another post from my freeby box.

[willy_ph]

Here's the inetd.conf file.
------------------------------------------------------

# $FreeBSD: src/etc/inetd.conf,v 1.44.2.17 2003/06/13 10:43:19 yar Exp $
#
# Internet server configuration database
#
# Define *both* IPv4 and IPv6 entries for dual-stack support.
# To disable a service, comment it out by prefixing the line with '#'.
# To enable a service, remove the '#' at the beginning of the line.
#
ftp stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/libexec/vsftpd vsftpd /usr/local/etc/vsftpd.conf ftpd -l
#ftp stream tcp6 nowait root /usr/libexec/ftpd ftpd -l
#telnet stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/telnetd telnetd
#telnet stream tcp6 nowait root /usr/libexec/telnetd telnetd
#shell stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/rshd rshd
#shell stream tcp6 nowait root /usr/libexec/rshd rshd
#login stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/rlogind rlogind
#login stream tcp6 nowait root /usr/libexec/rlogind rlogind
#finger stream tcp nowait/3/10 nobody /usr/libexec/fingerd fingerd -s
#finger stream tcp6 nowait/3/10 nobody /usr/libexec/fingerd fingerd -s
#exec stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/rexecd rexecd
#uucpd stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/uucpd uucpd
#
# run comsat as root to be able to print partial mailbox contents w/ biff,
# or use the safer tty:tty to just print that new mail has been received.
#comsat dgram udp wait tty:tty /usr/libexec/comsat comsat
#
# ntalk is required for the 'talk' utility to work correctly
#ntalk dgram udp wait tty:tty /usr/libexec/ntalkd ntalkd
#tftp dgram udp wait root /usr/libexec/tftpd tftpd -s /tftpboot
#tftp dgram udp6 wait root /usr/libexec/tftpd tftpd -s /tftpboot
#bootps dgram udp wait root /usr/libexec/bootpd bootpd
#
# "Small servers" -- used to be standard on, but we're more conservative
# about things due to Internet security concerns. Only turn on what you
# need.
#
#daytime stream tcp nowait root internal
#daytime stream tcp6 nowait root internal
#daytime dgram udp wait root internal
#daytime dgram udp6 wait root internal
#time stream tcp nowait root internal
#time stream tcp6 nowait root internal
#time dgram udp wait root internal
#time dgram udp6 wait root internal
#echo stream tcp nowait root internal
#echo dgram udp6 wait root internal
#echo dgram udp wait root internal
#echo stream tcp6 nowait root internal
#discard stream tcp nowait root internal
#discard stream tcp6 nowait root internal
#discard dgram udp wait root internal
#discard dgram udp6 wait root internal
#chargen stream tcp nowait root internal
#chargen stream tcp6 nowait root internal
#chargen dgram udp wait root internal
#chargen dgram udp6 wait root internal
#
# Kerberos authenticated services
#
#klogin stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/rlogind rlogind -k
#eklogin stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/rlogind rlogind -k -x
#kshell stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/rshd rshd -k
#kip stream tcp nowait root /usr/libexec/kipd kipd
#
# CVS servers - for master CVS repositories only! You must set the
# --allow-root path correctly or you open a trivial to exploit but
# deadly security hole.
#
#cvspserver stream tcp nowait root /usr/bin/cvs cvs --allow-root=/your/cvsroot/here pserver
#cvspserver stream tcp nowait root /usr/bin/cvs cvs --allow-root=/your/cvsroot/here kserver
#
# RPC based services (you MUST have portmapper running to use these)
#
#rstatd/1-3 dgram rpc/udp wait root /usr/libexec/rpc.rstatd rpc.rstatd
#rusersd/1-2 dgram rpc/udp wait root /usr/libexec/rpc.rusersd rpc.rusersd
#walld/1 dgram rpc/udp wait root /usr/libexec/rpc.rwalld rpc.rwalld
#pcnfsd/1-2 dgram rpc/udp wait root /usr/libexec/rpc.pcnfsd rpc.pcnfsd
#rquotad/1 dgram rpc/udp wait root /usr/libexec/rpc.rquotad rpc.rquotad
#sprayd/1 dgram rpc/udp wait root /usr/libexec/rpc.sprayd rpc.sprayd
#
# example entry for the optional pop3 server
#
#pop3 stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/libexec/popper popper
#
# example entry for the optional imap4 server
#
#imap4 stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/libexec/imapd imapd
#
# example entry for the optional nntp server
#
#nntp stream tcp nowait news /usr/local/libexec/nntpd nntpd
#
# Return error for all "ident" requests
#
#auth stream tcp nowait root internal
#auth stream tcp6 nowait root internal
#
# Provide internally a real "ident" service which provides ~/.fakeid support,
# provides ~/.noident support, reports UNKNOWN as the operating system type
# and times out after 30 seconds.
#
#auth stream tcp nowait root internal auth -r -f -n -o UNKNOWN -t 30
#auth stream tcp6 nowait root internal auth -r -f -n -o UNKNOWN -t 30
#
# Example entry for an external ident server
#
#auth stream tcp wait root /usr/local/sbin/identd identd -w -t120
#
# Example entry for the optional qmail MTA
# NOTE: This is no longer the correct way to handle incoming SMTP
# connections for qmail. Use tcpserver (http://cr.yp.to/ucspi-tcp.html)
# instead.
#
#smtp stream tcp nowait qmaild /var/qmail/bin/tcp-env tcp-env /var/qmail/bin/qmail-smtpd
#
# Enable the following two entries to enable samba startup from inetd
# (from the Samba documentation). Enable the third entry to enable the swat
# samba configuration tool.
#
#netbios-ssn stream tcp nowait root /usr/local/sbin/smbd smbd
#netbios-ns dgram udp wait root /usr/local/sbin/nmbd nmbd
#swat stream tcp nowait/400 root /usr/local/sbin/swat swat

[willy_ph]

Here's the vsftpd.conf file:
--------------------------------------------------------

# Example config file /etc/vsftpd.conf
#
# The default compiled in settings are fairly paranoid. This sample file
# loosens things up a bit, to make the ftp daemon more usable.
# Please see vsftpd.conf.5 for all compiled in defaults.
#
# READ THIS: This example file is NOT an exhaustive list of vsftpd options.
# Please read the vsftpd.conf.5 manual page to get a full idea of vsftpd's
# capabilities.
#
# Allow anonymous FTP? (Beware - allowed by default if you comment this out).
#anonymous_enable=NO
#
# Uncomment this to allow local users to log in.
local_enable=YES
#
# Uncomment this to enable any form of FTP write command.
write_enable=YES
#
# Default umask for local users is 077. You may wish to change this to 022,
# if your users expect that (022 is used by most other ftpd's)
#local_umask=022
#
# Uncomment this to allow the anonymous FTP user to upload files. This only
# has an effect if the above global write enable is activated. Also, you will
# obviously need to create a directory writable by the FTP user.
#anon_upload_enable=YES
#
# Uncomment this if you want the anonymous FTP user to be able to create
# new directories.
#anon_mkdir_write_enable=YES
#
# Activate directory messages - messages given to remote users when they
# go into a certain directory.
dirmessage_enable=YES
#
# Activate logging of uploads/downloads.
xferlog_enable=YES
#
# Make sure PORT transfer connections originate from port 20 (ftp-data).
connect_from_port_20=YES
#
# If you want, you can arrange for uploaded anonymous files to be owned by
# a different user. Note! Using "root" for uploaded files is not
# recommended!
#chown_uploads=YES
#chown_username=whoever
#
# You may override where the log file goes if you like. The default is shown
# below.
#xferlog_file=/var/log/vsftpd.log
#
# If you want, you can have your log file in standard ftpd xferlog format
#xferlog_std_format=YES
#
# You may change the default value for timing out an idle session.
#idle_session_timeout=600
#
# You may change the default value for timing out a data connection.
#data_connection_timeout=120
#
# It is recommended that you define on your system a unique user which the
# ftp server can use as a totally isolated and unprivileged user.
#nopriv_user=ftpsecure
#
# Enable this and the server will recognise asynchronous ABOR requests. Not
# recommended for security (the code is non-trivial). Not enabling it,
# however, may confuse older FTP clients.
#async_abor_enable=YES
#
# By default the server will pretend to allow ASCII mode but in fact ignore
# the request. Turn on the below options to have the server actually do ASCII
# mangling on files when in ASCII mode.
# Beware that turning on ascii_download_enable enables malicious remote parties
# to consume your I/O resources, by issuing the command "SIZE /big/file" in
# ASCII mode.
# These ASCII options are split into upload and download because you may wish
# to enable ASCII uploads (to prevent uploaded scripts etc. from breaking),
# without the DoS risk of SIZE and ASCII downloads. ASCII mangling should be
# on the client anyway..
#ascii_upload_enable=YES
#ascii_download_enable=YES
#
# You may fully customise the login banner string:
#ftpd_banner=Welcome to blah FTP service.
#
# You may specify a file of disallowed anonymous e-mail addresses. Apparently
# useful for combatting certain DoS attacks.
#deny_email_enable=YES
# (default follows)
#banned_email_file=/etc/vsftpd.banned_emails
#
# You may specify an explicit list of local users to chroot() to their home
# directory. If chroot_local_user is YES, then this list becomes a list of
# users to NOT chroot().
chroot_list_enable=YES
# (default follows)
chroot_list_file=/etc/vsftpd.chroot_list
#
# You may activate the "-R" option to the builtin ls. This is disabled by
# default to avoid remote users being able to cause excessive I/O on large
# sites. However, some broken FTP clients such as "ncftp" and "mirror" assume
# the presence of the "-R" option, so there is a strong case for enabling it.
#ls_recurse_enable=YES

secure_chroot_dir=/usr/local/share/vsftpd/empty

[SpookyEddy]

Hey Willy,

Are you installing it from packages/ports collections or building from scratch? I would say that your inetd entry is overly complex, it appears that when you connect inetd attempts to spawn a vsftpd process but it chokes when it receives too many arguments. On debian I just use the following (obviously the paths will need adjusting).....

ftp             stream  tcp     nowait  root    /usr/sbin/tcpd  /usr/sbin/vsftpd

Edit: On a related note it does look like its in the ports collection.

Regards

ed

[willy_ph]

Thanks eddy. I'll try sorting out my drug addicted inetd.conf file this evening.