Does vsftpd support plain FTP?

Question

I have been able to set up a SFTP server using vsftpd on Ubuntu 14.04.

However, I want to experiment with plain (unencrypted) FTP to see the unencrypted packets using wireshark.

To set up the SFTP server I followed this guide - it is composed of two sections: the first is for plain FTP, the second for SFTP.

I managed to get SFTP working, but not plain FTP. Filezilla returns an error, when I try to connect using plain FTP:

Response:       SSH-2.0-OpenSSH_6.2p2 Ubuntu-6ubuntu0.4
Error:  Cannot establish FTP connection to an SFTP server. Please select proper protocol.
Error:  Critical error
Error:  Could not connect to server

It returns this message, although I have removed and purged vsftpd and reinstalled it, then made configuration of the first section only.

Does vsftpd support plain FTP and how do I apply it?

Answer 1

In spite of its name it supports FTP. The name VSFTPD stands for "Very Secure File Transport Protocol Daemon".

abstract

The FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is used as one of the most common means of copying files between computers over the Internet. Most web based download sites use the built in FTP capabilities of web browsers and therefore most server oriented operating systems usually include an FTP server application as part of the software suite. Linux is no exception. With this page I will show how to convert a DebianGNU/Linux box into an FTP server using the vsftpd (Very Secure FTP Daemon) package which is included with the standard Debian distribution i.e. no need to compile anything ourselves which saves time and makes things work even for the inexperienced users.

Source: http://www.markus-gattol.name/ws/vsftpd.html

There are many tutorials, such as this one titled: How To Configure vsftpd to Use SSL/TLS on an Ubuntu VPS that show how to setup regular FTP service using vsftpd. The first section describes the steps.

After editing the config file: sudo nano /etc/vsftpd.conf:

anonymous_enable=NO
local_enable=YES
write_enable=YES
chroot_local_user=YES

Then add a ftp user:

$ sudo adduser ftpuser

Then create their home directory:

$ sudo chown root:root /home/ftpuser

And create directories for them to upload/download to within:

$ sudo mkdir /home/ftpuser/files
$ sudo chown ftpuser:ftpuser /home/ftpuser/files

Using Filezilla

When you use filezilla be sure you're selected the appropriate port and protocol type in the site manager dialog.

    

References

• How To Configure vsftpd to Use SSL/TLS on an Ubuntu VPS

Answer 2

There are three protocols with "FTP" in their names :

1. The "plain" old, unencrypted FTP, operates on port 21
2. The same, but with SSL added, generally referred to as FTPS, operates on port 21 or 990
3. The FTP-like protocol which is part of SSH, generally referred to as SFTP, operates on port 22

Usually, 1 and 2 are provided by the same program, such as vsftpd, which will listen on port 21 and/or 990. 3 is provided by an SSH implementation, usually OpenSSH, which listens on port 22. Your problem is that you are trying to connect using the FTP protocol on port 22, so you reach OpenSSH, which handles only SFTP. You need to use port 21 if you want unencrypted FTP.