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FTP4ALL - FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
by the FTP4ALL development team
Q: What is FTP4ALL ?
A: FTP4ALL is a ftp daemon for unix systems. It runs under any normal
user account and doesn't require any special rights to start. It has
its own permission and user handling, and is mainly independent from
the operating system it runs under (although it inherits any
limitations of the user account under whcih it is running).
Q: Why should I use FTP4ALL, if there is <any ftp daemon> ?
A: First, every other ftp daemon I know needs special privileges to
run it. Then, there are system-integrated daemons which are used to
access your shell accounts with the FTP protocol. FTP4ALL is
different: you can generally run FTP4ALL from any account, without
root access, with no power hit as compared with other advanced
ftpdaemons.
Q: Why shouldn't I use FTP4ALL ?
A: If you're looking for a wu-ftpd type of daemon, which allows for
such things as individual home directories, then FTP4ALL is not
(currently) for you. Different ftp daemons are suited to different
tasks, and you might wish to consider a daemon such as proftpd if your
requirements are for tasks such as www-hosting. Generally, FTP4ALL is
suited for any task that is not "system-integrated", by which we mean
that FTP4ALL does not lend itself to allowing access by multiple users
to system shell accounts.
Q: Mhhh... sounds like a great deal, what does it cost ?
A: FTP4ALL is distributed under the GPL, and is free if you don't use
it commercially. Please read and understand the conditions of this
licence.
Q: Are there any FTP4ALL related limitations ?
A: No, just the normal limitations that applies for user accounts
under your unix environment. The only possible limitations I can think
of are disk quota limitation and limitations if you want to bind a
daemon to ports below 1024.
Q: I found/got this neat file - where can I get the latest version of
FTP4ALL ?
A: [1]http://www.ftp4all.de/ and [2]ftp://ftp.ftp4all.de/pub/ftp4all/.
Q: Are there any beta versions ? How could I become a beta tester ?
A: All the latest beta versions are available from the ftp site. Take
a look at the [3]ftp://ftp.ftp4all.de/pub/ftp4all/beta/ directory.
Q: Tell me about the FTP4ALL concept.
A: What you've read so far will already have given you a good
indication as to the f4a concept, and you can always find more
information on the FTP4ALL webpage. To sum it up in one sentence:
FTP4ALL provides a solid and stable ftp daemon that allows full
configuration and a means for developing powerful "addons" to
supplement the power of the daemon.
Q: Now, how do I install FTP4ALL ?
A: First, get the latest distribution archive from our website. Then
unpack it (tar -xfvz ftpd-2.xx.tar.gz), and run the configure
(./configure) script. It asks you one question (read the next question
ahead), which you have to answer. If this is your first time
installing FTP4ALL just answer "no" to this question.
Then run make (just type make). It SHOULD compile without any error
messages and store the binaries in the binary directory (./bin/).
Inside this directory are example ftpd.conf, users and groups files.
Now you can edit the ftpd.conf file (see
[4]http://www.ftp4all.de/config.html), and then run the "ftpd" binary.
Q: What should I do on the first login ?
A: The first thing you should to is to set a new root password using
the [5]SITE PASS command. You should also assign an owner to the root
directory by using the [6]SITE CHOWN command. Next you should assign
permissions to the root directory using the [7]SITE CHMOD command.
After verifying the result using the [8]SITE MOD command you may also
want to update the default permissions for newly created files and
directories, do so with the [9]umaskuser configuration option. And
also you may want to set up the basic directory structure, to ease
this set the umaskroot option in the configuration file before
creating directories. Next you may want to check out additional
options on the FTP4ALL homepage. Yes, it does sound a little complex,
but before long all this will become second nature to you. :)
Q: What is the "want DES encryption (y/n) ?" thing good for ?
A: FTP4ALL has the ability to encrypt the users and groups file on
your shell account, to protect it from hackers or curious system
administrators. It is also sometimes used to hide the ftp4all daemon -
to do this, you should rename the groups and users file and then use
encryption. Do not mix DES user/group file encryption and DES password
hashin in your userfile. For further information refer to
[10]http://www.ftp4all.de/config.html#userkey.
Q: Why can't I upload any files with long filenames ?
Q: What is this "edit variable MAXFILENAMELENGTH in src/tweak.h now"
thing ?
A: As I said before, FTP4ALL uses its own permission system. The
permissions are stored in permission files, usualy named ".perm". This
file is created by the daemon in any directory to which ftp4all has
write access. It contains a list with the names and permissions of
each file in the directory. The filename field in this file is limited
by the MAXFILENAMELENGTH variable. So, if you want to have files with
filenames of more than 32 characters (default), you should edit this
constant before typing "make".
Q: So, how do I make these .perm files ?
A: You don't. The daemon will do it for you, whenever you use the
[11]SITE CHMOD command, or according to the defaults set in the
configuration file. You should read and understand all the information
related to the [12]configuration file for a detailed explanation of
how the permissions system works.
Q: Is there a port of FTP4ALL for the ... operating system ?
A: Probably not. ;)
It should compile on nearly all unix systems, at least with only minor
modifications. There is currently no Windows-32bit version, but if you
are a skilled programmer and would like to create one, please contact
us. An Amiga version of ftp4all is also available; refer to our
webpage for the address.
Q: I'd like to port FTP4ALL to the ... operating system.. May I ?
A: Great ! :) Just get in touch with us. But if you want to port it
you should work on your own (or contact us before if you need help)
and stay in the FTP4ALL "boundaries" :)
Q: I've already ported FTP4ALL to the ... operating system !
A: Even more great ! :), Please drop us a line at
[13]ftp4all@ftp4all.de and let us know details (Operating system, URL,
version, differences).
Q: How can I contribute to the FTP4ALL project ?
A: If you are experienced in writting clean ANSI-C code for unix
operating systems and willing to contribute, please contact us as soon
as possible :) Especially people with platform-related knowledge would
help us to make FTP4ALL more compatible and easier to port.
However, any new features would also be considered for inclusion
within the FTP4ALL project so long as the c code you write is of high
quality. We don't want people who like to put everything into the
daemon (zipchecker, site give, nuke, ...).
If you cannot write C, but you want to do something else, contact us,
too, for example if you can write in another language, you can write a
configuration system or keep track of the documents, or write a better
FAQ :)
Q: Why isn't there a zipchecker/unfoline setting/<insert script>
included in the ftp4all setup ?
A: It is at odds with the FTP4ALL concept to include everything
imaginable into the daemon. Unlike some other daemons, FTP4ALL allows
the siteop instead to implement external scripts for functionality
such as zip checking, user statistics, and so forth. A collection of
these scripts can be found at [14]http://www.ftp4all.de/addons/.
Q: I'd like to write my own addons. How should I start ?
A: Addons can be written in any language you please. You might wish to
take a look at existing addons (see above) before beginning work on
your own scripts. Popular languages for addons include C, Perl, and
simple shellscript.
Q: Why is so much of the FTP4ALL syntax so different from glftpd /
rftpd / gftpd / <insert daemon name here> ?
A: FTP4ALL's syntax is designed for power, simplicity and consistency,
and we feel that it provides the most logical means for controlling a
site and its users. However, if you don't like it, write your own !
Because FTP4ALL provides sophisticated scripting functionality, it is
a simple process to override any internal scripts with your own, that
work as you would like them to. For a simple example of such
"overriding", take a look at Overhead's "adduser" script at
[15]http://www.ftp4all.de/addons/adduser.
Q: How do I set a new password and what can I use as password ?
A: You can set your password using the SITE PASSWD command (refer to
[16]http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#passwd). As normal user you
can only set your password, as superuser and users with the "edituser"
flag you can set the password for any user, and as groupop you can set
the password for all users of your primary group. You can use any type
of password you can use as shell password - normaly an alphanumeric
string which may additionaly contain a few special characters. (do a
man passwd on your unix shell).
When changing the password using the SITE PASSWD you may experience
problems if your ftp client filters or processes such special
characters. Then try changing it using another ftp client or if you
are experienced with the FTP protocol you may want to login using
telnet and change it then.
FTP4ALL uses the DES encryption routine to hash your passwords,
meaning that a zero-string (a 56 bit string containing only zeros) is
encrypted with your password. Then if you enter your password this
encrypted string is decrypted with your password, and if the cleartext
is again a zero string your password was correct.
Plans are to implement better hash routine for FTP4ALL, which makes it
more secure and working the same way on all unix systems (MD5 or
SHA-1).
Q: What's with these weird ratios ? limits ?
A: For historical reasons, and also for maximum configurability,
FTP4ALL represents limits as a percentage, rather than as a ratio.
That is, if you want a user to have a 1:3 ratio (they need to upload
one megabyte to download 3 megabytess) then they have to upload 33% of
whatever they want to download, so their limit is 33. If you want a
user to get twice as many megabytess downloads for whatever they
upload, their limit should be 50. If you want them to be on a 1:5
ratio, set the limit to 20. See, it's simple. You can also compute it
using a simple formula: If the ratio is a:b then the limit is (a *
100) / b. Example: Ratio 2:3 will become (2 * 100) / 3 = 66.
Q: What's this stuff I see about templates ?
A: Templates simply provide a simple way for you to add users to your
system. Any user can be used as a template, and by doing "site user
add <newuser> <existinguser>" it is possible to create a new user that
will inherit all of the characteristics of the old user. Also, users
can be explicitly set to be template users - see
[17]http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#user for further information.
Q: I do a "site chmod", but it doesn't change the permissions of the
files. Likewise, "site chown" doesn't seem to have any effect.
A: First, check that you have the syntax right. Assuming that you do,
this is probably caused by problems with permissions at the shell
level. For example, you might be running your daemon as a user that
does not have sufficient permissions to write the .perm file into the
file directories. Check the permissions, chown if necessary from your
shell, and try again; all should be fixed.
Q: I can't use FTP4ALL with my CD-ROM drive ? I think it's because of
this permission files, because it displays nobody as owner, and I
cannot access it. How to fix it ?
Q: I am dumb and cannot write .perm files to my CD-ROM !!!
A: FTP4ALL has it's own permissions, and yes it doesn't know how to
handle a directory which misses the permission file. However, there is
a special option to mount directories read only into the directory
tree, called the cdpath-option, which is set in the configuration
file.
More information: [18]http://www.ftp4all.de/config.html#cdpath.
Q: F4A was working fine, but all of a sudden nobody can login anymore
(even though occasionally logins will succeed and everything works
fine then)
A: Check the groups-file. At least in 2.23 and 2.24 this might occur
when the groups file is empty (i.e. it has only the comment line and
states that there are 0 groups). If this is the case, try to recover
the entries (e.g. by just typing them in - see docs for format) and
try to login again. Everything should work fine again.
Q: Everytime I change the configuration file I have to shutdown the
site to update information. Is this normal ?
A: Yes. One way to update the information is to shutdown the site
([19]SITE SHUTDOWN recommended) and restart it. If you want to update
information while your site is running you may wish to use the SITE
RECONFIG command.
(more information [20]http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#reconfig)
Q: When I try to start the daemon, it just outputs one line and then
quits out, and I can't ftp in to the selected port. Any ideas ?
A: Generally (read: almost always) this is caused by an error in the
configuration file. Look for a file called "ftpd.err", and read what's
in there. In 90% of cases there will be a simple problem that is easy
to fix.
Q: I think I've found a bug, what should I do about it ?
A: Please be sure to check all other questions in this FAQ, and the
webpage, also be sure you've installed the newest version, since the
FTP4ALL team works continuously to fix bugs. If you know about it,
chances are that we do too...
If you still think it's a bug email us as soon as possible with a
detailed description of your system, your site, your ftpd
configuration options, the programs running on the system, when the
bug appears, and most importantly, how to reproduce the bug.
Please don't harrass us to get bugs fixed- we are only human and get
no money for our work on the daemon -- but we do what we can. If you
are familar with FTP4ALL, and you have a suggestion how to fix the bug
that you're encountering, please do include any suggestions.
The second thing to do is to set the environment-variable "f4a_deb"
(no specific value) and send the ftp4all-debug and the core-file (if
one has been created) to us.
Q: I want to be able to have lots of people log in with the same user
name and have different credits maintained for each different login
(based upon the IP of the connection). Can I do that ?
A: Not yet. FTP4ALL has not been designed for "mp3/mp3" type accounts,
and this functionality is not directly implemented at this time.
However, support of this nature is being worked on currently (possibly
through external scripts). Check back regularly at our page for
further information.
Q: I wrote a nice addon and I want to publish it... but how ?
A: Please package the addon with a short description and email it to
the address below. We will contact you to let you know whether it has
been accepted into the addon section. It might be possible for you to
upload the file to us, but do please contact us by mail or IRC
beforehand.
Q: Why don't you include this or that or fix that stupid bug earlier ?
A: Suggestions are allowed, and we have a internal "wish-list". But
please don't bug us to program a particular feature for you. We are
currently a team of 4 people (two programmers, two supporters), mostly
students and we are not paid for this work. And our ToDo-list is quite
full all the time.
If you can't wait for the next stable version you can always download
betas of ftp4all ([21]ftp://ftp.ftp4all.de/pub/ftp4all/beta).
Q: I want to keep an up-to-date mirror of your FTP4ALL page. May I ?
A: If you would like to, please do so, but the discussion section
should remain on our main site (www.ftp4all.de). Once your mirror is
up, please [22]email us, so we can add it to our page.
Q: How do I contact the FTP4ALL development team ?
A: You can reach us via email, [23]ftp4all@ftp4all.de
You can reach us via our webbbs, which is often the most effective way
to get help, often within a hour or less,
[24]http://www.ftp4all.de/cgi-bin/f4a.cgi
You can reach us via irc, efnet..: #ftp4all (contact one of the ops)
Before contacting us for help, please read the all the important parts
of the webpage.
If you email us, you may get more than one answer, from different
developers.
References
1. http://www.ftp4all.de/
2. ftp://ftp.ftp4all.de/pub/ftp4all/
3. ftp://ftp.ftp4all.de/pub/ftp4all/beta/
4. http://www.ftp4all.de/config.html
5. http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#pass
6. http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#chown
7. http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#chmod
8. http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#mod
9. http://www.ftp4all.de/config.html#umaskuser
10. http://www.ftp4all.de/config.html#userkey
11. http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#chmod
12. http://www.ftp4all.de/config.html
13. mailto:ftp4all@ftp4all.de
14. http://www.ftp4all.de/addons/
15. http://www.ftp4all.de/addons/adduser
16. http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#passwd
17. http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#user
18. http://www.ftp4all.de/config.html#cdpath
19. http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#shutdown
20. http://www.ftp4all.de/sitecmds.html#reconfig
21. ftp://ftp.ftp4all.de/pub/ftp4all/beta/
22. mailto:ftp4all@ftp4all.de
23. mailto:ftp4all@ftp4all.de
24. http://www.ftp4all.de/cgi-bin/f4a.cgi