Topic: Kudos and FTP access question

[Quade]

Well, it's been nearly three weeks (i think) since my last post, but that's because e-smith has been working so well, that I've been too busy elsewhere on the Interet.  I've tried nearly a dozen distributons of linux over the last year or so, and hands down, e-smith has worked wonders for me.  With multiple domains on my cable modem at home, it's worked seamlessly.  In fact, I installed it on a friend's box last night for use on his DSL, and it worked the second he plugged it in.

I also would like to take this oppourtunity to thank the e-smith staff in their quick response times.

And now for the questions...
What do I need to do to access the FTP server from an outside computer.  At work (a Mac G3 on a T1 connection) I try to log into the server as a user, root, and as admin, and I get the message "error on password: login incorrect."  Does it come installed as open to the outside, or do I have to tell it to do so similar to telnet?

TIA,
Quade

[Joseph Morrison]

Hello Quade,

Thanks for the positive feedback! Much appreciated

> And now for the questions... What do I need to do to access the
> FTP server from an outside computer.

By default, the only ftp access permitted from the outside is as "anonymous", which drops you in the primary/files directory. Also, if you create any ibays with global access, ftp logins are permitted to the ibay account and get read-only access to the ibay.

We did it this way as a security precaution - which turned out to be important since some security holes were found in ProFTPd after the release of e-smith version 3.0. These security holes do not affect e-smith servers because they involve external write access.

If you need to open things up more, we recommend first upgrading to the latest ProFTPd server RPM from a Red Hat mirror site (we haven't mirrored the latest version at the e-smith site yet). This will fix the security problem. Then read the documentation on ProFTPd and edit the configuration file:

/etc/e-smith/templates/etc/proftpd.conf

to enable the permissions you want. Then instantiate the template by running:

/sbin/e-smith/signal-event console-save

Hope this helps, and thanks again for the encouraging comments!
- Joe Morrison

[Quade]

That's great! Once again, a timely response (in under an hour, even).  So, basically, you guys are telling me that it's not only possible, but easy?  

I can handle that.  Thanks.

-Quade