[vsftpd]Setup anonymous upload and download FTP server

vsftpd_setup_anonymous_upload_download.md

Install vsftpd

# Install
sudo apt update
sudo apt install vsftpd
sudo cp /etc/vsftpd.conf /etc/vsftpd.conf.orig

# Firwall rules
sudo ufw allow ftp-data
sudo ufw allow ftp
sudo ufw status

# Preparing Space for Files
sudo mkdir -p mapftp
sudo chown nobody:nogroup mapftp
echo "vsftpd test file" | sudo tee mapftp/test.log
sudo mkdir mapftp/maps/
sudo chmod a+rwx mapftp/maps/

Configure Anonymous Access

• Edit /etc/vsftpd.conf
• Change the following:

1. anonymous_enable=YES to allow anonymous access
2. write_enable=YES to enable uploading
3. anon_upload_enable=YES to enable anonymous uploading
4. anon_mkdir_write_enable=YES to enable anonymous directory creation

• Append the following to the end: 1.anon_umask=022 so that new file will be readable by groups and other users. Uploaded files will have a permittion set to the value of file_open_mode (by default, 0666) subtracted by anon_umask.

1. anon_other_write_enable=YES to enable anonymous deletion and renaming
2. anon_root=xxx/mapftp sets the root folder for anonymous logins
3. no_anon_password=YES stops prompting for a password on the command line.
4. hide_ids=YES shows the user and group as ftp:ftp, regardless of the owner.
5. pasv_min_port=40000 and pasv_max_port=50000 limits the range of ports that can be used for passive FTP

• Optionally changes the listening port:

1. listen_port= followed by port number

Conclusion

On Linux, use the ftp command to access the server, e.g. ftp -p 192.168.0.2 then followed by anonymous as the username. On Windows, use Windows Explorer or other FTP tools.