VSFTPD Configuration

Question

In my config file, I have

local_root=/home/$USER

but $USER doesn't seem to give me the user's login name. It's taking it as literally $USER when I attempt to login and fails to change to that directory.

Answer 1

It sounds like you are trying to chroot users into their home directories; try this in /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf instead:

chroot_local_user=yes
# 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

I found it a bit unintuitive that the sample config for CentOS (quoted above) refers to chroot_local_user, but doesn't actually provide it in the config file.

Update: to explain a bit more:

If chroot_local_user=yes then users get chroot'd to their home directories UNLESS they are listed in chroot_list_file (in which case they have normal access to the entire file system).

If chroot_local_user=no then users do NOT get chroot'd to their home directories UNLESS they are listed in chroot_list_file (in which case, they do get chroot'd).

So to chroot by default (which sounded like what you were trying to accomplish), set chroot_local_user=yes. List any exceptions (users you do not want chroot'd) in chroot_list_file.

Note that you do not have to list users without FTP access in this file in either case.