server says ftp is disabled

[Christine Hartman]

I need to be able to ftp from server "A" to server "B". When I attempt to ftp over to server B from server A I get "FTP is disabled on 'hostname' "
I have checked the /etc/services to make sure ftp is enabled, I have checked the /etc/inetd.conf file to make sure ftp is enabled, I've run inetd -c to re-read config...I AM able to ftp from server "B" to server "A"...I've compared the 2 servers....I must be missing something?? Any help is appreciated. Below is entry from inetd.conf:

ftp stream tcp nowait root /usr/lbin/ftpd ftpd -l

[Bharat Katkar]

Hi,
I think you shoudl also see whether ports 20 and 21 are disabled and check /var/adm/inetd.sec configuration as well.

Regards,

[James R. Ferguson]

Hi Christine:

In addition to checking for denied access in '/var/adm/inetd.sec' see if access is disallowed in '/etc/ftpd/ftpaccess'.

Regards!

...JRF...

[Christine Hartman]

inetd.sec is not in use (does not exist)..so it should use just server security...and we are restricting nothing in ftpaccess. If ports 20 and 21 were disabled...would that NOT prevent me from ftp-ing into the server? (not sure if those ports are for ftp server or ftp client access).

[Christine Hartman]

should I just try a server reboot? (btw...I hate rebooting unix servers...but understand sometimes it is necessary).

[Jeff_Traigle]

/etc/ftpd/ftpaccess is irrelevant anyway since you're not using the -a option on ftpd. The message you're getting is a bit odd. If the server didn't think the daemon was enabled in inetd.conf, you'd simply get a "connection refused" message when the client tried to connect. This appears to be a message from the daemon somehow, but I don't ever recall seeing it before. A quick glance through the man page for ftpd mentioned /etc/ftpd/ftpusers to restrict who can login via ftp. Do you have any users in there? Is it all users that get this message?

[Christine Hartman]

yes...all users (including root) get this message when they try to ftp OUT from the server....coming into the server is NOT an issue....this is very odd...I am gonna try rebooting now....
netstat -an does say port 21 is listen..I'm assuming that inetd is what is listening on that port???

I also have all shells defined in /etc/shells..(in case anyone is wondering).

[Sยภเl Kย๓คг]

Hi,

Can you report the errors logged in syslog, while trying FTP.
More over we just wanted to confirm whether you are getting ftp login prompt when issuing ftp command.

You can also try open an ftp session from the local server itself, ie. Try FTP from B server to B server itself. And report the o/p syslog

Regards,
Sunil

[A. Clay Stephenson · Accepted solution]

This actually sounds like the ftp client has been replaced or has been outbushwhacked by a wrapper earlier in the PATH.

Do this:

type ftp
and execute the file command on whatever is returned by the previous command.

[Christine Hartman]

here is the output from the command:

usetud06 # ftp usetud03
FTP is disabled on usetud06

nothing is logged in the syslog when running this command.

I can ftp into the server usetud06 from another location (pc, other unix servers, usetud03, etc.).

I rebooted...and the reboot did not help.

[Jeff_Traigle]

Clay may be onto something there about the client. I was thinking you were getting the message when you tried to ftp into this system. You're saying you can't ftp out of it. Can this system ftp out to any server or do you get that message regardless what host you try connecting to?

[Christine Hartman]

OMG!!! YES....the file /usr/bin/ftp was replaced by a f-ing shell script that does an echo of "FTP is disabled"......what a stellar example of the rug being pulled out from underneath you by fellow IDIOT co-workers. (deep long sigh inserted here as I try to find my happy place)
Thanks to everyone for their help...hope it didn't waste too much of your time.

[A. Clay Stephenson]

My psychic, Miss Cleo, tells me that you have been SOX'ed.

[Christine Hartman]

no...we havn't been SOX'd yet...this server isn't in scope...he apparently didn't know how to disable ftp (via inetd.conf)..that was his solution...

[A. Clay Stephenson]

Oh well, ignorance isn't bliss; it's simply ignorance -- but it's better than stupid.