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<title>ProFTPD: Configuration Tricks</title>
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<center><h2><b>ProFTPD: Configuration Tricks</b></h2></center>
<hr>

<p>
Proficient users of <code>proftpd</code>, and site administrators who
require fancy configurations, usually make use of a handful of useful
tricks when it comes to configuring their FTP server.  These tricks can
help to make your <code>proftpd.conf</code> smaller, clearer, and easier to
maintain.

<p><a name="ConfigVariables">
<b>Configuration File Variables</b><br>
One juicy tidbit of configuration knowledge is the little known
<code>%u</code> variable.  It will be substituted, during the handling of
an FTP session, with the name of the user who logged in.

<p>
The <code>%u</code> variable can be appear in the <code>proftpd.conf</code>
like so:
<pre>
  DefaultRoot /home/%u
</pre>
Now, the above may not seem that useful, not much of an improvement over
using the tilde (<code>~</code>) symbol, for restricting users to their
home directories.  But what if you wanted to restrict users to the
<code>public_ftp/</code> subdirectory, within their home directories?
Using the tilde character cannot achieve that.  Instead, you might use:
<pre>
  DefaultRoot /home/%u/public_ftp
</pre>

<p>
This is also useful for setting up configurations for specific directories
in all users' home directories, <i>e.g.</i>:
<pre>
  &lt;Directory /home/%u/public_ftp&gt;
    ...
  &lt;/Directory&gt;
</pre>

<p>
This <code>%u</code> variable can appear in the following configuration
directives:
<ul>
  <li><code>DefaultChdir</code>
  <li><code>DefaultRoot</code>
  <li><code>&lt;Directory&gt;</code>
</ul>

<p><a name="PerUserDirHash">
<b>Simple Per-User Directory Hashing</b><br>
Some sites find that they might have large number of users (on the order of
hundreds to thousands), each with their own home directory.  You might start
off using a directory layout such as <code>/home/<i>user</i>/</code> for each
user, but this quickly leads to such a large number of subdirectories in the
<code>/home/</code>.  With that number of entries, simple commands like
<code>ls(1)</code> may never complete, or take minutes to hours.

<p>
To reduce the number of entries within a given directory, such large sites
often look to use some form of <i>directory hashing</i>.  The simplest form
is to change from <i>e.g.</i> <code>/home/<i>user</i>/</code> to <code>/home/<i>u</i>/<i>us</i>/<i>user</i>/</code>.  For example, if you had user "bobsmith",
the home directory would be <code>/home/b/bo/bobsmith</code>.

<p>
The question then is: can <code>proftpd</code> be configured to use a
directory hashing scheme like this, without having to change the home directory
attribute for those thousands of users (which might be stored in an LDAP
directory used by applications as well)?  Answer: yes.  The <code>%u</code>
variable above supports way to handle simple directory hashing.

<p>
To use it, you would use something like the following in your
<code>proftpd.conf</code>:
<pre>
  DefaultRoot /home/%u[0]/%u
</pre>
where the <code>%u</code> variable is the user name, and
<code>%u[<i>index</i>]</code> can be used to reference the letters in the user
name, at that <em>index</em> position.  The above configuration would
use a single level of directory hashing, resulting in <i>e.g.</i>
<code>/home/b/bobsmith</code>.  If your directory hashing gets more complex,
using more levels, you can still use this syntax:
<pre>
  DefaultRoot /home/%u[0]/%u[0]%u[1]/%u[0]%u[1]%u[2]/%u
</pre>
which would result in <code>/home/b/bo/bob/bobsmith</code>.

<p>
Of course, more <a href="http://michaelandrews.typepad.com/the_technical_times/2009/10/creating-a-hashed-directory-structure.html">complex hashing schemes</a>
can be used, but <code>proftpd</code> does not currently implement them.

<p><a name="EnvironVariables">
<b>Environment Variables</b><br>
Did you know that you can also substitute environment variables into your
<code>proftpd.conf</code> as well?  It's true!  ProFTPD started supporting
using environment variables in configuration files in the 1.2.10rc1 release.
To use the environment variable, simply use:
<pre>
  %{env:<i>ENV_VAR_NAME</i>}
</pre>
Unlike the <code>%u</code> variable, you can use environment variables
anywhere within your <code>proftpd.conf</code> file.

<p>
For example, you might use something like this if you wanted to control
the default IP address on which <code>proftpd</code> listens using
an environment variable:
<pre>
  DefaultAddress %{env:PR_DEFAULT_ADDR}
</pre>
Then whatever value the <code>PR_DEFAULT_ADDR</code> environment variable
has, when starting <code>proftpd</code>, will be substituted in.  Using:
<pre>
  PR_DEFAULT_ADDR='127.0.0.1' /usr/local/sbin/proftpd ...
</pre>
would mean that, effectively, the configuration would be:
<pre>
  DefaultAddress 127.0.0.1
</pre>
"What happens if the environment variable is not set?" you ask.  Good question.
Then the configuration file parser will substitute in an empty string, and
<code>proftpd</code> will probably fail to start, citing a configuration
error.

<p><a name="ServerRoot">
Have you ever wanted functionality like Apache's <code>ServerRoot</code>, where
you specify the root directory for all of your server-related files in one
place, and then all the other config files relative to that root, so that
relocating the entire server configuration is much easier?  ProFTPD does not
have a <code>ServerRoot</code> directive, <b>but</b> using environment
variables, we can achieve the same thing!

<p>
At the top of your <code>proftpd.conf</code>, use the
<a href="../modules/mod_core.html#SetEnv"><code>SetEnv</code></a> directive,
like so:
<pre>
  # Must be set toward start/top of config
  SetEnv SERVER_ROOT /path/to/proftpd/config/root
</pre>
Now, for the any other config file that should be relative to that location,
use that environment variable, <i>e.g.</i>:
<pre>
  PidFile %{env:SERVER_ROOT}/var/run/proftpd.pid
  SystemLog %{env:SERVER_ROOT}/log/proftpd.log
</pre>
If you want to tell <code>proftpd</code> that your config files are now all
located elsewhere (say for a custom installation), you only need to change
a single configuration line: the setting of your <code>SERVER_ROOT</code>
environment variable.

<p><a name="ConditionalConfigFiles">
<b>Conditional Configuration Files</b><br>
Another common request or desire to make large sections of your configuration
conditional.  Maybe you only want some directives to apply to certain
users, or maybe you want to ship a <code>proftpd.conf</code> that can be
used by people with different modules loaded (<i>e.g.</i> for distributing
a common <code>proftpd.conf</code>). Or maybe you simply want some sections
of your configuration file to be used based on something else entirely.

<p>
The most common conditional you will probably see in various
<code>proftpd.conf</code> files is:
<pre>
  &lt;IfModule <i>moduleName</i>&gt;
    ...
  &lt;/IfModule&gt;
</pre>
This is way of making the configuration directives within that section only
in effect if the specified module is present.  It may not seem like much,
but this is quite useful.  (I have a single <code>proftpd.conf</code> with
more than 20 such sections, for use while I develop new modules.)

<p>
I have seen one clever sysadmin use the above conditional section in conjunction
with DSO modules in their <code>proftpd.conf</code> like so:
<pre>
  &lt;IfModule mod_dso.c&gt;
    # If mod_dso is present, we know we can dynamically load DSO modules

    &lt;IfModule !mod_sql.c&gt;
      # If mod_sql is not yet loaded, load it!
      LoadModule mod_sql.c
    &lt;/IfModule&gt;

    &lt;IfModule !mod_sql_mysql.c&gt;
      # If mod_sql_mysql is not yet loaded, load it!
      LoadModule mod_sql_mysql.c
    &lt;/IfModule&gt;
    
  &lt;/IfModule&gt;
</pre>
You can see how, with the above, you can use provide the same
<code>proftpd.conf</code> to sites which use shared modules as well as those
which use static modules.

<p>
Users who wish to have entire sections of configuration only apply to specific
users, or groups, or even <a href="Classes.html">classes</a> of clients really
should be aware of the
<a href="../contrib/mod_ifsession.html"><code>mod_ifsession</code></a> module,
and its very handy <code>&lt;IfUser&gt;</code>, <code>&lt;IfGroup&gt;</code>,
and <code>&lt;IfClass&gt;</code> sections.

<p>
And, for those admins who want even more control over large sections of
their <code>proftpd.conf</code> on a conditional basis, there is:
<pre>
  &lt;IfDefine <i>value</i>&gt;
    ...
  &lt;/IfDefine&gt;
</pre>
The enclosed section of the configuration file will be parsed only if
<em>value</em> is defined.  For multiple directives, this trick is better
than using multiple environment variables; the latter is better for single
parameters.

<p>
"But how you define <em>value</em>?", you say.  There are two ways of
defining the values that <code>&lt;IfDefine&gt;</code> looks for: using
the <code>-D</code> command-line option, or by using the <code>Define</code>
directive.

<p>
Let us assume that your <code>proftpd.conf</code> contains a section like:
<pre>
  &lt;IfDefine USE_SQL&gt;
    LoadModule mod_sql.c
    LoadModule mod_sql_mysql.c
  &lt;/IfDefine&gt;
</pre>
You can then make sure your <code>proftpd</code> loads those modules by
starting it using <code>-D</code>, <i>i.e.</i>:
<pre>
  /usr/local/sbin/proftpd -DUSE_SQL ...
</pre>
Or, if later you decide that you don't want to use <code>-D</code> anymore,
you can simply add a <code>Define</code> to the <code>proftpd.conf</code>:
<pre>
  Define USE_SQL

  ...

  &lt;IfDefine USE_SQL&gt;
    LoadModule mod_sql.c
    LoadModule mod_sql_mysql.c
  &lt;/IfDefine&gt;
</pre>

<p>
If you are really ambitious, you can use devious combinations of
<code>Define</code>, environment variables, <code>&lt;IfModule&gt;</code> and
<code>&lt;IfDefine&gt;</code> sections in your configuration file to achieve
some terse but powerful files.

<p>
As a demonstration, here is an example making use of environment variables,
<code>Define</code>, and <code>&lt;IfDefine&gt;</code>.  First, set an
environment variable, <i>e.g.</i> (assuming Bourne shell syntax):
<pre>
  $ USE_BANS=TRUE
  $ export USE_BANS
</pre>
Now start proftpd using the -D command-line option to set a define based
on the value of that environment variable:
<pre>
  $ ./proftpd -DUSE_BANS=$USE_BANS ...
</pre>
And in the <code>proftpd.conf</code>, you might have something like:
<pre>
  &lt;IfDefine USE_BANS=TRUE&gt;
    ..
  &lt;/IfDefine&gt;
</pre>
in which case, the directives within that conditional section would be
in effect when proftpd was started.  On the other hand, to disable those
configuration directives before starting proftpd, all that you need to do
now is change the environment variable value:
<pre>
  $ USE_BANS=FALSE
  $ export USE_BANS
</pre>
That <code>&lt;IfDefine&gt;</code> section will no longer be in effect
when proftpd is started.

<p><a name="MultipleDaemonsSameHost">
<b>Multiple Daemons on Same Host</b><br>
What if you wanted to run multiple instances of <code>proftpd</code> on the
same host?  This is actually a prudent idea, for running one production
<code>proftpd</code> while running a different, possibly newer
<code>proftpd</code> for testing, side-by-side.  Is it possible?  Of course!

<p>
Different <code>proftpd</code> daemons can coexist on the same machine,
but they cannot all use the same configuration file.  There is a small list
of directives that need to have different parameters for each
<code>proftpd</code> instance, <i>i.e.</i>:
<ul>
  <li><code>PidFile</code>
  <li><code>ScoreboardFile</code>
  <li><code>ServerLog</code>
  <li><code>SystemLog</code>
</ul>

<p>
Failure to assign different <code>PidFile</code>s and
<code>ScoreboardFile</code>s for each <code>proftpd</code> will cause the
multiple instances to overwrite each other's files, and inevitably cause
problems.  Keeping separate log files (<code>ServerLog</code>,
<code>SystemLog</code>, <i>etc</i>) for each daemon is simply a good idea.

<p>
What about the <code>PassivePorts</code> directive?  Do the different
<code>proftpd</code> instances each need their own range?  No.
When a passive data transfer is requested, <code>proftpd</code> will choose a
random port from within a <code>PassivePorts</code> range, <i>but not before
then</i>.  If the port happens to be in use, <code>proftpd</code> will try
another random port within the range, and so on, until the range is exhausted.
Thus multiple <code>proftpd</code> instances should be able to share the same
<code>PassivePorts</code> range without issue (assuming it is a decently wide
range).

<p>
There is one final setting which <i>can</i> cause problems: <code>Port</code>.
An actual incident can help illustrate the issue:
<blockquote>
  I tried to setup another instance of proftpd.  I copied my existing config
  file and changed the port information.  My production FTP server runs on port
  1979.  In the test config file I specified 1980.  I started the testing
  instance on the command line by executing the following command:

    ./proftpd -d 5 -n -c /etc/proftpd/proftpd.test.conf

  The testing instance started up without any problems. Unfortunately, when a
  client connected it gave the error message that the server is already bound
  to port 1979.  This is very strange, as the client connected successfully to
  port 1980 in the first instance.  How did the test server get the port
  information of the other production server?
</blockquote>

<p>
In reality, the test server did not "get" the port information from the
production instance.  Instead, this admin was encountering the "L-1" issue.
The FTP RFCs state that for <b>active</b> data transfers, the <i>source</i>
port of the TCP connection (the source port of the TCP connection from the
server <i>to</i> the client) must be <i>L-1</i>, where <i>L</i> is the control
port number.

<p>
So if your control port (configured by the <code>Port</code> directive in
<code>proftpd.conf</code>) is 1980, then the source port that
<code>proftpd</code> has to use, for any active data transfers (<i>e.g.</i>
for clients which use the <code>PORT</code> or <code>EPRT</code> commands), is
1979.  If that port 1979 is already in use by another daemon (such as another
<code>proftpd</code> instance as its control port), you have a collision,
and will likely see the "Address already in use" error message.

<p>
In the case, the test server should work if the following was used:
<pre>
  Port 1981
</pre>
<i>i.e.</i> a port number that is the existing <code>proftpd</code>'s port
number <i>plus</i> two (or more).

<p>
Using the above configuration tricks, the same <code>proftpd.conf</code>
file <i>could</i> be used by both the production and the test daemons,
using something like:
<pre>
  # These directives need to differ depending on whether the test server
  # or the production server is reading this configuration.
  &lt;IfDefine TEST&gt;
    Port 2121
    PidFile /var/ftpd/proftpd.test.pid
    ScoreboardFile /var/ftpd/proftpd.test.scoreboard
  &lt;/IfDefine&gt;

  &lt;IfDefine !TEST&gt;
    Port 2123
    PidFile /var/ftpd/proftpd.pid
    ScoreboardFile /var/ftpd/proftpd.scoreboard
  &lt;/IfDefine&gt;
</pre>
Then, starting <code>proftpd</code> with the proper command-line invocation
<i>e.g.</i>:
<pre>
  /usr/local/sbin/proftpd -DTEST ...
</pre>
will use the test server configuration.  Omitting the <code>-D</code>
option on the command-line will cause <code>proftpd</code> to use the
production configuration.

<p><a name="TransferPriority">
<b>Reducing FTP Traffic Impact on Host System</b><br>
Some sites run <code>proftpd</code> on a system which is used to host other
services as well (<i>e.g.</i> Apache, a file server, <i>etc</i>).  These
sites might notice that when many FTP downloads or uploads are happening,
the other services start to be impacted: slower/stuttering web pages or
streaming video/music, for example.

<p>
Wouldn't it be nice if you could somehow tell <code>proftpd</code> to use
a lower priority, <i>i.e.</i> in the manner of the <code>nice(1)</code>
command, for such data transfers?  Fortunately, you can do exactly this using
the <a href="../modules/mod_xfer.html#TransferPriority"><code>TransferPriority</code></a> directive.  For example, a good default configuration to use is:
<pre>
  # Use a low process priority during all data transfers
  TransferPriority APPE,RETR,STOR,STOU low
</pre>
One user reporting always having stuttering streaming video when FTP data
transfers were happening.  After using the <code>TransferPriority</code>
directive, that user saw no more video stream stuttering while still
approaching full LAN network speed for the FTP data transfer.

<p>
<hr>
<font size=2><b><i>
&copy; Copyright 2017 The ProFTPD Project<br>
 All Rights Reserved<br>
</i></b></font>
<hr>

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