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Most ProFTPD connection failures on a Linux VPS occur after the login succeeds, when the client opens a second connection for directory listings or file transfers. ProFTPD may advertise a private address in its 227 PASV response, or the passive data port may be blocked by the VPS firewall or your hosting provider’s firewall. Configure MasqueradeAddress with the VPS public IP, reserve a fixed PassivePorts range, allow TCP port 21 and that range through every firewall, then restart ProFTPD and verify the result in the logs.
This guide covers the configuration and network checks that apply to a conventional ProFTPD installation on a Linux VPS. File locations, service names and firewall tooling vary by distribution and package. Check the configuration syntax and defaults supplied with your installed ProFTPD version before applying changes to production.
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FTP uses a control connection and a separate data connection. The control connection normally reaches TCP port 21 and carries commands such as login, directory listing and transfer requests. In passive mode, the server chooses another TCP port, tells the client which address and port to use, and waits for the client to connect to that data port.
A VPS behind provider networking, NAT or a host firewall can therefore accept a login while still failing on LIST, NLST, uploads or downloads. Typical client messages include “425 Can’t open data connection,” “227 Entering Passive Mode” followed by a timeout, an empty directory listing, or a transfer that hangs at zero bytes.
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Passive mode is usually the practical choice for users behind routers. The server must advertise an address reachable from the client, and the advertised port must be reachable through every filtering layer. Fixing only one of those conditions leaves the connection broken.
Symptoms and likely causes
| Symptom | What it usually indicates | First check |
|---|---|---|
| Login succeeds; listing or transfer times out | Passive data port is blocked, or the server advertised an unreachable address | Read the 227 reply and check the passive-port firewall rules |
The 227 reply contains a private address such as 10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x–172.31.x.x or 192.168.x.x |
ProFTPD is exposing an internal interface address to an Internet client | Set MasqueradeAddress to the VPS public IP |
| Some transfers work, but simultaneous transfers fail | The passive range is too small or not consistently permitted | Use a fixed range with enough ports for expected concurrency |
| Behavior changes after a restart or package update | A setting is duplicated, loaded from an included file, or absent from the active configuration | Search the entire ProFTPD configuration directory |
| Connections disconnect after sitting idle | The idle timeout has elapsed | Check TimeoutIdle and the client’s keep-alive behavior |
Collect facts before editing configuration
Make one test from the same client that reports the problem. Record whether authentication succeeds, whether the failure affects listings, downloads, uploads or all three, and whether active mode behaves differently from passive mode. Do not use a successful login alone as proof that FTP is working.
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- Note the VPS public IPv4 address shown by your hosting provider. Use the address assigned to the VPS, not a private interface address.
- Identify the active ProFTPD configuration file and any included directory. Common locations include
/etc/proftpd/proftpd.confand files below/etc/proftpd/, but package layouts differ. - Inspect the current relevant directives:
sudo grep -RniE '^[[:space:]]*(MasqueradeAddress|PassivePorts|TimeoutIdle|MaxClients)b' /etc/proftpdIf the command returns several MasqueradeAddress or PassivePorts lines, do not assume the last file you edited wins. Included-file order determines what is active, and duplicate directives can make troubleshooting confusing. Consolidate the setting in the file your package actually loads, then verify the effective behavior in a test connection.
Step 1: inspect the PASV reply
Start a passive-mode connection and capture the server’s response to the PASV command. A normal response looks like:
227 Entering Passive Mode (h1,h2,h3,h4,p1,p2)The four h values form the advertised IPv4 address. The data port is calculated as (p1 × 256) + p2. For example, a reply containing (203,0,113,25,195,80) advertises address 203.0.113.25 and port 50000.
The exact client command or debug view depends on your FTP client, but the important check is the address in the 227 line. If it is a LAN or container address, the client cannot normally reach it over the Internet. Correct that before spending time on client settings. If the address is correct but the port times out, continue with the passive-range and firewall checks.
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Step 2: set MasqueradeAddress to the public IP
MasqueradeAddress tells ProFTPD which address to place in passive-mode replies when the server’s local interface address is not the address clients should use. Set it to the VPS public IP, not to a DNS name. DNS can change or resolve differently for different clients; the directive should contain the numeric address assigned to the VPS.
# In the active ProFTPD configuration, outside an unrelated virtual-host block unless that is intentional
MasqueradeAddress 203.0.113.25Replace 203.0.113.25 with your actual public address. Keep only the directive that should apply to this server or virtual host. Search included files for another entry:
sudo grep -Rni 'MasqueradeAddress' /etc/proftpdAfter saving the file, restart ProFTPD. A reload may not apply every networking change, so use the service restart supplied by your distribution:
sudo systemctl restart proftpd
sudo systemctl status proftpd --no-pagerIf the service fails to start, inspect the status output and system journal, restore the last known-good configuration, and correct syntax before testing from the Internet. Do not open additional firewall ports while the daemon is not running.
Step 3: reserve a fixed passive-port range
Without a PassivePorts directive, ProFTPD has no fixed default range; the kernel selects a port. That makes firewall rules difficult to write and can produce intermittent failures. Pin the range to non-privileged ports (1024 or higher) and make it large enough for the number of simultaneous data connections you expect.
# Example only; choose an unused range appropriate for your VPS
PassivePorts 50000 51000The two numbers are the first and last ports in the inclusive range. A single transfer normally consumes one data connection, but directory listings, parallel transfers and multiple users can consume several at once. A range that is too small can exhaust available ports; some reports also describe a fallback to a kernel-assigned port, which defeats a narrow firewall rule. Treat that fallback behavior as version-dependent and verify it on your installation rather than relying on it.
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Check that another service is not already listening in the selected range. On systems with the appropriate tools, you can inspect listening sockets with:
sudo ss -lntThen add the PassivePorts directive, restart ProFTPD and repeat the PASV test. The port in the 227 response should fall inside the range you selected.
Step 4: open every required firewall layer
Allow TCP port 21 and the complete passive range in the VPS operating-system firewall and in any firewall or security group supplied by the hosting provider. Opening only port 21 permits authentication but not the data connection. Opening the range at the provider while leaving the host firewall closed has the same result.
UFW example
sudo ufw allow 21/tcp
sudo ufw allow 50000:51000/tcp
sudo ufw status numberedUse the same range configured in PassivePorts. If your policy permits restricting FTP to known source addresses, add narrowly scoped rules instead of exposing the range broadly; do not accidentally omit legitimate users.
firewalld example
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=ftp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=50000-51000/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload
sudo firewall-cmd --list-allThe predefined FTP service commonly covers the control service, but verify the resulting zone and rules. The explicit passive-range rule is still required.
iptables example
sudo iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 21 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -I INPUT -p tcp --dport 50000:51000 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -L INPUT -n --line-numbersiptables rules are not necessarily persistent across a reboot. Use the persistence mechanism provided by your distribution, and ensure that an existing earlier DROP rule is not reached before these accepts.
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Provider firewall or security group
Open inbound TCP 21 and the same passive range in the VPS provider’s control panel, security group or network ACL. Provider interfaces use different names and defaults, so confirm that the rule applies to the VPS’s public interface and IPv4 traffic. If a provider firewall has separate inbound and outbound policies, check both directions according to its documentation.
Step 5: restart, test and read the logs
After changing the address, range or firewall, restart ProFTPD and perform a fresh passive-mode login. Test a directory listing, a small download and a small upload; a login test alone does not exercise the data path.
sudo systemctl restart proftpd
sudo journalctl -u proftpd -n 100 --no-pagerProFTPD log paths vary by distribution and configuration. Common locations include a file below /var/log/proftpd/. Search the active log for the masquerade address and the connection attempt:
sudo grep -Ri 'masquerade' /var/log/proftpd /var/log 2>/dev/null | tail -n 50Look for a line showing the configured public address. If the log or the client’s 227 reply still shows a private address, ProFTPD is probably loading a different file, an included file is overriding your change, or the service was not restarted. If the address is correct but the connection to the reported port is refused or times out, return to the two firewall layers and check the exact port.
Use a controlled test matrix
Change one category at a time and record the result. This prevents a client-side setting from being mistaken for a server fix.
| Test | Expected result | Interpretation if it fails |
|---|---|---|
| Authenticate on port 21 | Login succeeds | Check DNS, port-21 rules, credentials and the daemon state |
| Issue a passive directory listing | Listing appears | Inspect the 227 address, selected port and both firewalls |
| Download a small file | Transfer completes | Check data-port reachability and client timeout settings |
| Upload a small file | Transfer completes | Check the same data path plus filesystem permissions and server policy |
| Run two or more transfers | All complete | Increase the passive range if ports are exhausted or collisions occur |
| Repeat after a service restart | Same PASV address and range | Look for duplicate directives, included files and non-persistent firewall rules |
Configuration defaults that affect diagnosis
| Directive | Reported behavior | Operational implication |
|---|---|---|
PassivePorts |
No fixed default; the kernel selects a port when it is not set | Define an explicit range so firewall rules can match it |
MaxClients |
No default is stated | Do not assume a particular client limit; verify the value in your installed configuration and version |
TimeoutIdle |
Defaults to 600 seconds; 0 disables the idle timeout |
A quiet connection can close after 10 minutes unless the setting or client keep-alive behavior changes |
These defaults can vary with packaging or version-specific configuration. Treat the values as a starting point for diagnosis, not as a substitute for checking the running server.
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Targeted fixes for common failure branches
The PASV address is private
Set MasqueradeAddress to the VPS public IP, remove or reconcile duplicate entries, restart ProFTPD and confirm the new 227 response. A DNS name in that directive is not a substitute for the numeric public address.
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Calculate the port from p1 and p2, confirm that it lies within PassivePorts, and check that the exact port range is allowed by UFW, iptables or firewalld and by the provider firewall. Check for an earlier deny rule and for a host-level security product that maintains its own policy.
Only concurrent transfers fail
Count the connections your client and users create at the same time. Expand the fixed range, open the expanded range in both firewall layers, restart ProFTPD and retest parallel transfers. Do not expand the range without updating the firewall, because the new ports will remain blocked.
The service will not restart
Read the systemd status and journal output, inspect the last edited file for spelling and formatting errors, and check whether the directive was placed inside a context where it is not valid for your installation. Restore the previous working file if necessary, then reapply one change at a time.
The connection drops after inactivity
Compare the observed delay with the TimeoutIdle setting. The reported default is 600 seconds, and setting it to 0 disables the idle timeout. A longer or disabled server timeout does not override an FTP client, load balancer or provider connection timeout, so test with the actual client and network path users rely on.
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- Document the public IP and passive range next to the firewall rules so a later administrator does not open a different range.
- Keep one authoritative
MasqueradeAddressandPassivePortsdefinition where possible, and search included files before adding another. - After package updates or network changes, perform a passive listing test and inspect the
227address again. - Open only the control port and the selected passive range required by the service; unnecessary ports increase exposure and complicate diagnosis.
- Record the ProFTPD version and distribution when reporting a failure, because directive defaults and packaging layouts are version-dependent.
When the problem is not passive FTP
If the client cannot establish the initial connection to TCP 21, passive-mode settings are not yet relevant. Verify that ProFTPD is running, that the VPS has the expected public address, that DNS points to it, and that port 21 is allowed by the provider and host firewall. If authentication succeeds and the PASV address and port are correct, investigate user permissions, storage availability and the client’s own transfer settings rather than repeatedly changing NAT directives.
Once the control connection, advertised address, passive range and both firewall layers agree, a fresh passive-mode listing and transfer should use the same predictable path after every restart.
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