I have this discussion at work regarding our ftp server running via vsftpd. Initially, we have opted to serve ftpes instead of sftp because this seemed the most flexible and straightforward solution for our server to have secure file transmission. Afterwards, our ftp server seems to be a source of issues for our end users. Half of the time, users complain about not working ftp connections. I must say, i tested our FTP trough different infrastructures (=in the field, at random times at random places) and indeed, sometimes behind some configurations (=no idea how they are configured, because the 'field' testing), i recieve errors. Some of the are: Error: Failed to retrieve directory listing (filezilla) Furthermore, behind my basic home configuration, everything seems to be running fine. I (think I) did all the basic configuration checks (passive mode?, firewall for all ports?, ...) and can't seem to find the source. Being a bunch of techies at our small office, yet knowing nothing about infrastructure, some start suggesting that ftps protocol could be the source of issues. ("No, i only knew sftp so far" "Ftps is not widespread"). I, however, strongly doubt this hypothesis, since reading around on the www, asking questions on serverfault, everyone seems to deny this. So, as I would like to avoid reconfiguring, since this involves messing around in our SSH service, our virtual user setup and ftp service, i would need some advice on 1) what could be potentially the general cause? 2) do you have some general tips? 3) would you mind having a look at my configuration file? ----- General Settings ----- write_enable=YES dirmessage_enable=YES nopriv_user=ftpsecure ftpd_banner="Welcome to XXXX FTP!" hide_ids=YES hide_file=.* max_per_ip=10 max_clients=10 local_enable=YES local_umask=022 chroot_local_user=YES secure_chroot_dir=/usr/share/empty userlist_enable=NO userlist_deny=YES userlist_file=/etc/vsftp_deny_users guest_enable=YES guest_username=ftpvirtual virtual_use_local_privs=YES user_sub_token=$USER local_root=/srv/ftp/ftpvirtual/$USER anonymous_enable=NO syslog_enable=NO xferlog_enable=YES xferlog_file=/var/log/vsftpd_xfer.log connect_from_port_20=YES pam_service_name=vsftpd listen=YES listen_port=21 pasv_enable=YES pasv_min_port=30000 pasv_max_port=30030 pasv_address=foo ssl_enable=YES rsa_cert_file=/etc/vsftpd.pem rsa_private_key_file=/etc/vsftpd.pem force_local_data_ssl=YES force_local_logins_ssl=YES ssl_tlsv1=YES ssl_sslv2=YES ssl_sslv3=YES ssl_ciphers=HIGH anon_mkdir_write_enable=NO anon_root=/srv/ftp anon_upload_enable=NO idle_session_timeout=900 log_ftp_protocol=NO dsa_cert_file=/etc/vsftpd.pem Thanks