VSFTP failed to retrieve directory listing

Question

I want to set up a FTP server but when I try to connect with filezilla I got this error prob:

Status: Connecting to 41.228.175.x:2121...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Insecure server, it does not support FTP over TLS.
Status: Server does not support non-ASCII characters.
Status: Logged in
Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Command:    PWD
Response:   257 "/" is the current directory
Command:    TYPE I
Response:   200 Switching to Binary mode.
Command:    PASV
Response:   227 Entering Passive Mode (41,228,175,x,39,110).
Command:    LIST
Response:   425 Failed to establish connection.
Error:  Failed to retrieve directory listing
Status: Connection closed by server
Status: Disconnected from server
Status: Connecting to 41.228.175.x:2121...
Status: Connection established, waiting for welcome message...
Status: Insecure server, it does not support FTP over TLS.
Status: Server does not support non-ASCII characters.
Status: Logged in
Status: Retrieving directory listing...
Command:    PWD
Response:   257 "/" is the current directory
Command:    TYPE I
Response:   200 Switching to Binary mode.
Command:    PASV
Response:   227 Entering Passive Mode (41,228,175,x,39,107).
Command:    LIST
Response:   425 Failed to establish connection.
Error:  Failed to retrieve directory listing
Status: Connection closed by server

and this is my vsftpd.conf file configuration:

listen=YES
xferlog_enable=YES
log_ftp_protocol=YES
seccomp_sandbox=NO
listen_port=2121
pasv_enable=YES
port_enable=YES
pasv_address=41.228.175.x
pasv_addr_resolve=YES
pasv_max_port=10100
pasv_min_port=10090
listen_ipv6=NO
session_support=YES
file_open_mode=0755
listen_ipv6=NO
anonymous_enable=NO
userlist_enable=YES
userlist_file=/etc/vsftpd.userlist
userlist_deny=NO
tcp_wrappers=YES
allow_writeable_chroot=YES
user_sub_token=$USER
local_root=/home/$USER/ftp
local_enable=YES
write_enable=YES
local_umask=077
dirmessage_enable=YES
use_localtime=YES
xferlog_enable=YES
connect_from_port_20=NO
chown_username=admin
xferlog_std_format=YES
idle_session_timeout=600
accept_timeout=60
connect_timeout=60
session_support=YES
data_connection_timeout=300
ascii_upload_enable=YES
ascii_download_enable=YES
ftpd_banner=Welcome to blah FTP service.
chroot_local_user=YES
chroot_local_user=YES
chroot_list_enable=YES
chroot_list_file=/etc/vsftpd.chroot_list
userlist_file=/etc/vsftpd.userlist
secure_chroot_dir=/var/run/vsftpd/empty
pam_service_name=vsftpd
rsa_cert_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
rsa_private_key_file=/etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
ssl_enable=NO
utf8_filesystem=YES

Screenshot of portforwarding settings for the PASV port range:

Solution

Your port forwarding is wrong.

You should not forward 10090-10100 to 2121 (which is the FTP servers main listening port). You should forward them to ports 10090-10100 on the FTP server.

FTP opens an extra connection for data transfer, which is what this port range is used for. This of course means that they need to be forwarded to the data ports, not the control port.

Also, consider not using FTP. What you are experiencing is one reason. The lack of security by default is another. It's also a slow protocol, and downloading a single file has a lot of overhead. For authenticated users, sftp, scp and webdav may be good alternatives. For anonymous access, http(s) is a better solution. FTP is not secure, nor is it a good protocol by todays standard.

Comments

[vidarlo]

Have you forwarded ports for pasv mode?

[Hamdi Dousdou]

yes i did it like this in screenshot : ufile.io/jx660

[vidarlo]

Please use a service like imgur that doesn't require people to wait or download files to view your image.

[Hamdi Dousdou]

thanks for your response but in the router interface i can't make a nat for a range port i just cant put one port

[vidarlo]

Then you need to make it individually, for each and every port in the PASV range. But my guess is that you can - just leave the destination port blank.