HOWTO Enable Network Concierge FTP & Telnet Services

    Introduction

 This document captures the process of enabling the Network Concierge FTP and Telnet services.  By default, these services are disabled, as the Network Concierge SW was designed for use as a thin server appliance, which is   only administered via the client browser interface.  Care must be exercised to not compromise security and stability of the Network Concierge system when these services are enabled.

In default mode, the concierge administrator must access the Network Concierge (NC) server by logging in via a client machine’s NC browser administration interface as shown in Fig 1.  The concierge administrator accesses this page by entering the concierge’s hostname or IP address as an Internet Explorer or Netscape browser URL.

Once you manually enable the FTP and Telnet services on the Network Concierge server, you will be able to perform ftp file transfers between the Network Concierge and its client machines, or establish a remote login connection using telnet, as required.  With these features enabled, it is necessary to maintain good security practices such that you modify the root and concierge passwords to something non-trivial known only by authorized personnel.

    Based on customer requests we may provide user interface support to enable FTP/Telnet services on demand.  We’d love to hear your opinion via our http://www.wyebay.com .

   Definitions  & Basic Linux Services

   FTP -  File Transfer Protocol – used for transferring data/files in a client/server environment; the server must have FTP services enabled; can invoke FTP directly at DOS prompt or via many different applications which use the   underlying FTP protocol.  (e.g. WinFTP, BulletProof, other…)

   Telnet – remote login connection – used for remote login to a system; typically used for remote administration of Linux (UNIX) systems; preferred method of administering Network Concierge server is through the browser-based graphical user interface

   VI  - visual editor – “vi” is a powerful, standard, unix editor for creating and/or editing test files; see the VI basics appendix for more information.

      Procedure

       1.        Attach monitor and keyboard to NC network server.

       2.        Login as root.  NOTE:  Care must be take when logged in as superuser because it is assumed that you are a knowledgeable Linux administrator and are privileged as such.

Welcome to Linux 2.2.x

concierge login: root

Password:  ********

concierge:~# 

     3.        Create ftpuser account & home directory.  A home directory /usr/ftpuser is created to function as the default ftp data repository for moving files between respective systems.  NOTE: The home directory is being created in the /usr data disk partition to prevent the root filesystem from being accidentally filled up.  You will need to manually move the data files from the default ftp home directory to the final destination directory.

concierge:~# mkdir /usr/ftpuser

concierge:~# useradd –d /usr/ftpuser ftpuser

concierge:~# passwd ftpuser

Changing password for ftpuser

Enter the new password

New password: ********

Re-enter new password: ********

Password changed.

Modify the /usr/ftpuser directory to reflect the appropriate ownership and group privileges.  This will allow user ftpuser to be able to ftp files to this directory.

concierge:~# chown ftpuser.users /usr/ftpuser

      4.        CD to the /etc directory and use “vi” (visual editor) to modify the inetd.conf file to enable FTP and/or Telnet services.

concierge:~# cd /etc

concierge:~# vi inetd.conf

 5.        To enable the FTP service scroll down to the following line using the down arrow key.  This service is enabled by removing the “#” character at the beginning of the line.  You can remove the first character by simply positioning the cursor over the “#” comment sign and entering the “x” key to delete.

#ftp                 stream    tcp          nowait   root        /usr/sbin/tcpd       wu.ftp –l –I -a

6.        To enable the Telnet  service scroll down to the following line using the down arrow key.  This service is enabled by removing the “#” character at the beginning of the line.  You can remove the first character by simply positioning the cursor over the “#” comment sign and entering the “x” key to delete.

#telnet            stream    tcp          nowait   root        /usr/sbin/tcpd       in.telnetd

 7.        After enabling the appropriate services by uncommenting out the appropriate lines, save the file by holding down the “Shift key”, entering “ZZ” followed by the “Enter” key.  This will cause the inetd.conf file to be saved.

       8.        Enter the following key sequence to trigger the inetd daemon to reread its configuration file thus enabling the new services. 

concierge:~# killall –HUP inetd

       9.        From client machine verify that you can ftp to the concierge NC server as follows.  Open up a DOS window and enter the following.

        10.     From client machine verify that you can establish a telnet session with the concierge NC server. Open up a DOS window and enter “telnet concierge” at the DOS prompt, which will launch a Telnet window.

             You may see the “Connection to host lost” message window.  Click OK and then select “Connect -> Remote System” which should pop up the following screen.  From this screen click the “Connect” button to launch the   remote login window shown below.

      11.     Now that the FTP and/or Telnet services are enabled, you are armed and dangerous to administer the system using these services.  Please become familiar with these services and basic Linux commands to safely move data between systems and/or remotely login to the Network Concierge server(s).

          APPENDIX:    VI Basics

           Note this information borrowed from http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/faq/vi.help

           If you're not already familiar with "vi", you'll find this short introduction very helpful. Even if you are familiar with "vi", we hope you'll find this to be a good review.

        The most important thing to know about "vi" is that it is always operating in one of two modes: Insert mode or Command mode. In insert-mode, *everything* you type will be inserted into the file you are editing, up to the point    when you exit insert mode by typing . In command mode, you can cut and paste, move the cursor, search, delete lines, delete characters, modify words, etc.

        Secondly, you need a warning. Almost *every* key on the keyboard (lower-case, upper-case and control-shifted) does something in command mode. So, be careful what you type. It's unlikely you'll ever discover anything useful about "vi" by accident.

        Since everyone makes typing mistakes (some having disastrous consequences in command mode), the most useful commands are the "undo" commands: "u" and "U" (capital-U). Lower-case "u" will undo the immediately preceding change, no matter how complex or extensive. "u" is definitely one of the most useful "vi" commands.

          As long as your cursor has not left a line of text, upper-case "U" will undo ALL changes which have been applied to the current line of text, restoring the line to its original state when the cursor entered the line previously.

Lastly, you need to master a set of basic commands. When "vi" starts up you'll find it in command mode, so your first commands will normally be to move the cursor and start inserting.

                Enter text:

i                               start inserting *at* the cursor position. All characters typed after "i" and before are inserted.

a                              start appending text *after* the cursor position. All characters typed after "a" and before are   inserted.

               Move cursor:

h,j,k,l                       move cursor left, down, up, and right.

$                              move cursor to the end of the current line.

:1                             go to line 1.

:$                             go to last line.

              Other:

dd                           delete the line the cursor is on.

x                              delete the character the cursor is on.

p, P                         paste the last deleted text at or after the cursor position.

u                              undo the previous command. U undo changes to the current line.

J                              join following line to end of current line.

control-L                re-paint your screen. This is sometimes useful when using "vi" over phone lines.

:q!                           abandons ALL changes and aborts "vi".

ZZ                           save all changes and exits "vi".

?                              help

 While inserting, you'll need to type a carriage-return at the end of each line. Otherwise, your text will be one very, very, very long line. "vi" does support automatic word wrapping. If you need this or any other feature not mentioned above, please contact FullFeed for assistance.

 Well, that's a basic introduction to the "vi" editor. If you'd like to learn more about "vi", refer to any introductory Unix text. Many introductory books about the Internet contain sections about how to use "vi", also. Unfortunately, on-line "vi" help through "man vi" only tells you about various options for starting up the program, not how to actually use it once you're in it.