Getting FTP up and running for newbie (in RH 8)

[HuiLai]

I just became stupid :(
Not really stupid i just can't follow the directions.

I want to be able to transfer files between my computer and my classes computers at school.. They gave us swappable hard drives that we could install linux on (we installed RH 8). Talked to the LAN Admin for the school, he said we should be able to ftp to each others boxes.
ok.. GREAT!! BUT,

got the IP addy from ifconfig eth0
then i try to ftp

ftp>open ipaddy

doesn't work.. checked out some groups to see what i was doing wrong.. they told me to add a user. SO, i added the user "test" and the password using

adduser test
and
passwd test

tried it again and it didn't work..
The directions got wierd cause i didn't have certain files or something.
now i'm tottally lost..
I'm assuming i need to set up a FTP server.. and yes my next question is "How do i do that"
any help or advice would be pretty sweet. That way we don't have to email files to each other..

TIA

-Hui

[cowanrl]

This applies to the machine you wan't to set up the ftp server on.

The most common ftp server installed with Red Hat is Wu-ftp. Depending on the type of install you did, it may or may not be installed. The easiest way to check if it's installed is to execute this from the command line:

rpm -q wu-ftpd

If it is installed, it will respond with the version number. If it's not installed, you'll get an error message saying that it isn't installed.

Here's the easiest way to install it if it's not. This is assuming you have a GUI installed.

- Insert the Red Hat 8 CD#3

- After it automounts, open a terminal window, su to root and execute this command:
rpm -Uvh /mnt/cdrom/RedHat/RPMS/wu-ftpd-2.6.2-8.i386.rpm

That will install the package.

-You now need to edit this file:

/etc/xinetd.d/wu-ftpd

You'll need to be root to edit it. Use the editor of your choice.
In it you will see a line that says "disable = yes". Change it to say "disable = no" and save the changes.

- You now need to restart the xinetd service that controls things like telnet, ftp and such. Execute this command as root:

service xinetd restart

You should see OK messages that the service stopped and started.

- You need to check to see if their is a firewall running that will block incoming ftp traffic. If you accepted the default firewall settings, there will be. For this thread, I'll just tell you how to disable the firewall. If you wan't to modify the firewall to just let ftp traffic through, I suggest posting another question on the subject.
To disable the firewall execute as root:

service iptables stop
or
iptables -F

- By default, the ftp server will allow anonymous logins(download only) and it will allow users to log in and they will be restricted to their home directories(upload and download).
If you want users to be able to log in to their home directories, then you need to create user accounts for them, as you have already tested.

You should now be ready for users to ftp into your server and transfer files.