How to Cross‑Compile and Deploy vsftpd on an ARM Board

Many SDKs do not include an FTP server, so developers often need to port one themselves. This article provides a step‑by‑step guide for porting the vsftpd 3.0.2 FTP server to an ARM board using the Fudan Micro SDK and Buildroot 2018.02.3.

Environment

sdk: Fudan Micro
Buildroot 2018.02.3

1. Extract the source

$ mkdir ~/vsftpd
$ cp vsftpd-3.0.2.tar.gz ~/vsftpd
$ cd ~/vsftpd
$ tar xzf vsftpd-3.0.2.tar.gz
$ cd vsftpd-3.0.2/

2. Configure the toolchain

Edit the Makefile to use the appropriate cross‑compiler:

CC = arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc

Replace the compiler with the one matching your target platform.

3. Build the server

Run make to compile all source files with the cross‑compiler. The command produces a large list of compilation lines and finally links the binary:

peng@ubuntu:~/vsftpd/vsftpd-3.0.2$ make
... (compilation output) ...
arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc -o vsftpd ... -Wl,-s -pie -Wl,-z,relro -Wl,-z,now `./vsf_findlibs.sh`

After the build finishes, two files appear in the directory: vsftpd (the executable) and vsftpd.conf (the default configuration).

4. Copy files to the target board

Copy the executable to /usr/sbin on the board.

Copy vsftpd.conf to /etc on the board.

Make the executable runnable:

chmod +x /usr/sbin/vsftpd

5. Configure vsftpd

Create a local FTP user and set its password:

$ adduser ftp
Changing password for root
New password:
Retype password:
Password for ftpadmin changed by root

Edit /etc/vsftpd.conf (or the copied config file) and enable the most common options, for example:

anonymous_enable=YES
local_enable=YES
write_enable=YES
local_umask=022
file_open_mode=0777
anon_upload_enable=YES
anon_mkdir_write_enable=YES
dirmessage_enable=YES
xferlog_enable=YES
connect_from_port_20=YES
xferlog_file=/var/log/vsftpd.log
listen=YES
ftpd_banner=Welcome to 6902 FTP service.
ftp_username=ftp
secure_chroot_dir=/mnt/

6. Start the server

Run the daemon in the background on the board: # /usr/sbin/vsftpd & The trailing & puts the process into the background.

7. Enable autostart

Create an init script S70vsftpd and place it in /etc/init.d:

#! /bin/sh
set -e
DESC="vsftpd"
NAME=vsftpd
DAEMON=/usr/sbin/$NAME
case "$1" in
  start)
    printf "Starting $DESC: "
    start-stop-daemon -S -b -x $NAME
    echo "OK"
    ;;
  stop)
    printf "Stopping $DESC: "
    start-stop-daemon -K -x $NAME
    echo "OK"
    ;;
  restart|force-reload)
    echo "Restarting $DESC: "
    $0 stop
    sleep 1
    $0 start
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|force-reload}" >&2
    exit 1
    ;;
esac
exit 0

Enable it with:

/etc/init.d/S70vsftpd restart

8. Test from a client

From a Windows PC, connect with the built‑in FTP client:

C:\>ftp
ftp> open 192.168.31.45
User (192.168.31.45:(none)): root
Password:
230 Login successful.
ftp> ls
... (directory listing) ...
ftp> get 123
... (file download) ...
ftp> quit
221 Goodbye.

Following these steps yields a functional FTP service on the ARM board, ready for file transfer and further integration.