Bug#1038416: proftpd-basic: proftpd service fails to start on next server reboot

[Predrag Damnjanovic]

Package: proftpd-basic
Version: 1.3.8+dfsg-4
Severity: normal

Dear Maintainer,

   * What led up to the situation?
    Even on clean Debian12, with just proftpd installed, proftpd service will not start om next server reboot.

   * What exactly did you do (or not do) that was effective (or ineffective)?
    Service is installed this way:
    # apt install proftpd
    Note, selecting 'proftpd-core' instead of 'proftpd'
    The following additional packages will be installed:
      libhashkit2 libhiredis0.14 libmemcached11 libmemcachedutil2 libpcre2-posix3
    The following NEW packages will be installed:
      libhashkit2 libhiredis0.14 libmemcached11 libmemcachedutil2 libpcre2-posix3 proftpd-core

    I also did:
    # systemctl enable proftpd
    Output is:
    Synchronizing state of proftpd.service with SysV service script with /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install.
    Executing: /lib/systemd/systemd-sysv-install enable proftpd

    ...but on next reboot proftpd service will not be automatically started.

    So, after reboot, if I do:
    # systemctl status proftpd
    Output is:
    ○ proftpd.service - ProFTPD FTP Server
	 Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/proftpd.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
         Active: inactive (dead)

    It's clearly not started.

    If I do:
    # grep 'proftpd' /var/log/syslog
    Output is only this line:
    2023-06-17T21:34:40.157071+00:00 vesna systemd[1]: Listening on proftpd.socket - ProFTPD FTP Server Activation Socket.

    Also:
    # ps -Af | grep 'proftp'
    gives nothing.

    But if I run:
    # cat /var/log/proftpd/proftpd.log
    I get:
    2023-06-17 21:34:19,440 vesna proftpd[35867] xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: ProFTPD killed (signal 15)
    2023-06-17 21:34:19,440 vesna proftpd[35867] xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: ProFTPD 1.3.8 standalone mode SHUTDOWN
    2023-06-17 21:40:21,401 vesna proftpd[2593] xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: Failed binding to ::, port 21: Address already in use
    2023-06-17 21:40:21,402 vesna proftpd[2593] xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: Check the ServerType directive to ensure you are configured correctly
    2023-06-17 21:40:21,402 vesna proftpd[2593] xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: Check to see if inetd/xinetd, or another proftpd instance, is already using ::, port 21
    2023-06-17 21:40:21,402 vesna proftpd[2593] xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: Unable to start proftpd; check logs for more details

    Looks like it is killed by something (inetd?), but when incoming connection comes, it says port 21 is in use.

    Then, when I check netstat:
    # netstat -tuapen | grep ':21'
    I get:
    tcp6       0      0 :::21                   :::*                    LISTEN      0          15323      1/init

    Now if I start proftpd manually:
    # systemctl start proftpd

    # netstat -tuapen | grep ':21'
    gives:
    tcp6       0      0 :::21                   :::*                    LISTEN      109        31548      6990/proftpd: (acce 

    # ps -Af | grep 'proftp'
    gives:
    proftpd     6990       1  0 22:25 ?        00:00:00 proftpd: (accepting connections)

    ... and proftpd service perfectly works...

    On next reboot the situation is the same as on the beginning of this report.

    My /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf is default one, I didn't changed anything after proftpd is installed.


-- System Information:
Debian Release: 12.0
  APT prefers stable-security
  APT policy: (500, 'stable-security'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 6.1.0-9-amd64 (SMP w/2 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /usr/bin/dash
Init: systemd (via /run/systemd/system)

Versions of packages proftpd-basic depends on:
ii  proftpd-core        1.3.8+dfsg-4
ii  proftpd-mod-crypto  1.3.8+dfsg-4
ii  proftpd-mod-wrap    1.3.8+dfsg-4

proftpd-basic recommends no packages.

proftpd-basic suggests no packages.

-- no debconf information