How can I determine which ftp server is running on my ubuntu box

Solution 1:

You can run sudo lsof to look at all the open files (which includes sockets) and find out which application uses TCP port 21 and/or 22.

Solution 2:

The command netstat -tanp will show you what PID is associated with what port, look for a line like this to find what daemon is LISTENing on port 21:

tcp        0      0 0.0.0.0:22              0.0.0.0:*               LISTEN      1450/sshd

But of course with port number 21 and not 22 (21 for ftp). Then you can use dpkg -S <binary> to see what package is providing it. <binary> is the name of the daemon on the last column of netstat, after the PID.

Solution 3:

Here's a "fun" way to do this. First you have to install dpkg-awk.

dpkg-awk 'Status:installed' 'Provides:ftp-server' -- Package

Translation: match on packages that are installed and that provide the ftp-server metapackage. Of those, print only the Package: line.

Solution 4:

telnet ip.addr.of.host ftp

You'll probably get a link that starts with 220 with the software name and version. For vsftpd:

220 (vsFTPd 2.0.4)