Subject: FTPACCESS file format suggestion

From: Forrest Aldrich <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 10 May 1998 10:59:07 -0400

Topic change! :-)

A short time ago, I approached Stan about possibly considering a rehash of
the FTPACCESS file in wu-ftpd.  I suggested that perhaps we adopt a
configuration file format similar to what the new BIND-8.x.x uses.  I think
the present format is a little confusing, first off, but adopting a new
configuration method might offer not only easier reading, but perhaps more
control over what's going on.

Stan suggested that I come up with a coded prototype, but my programming
skills are just not up-to-par at the moment to do this.  So, as a better
approach, I thought I would toss the idea into the group and see what happens.

For example, we could implement per-directory permissions in the form:

directory		incoming  {
		ROOT		=	FTPHOME		// indicates the path is relative to ~ftp
		UPLOAD	= 	0600			// if set to anything other than NO, use these permissions
		interface	= 	0.0.0.0			// for machines that have more than one interface
		security	=	normal			// perhaps for specifying/enforcing SSL transactions ?
		group		= 	staff
		chroot		=	yes
		LOG		=	FILE  /some/path	// logs can be customized and located separately
if needed
		LOGOPT	= 	in:out			// logging parameters
		HOSTS		= 	0.0.0.0:time-string; 	// include FTPACCESS functionality ?
}

You could also have, at the top, some default definitions that would take
place if not overridden below.

Yes, this is probably not the best example, and I could have put more
thought into it before posting... but my time is a little limited at the
moment :-)

I realize that this opens up a plethora of options, and will take some
significant coding time to implement.  As such, it's probably more
appropriate for a future revision of wu-ftpd.  It might also make it
feasible to integrate the FTPACCESS functionality into this configuration
file--which can be tailored on a per-directory basis.

Comments?

Forrest