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ProFTPD on Ubuntu is being killed unexpectedly.

Log message:

$ tail /var/log/proftpd/proftpd.log.1
...
... ProFTPD killed (signal 15)
... ProFTPD 1.3.5rc3 standalone mode SHUTDOWN

Diagnosis: the time of the message is the same time that cron runs the logrotate command.

Google searches turn up various info about ProFTPD having a glitch on Debian-based systems due to log files, log rotations, and the ProFTPD server not restarting.

I will add a bounty for a solution to this. I've posted a workaround answer too, in case it's helpful for others.

joelparkerhenderson
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2 Answers2

57

Here's a workaround solution thanks to https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/proftpd-dfsg/+bug

The problem is due to ProFTPD not stopping in time to be restarted.

The workaround is to edit the service file, to add a retry. 

/etc/init.d/proftpd

Find this line:

start-stop-daemon --stop --signal $SIGNAL --quiet --pidfile "$PIDFILE"

Change to this:

start-stop-daemon --stop --signal $SIGNAL --retry 1 --quiet --pidfile "$PIDFILE"

This change solved it for me.

Suggestions for improvements are most welcome.

joelparkerhenderson
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    As I read comments in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/proftpd-dfsg/+bug/1246245, its better to remove sleep 1 to avoid race condition. So it will become: start-stop-daemon --stop --signal $SIGNAL --retry 1 --quiet --pidfile "$PIDFILE" – digz6666 Jul 20 '14 at 06:06
  • @digz6666 Thanks, that's good new info; I'm updating the answer. – joelparkerhenderson Jul 21 '14 at 22:26
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    Years passed, and that bug is still there. It's craaaazy. – Apache Jul 31 '16 at 12:12
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The problem could also be having a password protected certificate then the service fails when automatically restarted w/o human intervention.

read here.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=816156

Pat
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