Upgrade from Debian 12 to Debian 13

[Doky]

Hello!

I would like to ask for some help. I tried to update my server, everything worked relatively well, but ProFTPd encountered an error and stopped working after the update. The error was as follows:

> Update ProFTPD...
sudo: unable to resolve host server: Name or service not known
2025-10-11 12:23:26,302 server proftpd[6995]: warning: unable to determine IP address of 'server'
2025-10-11 12:23:26,302 server proftpd[6995]: error: no valid servers configured
2025-10-11 12:23:26,302 server proftpd[6995]: fatal: error processing configuration file '/etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf'
Syntax error in configuration

I tried several times to restart the script that is written on the official website, but I always encountered the same error. I had a backup of course, so I was able to try several times.

No files were modified, I kept all configuration files, nothing was overwritten or modified.

OS: Debian 12.12 (64-bit)

[Florian]

Hallo,

have you checked was causes the problem in /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf?

[Alexander]

Can you please share the content of your /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf?

By default. the proftpd.conf is identical with KeyHelp on Debian 12 and Debian 13.
They only difference (configuration-file-wise) is this file: /etc/proftpd/modules.conf

Just a guess: Your proftpd.conf has maybe altered before (on Debian 12) and is now incompatible with Debian 13.

[Doky]

Can you please share the content of your /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf?

By default. the proftpd.conf is identical with KeyHelp on Debian 12 and Debian 13.
They only difference (configuration-file-wise) is this file: /etc/proftpd/modules.conf

Just a guess: Your proftpd.conf has maybe altered before (on Debian 12) and is now incompatible with Debian 13.

Debian 12:

Code: Select all

#
# /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf -- This is a basic ProFTPD configuration file.
# To really apply changes, reload proftpd after modifications, if
# it runs in daemon mode. It is not required in inetd/xinetd mode.
#

# Includes DSO modules
Include /etc/proftpd/modules.conf

# Set off to disable IPv6 support which is annoying on IPv4 only boxes.
UseIPv6 on
# If set on you can experience a longer connection delay in many cases.
<IfModule mod_ident.c>
    IdentLookups off
</IfModule>

ServerName "server.doky.hu FTP Server"
# Set to inetd only if you would run proftpd by inetd/xinetd/socket.
# Read README.Debian for more information on proper configuration.
ServerType standalone
DeferWelcome off

# Disable MultilineRFC2228 per https://github.com/proftpd/proftpd/issues/1085
# MultilineRFC2228 on
DefaultServer on
ShowSymlinks on

TimeoutNoTransfer 600
TimeoutStalled 600
TimeoutIdle 1200

DisplayLogin welcome.msg
DisplayChdir .message true
ListOptions "-l"

DenyFilter \*.*/

# Use this to jail all users in their homes
DefaultRoot ~

# Users require a valid shell listed in /etc/shells to login.
# Use this directive to release that constrain.
# RequireValidShell off

# Port 21 is the standard FTP port.
Port 21

# In some cases you have to specify passive ports range to by-pass
# firewall limitations. Ephemeral ports can be used for that, but
# feel free to use a more narrow range.
PassivePorts 30000 30500

# If your host was NATted, this option is useful in order to
# allow passive tranfers to work. You have to use your public
# address and opening the passive ports used on your firewall as well.
# MasqueradeAddress 1.2.3.4

# This is useful for masquerading address with dynamic IPs:
# refresh any configured MasqueradeAddress directives every 8 hours
<IfModule mod_dynmasq.c>
# DynMasqRefresh 28800
</IfModule>

# To prevent DoS attacks, set the maximum number of child processes
# to 30.  If you need to allow more than 30 concurrent connections
# at once, simply increase this value.  Note that this ONLY works
# in standalone mode, in inetd mode you should use an inetd server
# that allows you to limit maximum number of processes per service
# (such as xinetd)
MaxInstances 30

# Set the user and group that the server normally runs at.
User proftpd
Group nogroup

# Umask 022 is a good standard umask to prevent new files and dirs
# (second parm) from being group and world writable.
Umask 022 022
# Normally, we want files to be overwriteable.
AllowOverwrite on
AllowRetrieveRestart on
AllowStoreRestart on

# Uncomment this if you are using NIS or LDAP via NSS to retrieve passwords:
# PersistentPasswd off

# This is required to use both PAM-based authentication and local passwords
# AuthOrder mod_auth_pam.c* mod_auth_unix.c

# Be warned: use of this directive impacts CPU average load!
# Uncomment this if you like to see progress and transfer rate with ftpwho
# in downloads. That is not needed for uploads rates.
#
# UseSendFile off

TransferLog /var/log/proftpd/xferlog

# Logging onto /var/log/lastlog is enabled but set to off by default
#UseLastlog on

# In order to keep log file dates consistent after chroot, use timezone info
# from /etc/localtime.  If this is not set, and proftpd is configured to
# chroot (e.g. DefaultRoot or <Anonymous>), it will use the non-daylight
# savings timezone regardless of whether DST is in effect.
#SetEnv TZ :/etc/localtime

<IfModule mod_quotatab.c>
QuotaEngine off
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_ratio.c>
Ratios off
</IfModule>


# Delay engine reduces impact of the so-called Timing Attack described in
# http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/11430/discuss
# It is on by default.
<IfModule mod_delay.c>
DelayEngine on
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_ctrls.c>
ControlsEngine off
ControlsMaxClients 2
ControlsLog /var/log/proftpd/controls.log
ControlsInterval 5
ControlsSocket /var/run/proftpd/proftpd.sock
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_ctrls_admin.c>
AdminControlsEngine off
</IfModule>

#
# Alternative authentication frameworks
#
#Include /etc/proftpd/ldap.conf
Include /etc/proftpd/sql.conf

#
# This is used for FTPS connections
#
Include /etc/proftpd/tls.conf

#
# This is used for SFTP connections
#
#Include /etc/proftpd/sftp.conf

#
# This is used for other add-on modules
#
#Include /etc/proftpd/dnsbl.conf
#Include /etc/proftpd/geoip.conf
#Include /etc/proftpd/snmp.conf

#
# Useful to keep VirtualHost/VirtualRoot directives separated
#
#Include /etc/proftpd/virtuals.conf

# A basic anonymous configuration, no upload directories.

# <Anonymous ~ftp>
#   User ftp
#   Group nogroup
#   # We want clients to be able to login with "anonymous" as well as "ftp"
#   UserAlias anonymous ftp
#   # Cosmetic changes, all files belongs to ftp user
#   DirFakeUser on ftp
#   DirFakeGroup on ftp
#
#   RequireValidShell off
#
#   # Limit the maximum number of anonymous logins
#   MaxClients 10
#
#   # We want 'welcome.msg' displayed at login, and '.message' displayed
#   # in each newly chdired directory.
#   DisplayLogin welcome.msg
#   DisplayChdir .message
#
#   # Limit WRITE everywhere in the anonymous chroot
#   <Directory *>
#     <Limit WRITE>
#       DenyAll
#     </Limit>
#   </Directory>
#
#   # Uncomment this if you're brave.
#   # <Directory incoming>
#   #   # Umask 022 is a good standard umask to prevent new files and dirs
#   #   # (second parm) from being group and world writable.
#   #   Umask 022 022
#   #   <Limit READ WRITE>
#   #     DenyAll
#   #   </Limit>
#   #   <Limit STOR>
#   #     AllowAll
#   #   </Limit>
#   # </Directory>
#
# </Anonymous>

# Include other custom configuration files
# !! Please note, that this statement will read /all/ file from this subdir,
# i.e. backup files created by your editor, too !!!
# Eventually create file patterns like this: /etc/proftpd/conf.d/*.conf
#
Include /etc/proftpd/conf.d/

# Limit KeyHelp usergroup
<Limit LOGIN>
    DenyGroup OR keyhelp_noftp keyhelp_suspended
</Limit>