Introduction

Pure-FTPd is a widely used FTP server in cPanel environments for managing file transfers securely and efficiently. However, administrators may occasionally encounter service restart failures caused by configuration conflicts or unsupported authentication settings. One common error is “421 Unknown authentication method: extauth:/var/run/ftpd.sock”, which prevents Pure-FTPd from starting properly. In this guide, we’ll explain the cause of this issue and walk through the steps to resolve it quickly.

Error Message

While restarting the Pure-FTPd service, you may see an output similar to this:

Stopping pure-config.pl: cat: /var/run/pure-ftpd.pid: No such file or directorykill: usage: kill [-s sigspec | -n signum | -sigspec] pid | jobspec ... or kill -l [sigspec]Stopping pure-authd:Starting pure-config.pl: Running: /usr/local/sbin/pure-ftpd -O clf:/var/log/xferlog --daemonize -A -c50 -B -C8 -D -fftp -H -I15 -lextauth:/var/run/ftpd.sock -L10000:8 -m4 -s -U133:022 -u100 -Oxferlog:/usr/local/apache/domlogs/ftpxferlog -k99 -Z -Y1 -JHIGH:MEDIUM:+TLSv1:!SSLv2:+SSLv3/usr/local/sbin/pure-ftpd: invalid option -- O421 Unknown authentication method: extauth:/var/run/ftpd.sock[FAILED]Starting pure-authd:

Cause of the Issue

This issue typically occurs due to an incorrect or conflicting Pure-FTPd configuration setting, particularly the CallUploadScript directive. When this option is enabled, it may cause Pure-FTPd to use an unsupported authentication method, resulting in the restart failure.

Solution

Follow the steps below to fix the issue.

1. Check the Pure-FTPd Configuration File

Verify whether the CallUploadScript option is enabled in the main Pure-FTPd configuration file:

grep -i CallUploadScript /etc/pure-ftpd.conf

Expected output:

#CallUploadScript yes

If you see:

CallUploadScript yes

it means the option is active and needs to be disabled.

Edit the configuration file:

vi /etc/pure-ftpd.conf

Find the following line:

CallUploadScript yes

Comment it out by adding # at the beginning:

#CallUploadScript yes

Save the file and exit.

2. Check cPanel Pure-FTPd Configuration

cPanel may also store this directive in its internal configuration file. Check whether the same setting exists:

cat /var/cpanel/conf/pureftpd/main | grep CallUploadScript

If the output shows:

CallUploadScript=yes

remove that line from the file.

Edit the file:

vi /var/cpanel/conf/pureftpd/main

Delete the line:

CallUploadScript=yes

Save the changes.

3. Restart the Pure-FTPd Service

After making the configuration changes, restart the FTP service:

/etc/init.d/pure-ftpd restart

Or on newer systems:

systemctl restart pure-ftpd

Verify the Fix

Check the service status to confirm that Pure-FTPd started successfully:

systemctl status pure-ftpd

If the service starts without errors, the issue has been resolved.

Conclusion

The 421 Unknown authentication method: extauth:/var/run/ftpd.sock error is usually caused by an incorrect CallUploadScript setting in the Pure-FTPd configuration. Disabling this directive in both the main configuration file and cPanel’s internal config typically resolves the issue and allows the FTP service to restart normally.

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