VSFTPD Error “500 OOPS: reading non-root config file”

After setting up a new Linux server I kept getting the following error whenever I tried to upload something with the VSFTPD ftp service:

500 OOPS: reading non-root config file

It turns out that I had the following setting in the /etc/vsftpd/vsftpd.conf file:

user_config_dir=/etc/vsftpd/virtual_users

I commented out that setting and restarted the vsftpd service and the problem went away. I then checked to make sure I had spelled the “user_config_dir” directory name correctly and it turns out that I had created the directory with the name “virtual_user” without the “s” at the end. So that error appears to be caused by the “user_config_dir” not being present or accessible to the VSFTPD service. If you get this error make sure the directory you specify for the “user_config_dir” exists and is accessible.

How to Configure CentOS for Graphical X11 or Multiuser Mode on Boot

Sometimes when I install CentOS it does not start up in “graphical mode” – that is it starts up directly at the command prompt rather than automatically starting up X Windows. You can configure CentOS to start up in whatever mode you want including graphical mode by editing the file /etc/inittab. To change the startup mode of CentOS open that file with a text editor.

# nano /etc/inittab

The file should look like the following:

# Default runlevel. The runlevels used by RHS are:
# 0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
# 1 - Single user mode
# 2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking)
# 3 - Full multiuser mode
# 4 - unused
# 5 - X11
# 6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
id:3:initdefault:

As you can see, the file gives you the number-to-mode mapping at the top. All you need you do is change the number in the last line listed above. So for me I needed to change the 3 to a 5:

id:5:initdefault:

So my final /etc/inittab file looked like the following:

# Default runlevel. The runlevels used by RHS are:
# 0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
# 1 - Single user mode
# 2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking)
# 3 - Full multiuser mode
# 4 - unused
# 5 - X11
# 6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
id:3:initdefault:

Reboot your computer and it should now start up in whatever mode you specified.