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I have tftpd-hpa installed(Ubuntu 16.04 LTS). Recently, maybe after getting some updates (or uninstalling some application with vaste dependencies) the tftpd-hpa doesn't start anymore. The tftpd-hpa settings are:

TFTP_USERNAME="tftp"
TFTP_DIRECTORY="/var/lib/tftpboot"
TFTP_ADDRESS=":69"
TFTP_OPTIONS="--secure --create"

The default root directory is /var/lib/tftpboot. Output of systemctl status tftpd-hpa.service and journalctl -xe commands:

testlab@Amtek:~$ systemctl status tftpd-hpa.service
● tftpd-hpa.service - LSB: HPA's tftp server
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/init.d/tftpd-hpa; bad; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2017-04-18 01:47:32 EEST; 2min 8
     Docs: man:systemd-sysv-generator(8)
  Process: 4764 ExecStart=/etc/init.d/tftpd-hpa start (code=exited, status=71)

Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Stopped LSB: HPA's tftp server.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Starting LSB: HPA's tftp server...
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek tftpd-hpa[4764]:  * Starting HPA's tftpd in.tftpd
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek in.tftpd[4777]: cannot bind to local IPv4 socket: Addre
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Control process exited, 
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: HPA's tftp server.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Unit entered failed stat
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Failed with result 'exit
lines 1-14/14 (END)

testlab@Amtek:~$ journalctl -xe
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has finished shutting down.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Starting LSB: HPA's tftp server...
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun starting up.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek tftpd-hpa[4764]:  * Starting HPA's tftpd in.tftpd
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek in.tftpd[4777]: cannot bind to local IPv4 socket: Addre
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Control process exited, 
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: HPA's tftp server.
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Unit entered failed stat
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Failed with result 'exit
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek polkitd(authority=local)[885]: Unregistered Authenticat
Apr 18 01:48:46 Amtek kernel: [drm:intel_pipe_update_end [i915]] *ERROR* Atom
lines 1276-1298/1298 (END)
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has finished shutting down.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Starting LSB: HPA's tftp server...
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun starting up.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek tftpd-hpa[4764]:  * Starting HPA's tftpd in.tftpd
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek in.tftpd[4777]: cannot bind to local IPv4 socket: Addres
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Control process exited, c
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: HPA's tftp server.
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Unit entered failed state
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Failed with result 'exit-
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek polkitd(authority=local)[885]: Unregistered Authenticati
Apr 18 01:48:46 Amtek kernel: [drm:intel_pipe_update_end [i915]] *ERROR* Atomi
lines 1276-1298/1298 (END)
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has finished shutting down.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Starting LSB: HPA's tftp server...
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun starting up.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek tftpd-hpa[4764]:  * Starting HPA's tftpd in.tftpd
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek in.tftpd[4777]: cannot bind to local IPv4 socket: Address already in use
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=71
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: HPA's tftp server.
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek polkitd(authority=local)[885]: Unregistered Authentication Agent for unix-process:4752:17293
Apr 18 01:48:46 Amtek kernel: [drm:intel_pipe_update_end [i915]] *ERROR* Atomic update failure on pipe A (start=58
lines 1276-1298/1298 (END)
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has finished shutting down.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Starting LSB: HPA's tftp server...
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun starting up.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek tftpd-hpa[4764]:  * Starting HPA's tftpd in.tftpd
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek in.tftpd[4777]: cannot bind to local IPv4 socket: Address already in use
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=71
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: HPA's tftp server.
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek polkitd(authority=local)[885]: Unregistered Authentication Agent for unix-process:4752:172933
Apr 18 01:48:46 Amtek kernel: [drm:intel_pipe_update_end [i915]] *ERROR* Atomic update failure on pipe A (start=585
lines 1276-1298/1298 (END)
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has finished shutting down.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Starting LSB: HPA's tftp server...
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun starting up.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek tftpd-hpa[4764]:  * Starting HPA's tftpd in.tftpd
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek in.tftpd[4777]: cannot bind to local IPv4 socket: Address already in use
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=71
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: HPA's tftp server.
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek polkitd(authority=local)[885]: Unregistered Authentication Agent for unix-process:4752:1729339 (system
Apr 18 01:48:46 Amtek kernel: [drm:intel_pipe_update_end [i915]] *ERROR* Atomic update failure on pipe A (start=585206 end=5
lines 1276-1298/1298 (END)
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has finished shutting down.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Starting LSB: HPA's tftp server...
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun starting up.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek tftpd-hpa[4764]:  * Starting HPA's tftpd in.tftpd
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek in.tftpd[4777]: cannot bind to local IPv4 socket: Address already in use
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=71
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: HPA's tftp server.
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek polkitd(authority=local)[885]: Unregistered Authentication Agent for unix-process:4752:1729339 (system 
Apr 18 01:48:46 Amtek kernel: [drm:intel_pipe_update_end [i915]] *ERROR* Atomic update failure on pipe A (start=585206 end=58
lines 1276-1298/1298 (END)
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has finished shutting down.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Starting LSB: HPA's tftp server...
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has begun starting up.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek tftpd-hpa[4764]:  * Starting HPA's tftpd in.tftpd
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek in.tftpd[4777]: cannot bind to local IPv4 socket: Address already in use
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=71
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: Failed to start LSB: HPA's tftp server.
-- Subject: Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
-- 
-- Unit tftpd-hpa.service has failed.
-- 
-- The result is failed.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Unit entered failed state.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek systemd[1]: tftpd-hpa.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek polkitd(authority=local)[885]: Unregistered Authentication Agent for unix-process:4752:1729339 (system bus name :1.
Apr 18 01:48:46 Amtek kernel: [drm:intel_pipe_update_end [i915]] *ERROR* Atomic update failure on pipe A (start=585206 end=585207) time 9
lines 1276-1298/1298 (END)

EDIT: below is sudo netstat -lnp | grep 69 output

udp        0      0 0.0.0.0:69              0.0.0.0:*                           851/inetd       
unix  2      [ ACC ]     STREAM     LISTENING     20940    1069/Xorg           @/tmp/.X11-unix/X0
unix  2      [ ACC ]     STREAM     LISTENING     20941    1069/Xorg           /tmp/.X11-unix/X0
sonex
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2 Answers2

1

Combining the two parts of information:

Recently, after some updates received

And the following error:

Apr 18 01:47:32 Amtek in.tftpd[4777]: cannot bind to local IPv4 socket: Address already in use

It seems like the problem is that the tftp port (69) is already in use, when you start the tftp server. This might be due to a new program which was installed/updated recently.

Running the following command will help you figure out which process is using tftp port (69) on your machine:

netstat -lnp | grep 69

netstat man

-l, --listening Show only listening sockets. (These are omitted by default.)

--numeric , -n Show numerical addresses instead of trying to determine symbolic host, port or user names.

-p, --program Show the PID and name of the program to which each socket belongs.

Note: The | grep 69 filter the result and will show only the lines which holds 69 in them

Edit:

As you added to your question the result of netstat -lnp shows that now inetd is running on udp/port 69, it is possible that it execute tftp client as part of inetd, hence you can't run tftpd-hpa on this port.

Note: Please check if tftpd is running, and if it is good enough you can avoid using tftpd-hpa

You have two options:

  • Move tftp server to use different port This can be done by changing the following line which set tftp on port 69:

    TFTP_ADDRESS=":69"

    To use other port, e.g. 6900:

    TFTP_ADDRESS=":6900"

Note: Using this solution will require that tftp-client will use the new port number

  • Stop inetd from using udp/69 You can check if tftp configuration file exists in inetd folder, search for a file in a name like:

    /etc/xinetd.d/tftp

or 

 /etc/inetd.d/tftp
Yaron
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  • I edited details, added `netstat -lnp | grep 69` output. – sonex Apr 18 '17 at 18:36
  • @sonex - I've edit my answer to reflect the result of the output. – Yaron Apr 19 '17 at 08:10
  • I would prefer not to change the default tftp port number 69. As to second option, I have no `xinetd` installed, also have no `inetd` folder. The `inetd` files is [here.](https://pastebin.com/raw/5tJrZJDh) – sonex Apr 19 '17 at 19:12
  • Here is a few more [logs](https://pastebin.com/raw/HPKHQ2e7). – sonex Apr 20 '17 at 09:18
  • @sonex - did you confirm that no `tftpd` is running on your machine? for example, what happen when you try to connect using tftp to your machine? – Yaron Apr 20 '17 at 10:14
  • I tested tftp on local PC, created test file.txt in root dir `/var/lib/tftpboot` and able to download it. However, the status of tftpd-hpa is [strange](https://pastebin.com/raw/e7m7MC2c). What is correct _ownership_ and chmod _permissions_ for the TFTP directory? – sonex Apr 20 '17 at 21:13
  • @sonex - please try to stop tftpd-hpa from running on boot and try again to confirm that another tftpd is running (e.g. by inetd) – Yaron Apr 21 '17 at 04:31
  • I tried to stop tftpd-hpa use command `echo manual | sudo tee /etc/init/tftpd-hpa.override`, then checked status with `service tftpd-hpa status`, it still show same output as I posted in previous log. – sonex Apr 21 '17 at 19:30
  • @sonex - please change the tftpd-hpa port to be 6969, boot the machine, and check if you can download a file using tftp-client using the default port of 69 (i.e. without changing the default port your tftp-client is using) – Yaron Apr 23 '17 at 06:36
  • Changed to 6969, tested tftp on localhost machine: I can download (get) file, but upload (put) file into /tftpboot dir only possible if I first create empty file with file name I going to upload. tftpd-hpa [status](https://pastebin.com/raw/pDMG6M7B) is ok (green). The output of `ps -ef | grep tftpd`: `root 2566 1 0 23:05 ? 00:00:00 /usr/sbin/in.tftpd --listen --user tftp --address 0.0.0.0:6969 --secure --create /var/lib/tftpboot testlab+ 2860 2848 0 23:17 pts/2 00:00:00 grep --color=auto tftpd` – sonex Apr 23 '17 at 22:01
  • @sonox - great! this prove that you have two tftp servers. one (tftp-hpa) is running on port 6969, and one is running on port 69. I guess that you'll want to leave only one of them. You'll need to identify what is executing the 2nd tftp server. I'd suggest checking `inted` / `xinetd` configuration as the tftp server seems to be executed by `inted` – Yaron Apr 24 '17 at 06:45
  • I have no `xinetd` installed. Inetd configuration [inetd.conf](https://pastebin.com/raw/EyF4mi3m) – sonex Apr 24 '17 at 19:45
  • @sonox - tftp is enabled in your inetd.conf. adding # before the tftp line and restart the system will stop inetd tftpd server. – Yaron Apr 24 '17 at 19:52
  • Starting tftpd by `inetd` isn't a preferred way to start TFTP server? It seems, this tftp issue looks like old bug described in Debian Bug [report](https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=539000). ("tftpd-hpa cannot be upgraded if run via inetd") – sonex Apr 24 '17 at 21:26
  • @sonox - you have **TWO** tftp servers running on your system, tftp server from *inetd* and another tftp server (tftpd-hpa server). The original problem happened as both servers tried to use the same port - hence tftp-hpa failed running. We found the problem. You should choose **ONE TFTP** server and remove the other one. This will solve your problem. The Debian Bug report doesn't seems to be related. – Yaron Apr 25 '17 at 06:36
  • I commented tftp line in `/etc/inetd.conf`, and changed port back to 69 in tftpd-hpa configuration file. When I checked status with `sudo service tftpd-hpa status`, it show **failed** status again, all the same. I can download files, though (tested on localhost). – sonex Apr 25 '17 at 19:04
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    @sonex - did you restart your system after you made the changes? – Yaron Apr 25 '17 at 19:42
  • It works now, a full system restart was needed to apply changes, as restart tftpd-hpa service from terminal not worked. Thank you! – sonex Apr 25 '17 at 22:02
0

It could be useful for someone with new versions of tftpd-hpa. My config is:

RUN_DAEMON="yes"
TFTP_USERNAME="tftp"
TFTP_DIRECTORY="/home/user/tftproot"
FTP_ADDRESS=":69"
TFTP_OPTIONS="192.168.0.1 --ipv4 -m /etc/tftpd.remap --create --permissive"

Without tftpd's server address (192.168.0.1 in my case) tftpd-hpa service could not start.

Gryu
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