Linux Guide – Installing and Configuring a TFTP Server with tftpd-hpa

Network Diagram

• Operating System: Debian 13 (Trixie)
• TFTP Server: tftpd-hpa
• Protocol: UDP port 69
• TFTP Root Directory: /srv/tftp

Installation

• Update the package index:

root@server:~# apt update

• Install the tftpd-hpa package:

root@server:~# apt install tftpd-hpa

• The installation normally creates the /srv/tftp directory. If it does not exist, create the TFTP root directory manually:

root@server:~# ls /srv/tftp || mkdir -p /srv/tftp

Configuration

Network Configuration

If your network settings are not already configured, you can follow the instructions below to set up a static IP address.

• Edit the /etc/network/interfaces file (replace ens224 with your own network interface):

allow-hotplug ens224
iface ens224 inet static
        address 192.168.1.10
        netmask 255.255.255.0
        gateway 192.168.1.254
        dns-nameservers 192.168.1.254

• Restart the network service (or the entire system) to apply the new configuration:

root@host:~# systemctl restart networking

TFTP service configuration

By default, and for security reasons, the tftpd-hpa server operates in read-only mode. This means that clients can download files, but cannot upload anything. If you want to allow write access (for example, to export configuration files from a switch, see export a configuration file from a Cisco switch), you must enable it manually.

• Edit /etc/default/tftpd-hpa and add the --create option to allow clients to upload files:

# /etc/default/tftpd-hpa

TFTP_USERNAME="tftp"
TFTP_DIRECTORY="/srv/tftp"
TFTP_ADDRESS=":69"
TFTP_OPTIONS="--secure --create"

• Restart the tftpd-hpa service:

root@server:~# systemctl restart tftpd-hpa.service

• Set read and write permissions so that files under /srv/tftp are accessible:

root@server:~# chmod -R ugo+rw /srv/tftp/

Checking from a client

To verify that the server is working properly, we can use a TFTP client.

• If you are using a Debian machine (which is a good choice), install the tftp-hpa client:

root@client:~# apt update && apt install tftp-hpa

• Connect to the TFTP server:

user@client:~$ tftp 192.168.1.10

• Display the client status:

tftp> status
Connected to 192.168.1.10.
Mode: netascii Verbose: off Tracing: off Literal: off
Rexmt-interval: 5 seconds, Max-timeout: 25 seconds

• Download a file from the server:

tftp> get c1000-universalk9-mz.152-7.E4.bin

• Upload a file to the server (only if write access is enabled):

tftp> put c1000-universalk9-mz.152-7.E4.bin

• Exit the TFTP session:

tftp> quit

DHCP Server

In some situations, setting up a DHCP server may be necessary. Here is how to configure one on Debian.

• Install the isc-dhcp-server package:

root@client:~# apt update && apt install isc-dhcp-server

• Edit the /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf file. The example below defines an address pool from 192.168.10.10 to 192.168.10.20:

option domain-name "example.org";
default-lease-time 600;
max-lease-time 7200;
ddns-update-style none;

subnet 192.168.10.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 {
  range 192.168.10.10 192.168.10.20;
}

• Edit the /etc/default/isc-dhcp-server file and specify the network interface on which the dhcpd service will listen:

INTERFACESv4="ens224"
#INTERFACESv6=""

• Restart the isc-dhcp-server service:

root@client:~# systemctl restart isc-dhcp-server.service

• View the active dhcpd leases:

root@client:~# grep dhcpd /var/log/syslog