This option can be used have NcFTPd generate extra (diagnostic) output to the misc log. By default, NcFTPd doesn't log anything except critical errors to the misc misc log.

By enabling verbose mode, you can see the exactly how client programs are communicating with NcFTPd since you see each line of communication between client and server.

For example, this sample shows why a user's uploads were failing:

2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | New connection from 192.168.7.49 to 192.168.7.50.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | Using default virtual host eth0 (192.168.1.20, www.example.com).
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 220 www.example.com NcFTPd Server (free personal license) ready.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << USER joeuser
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 331 User joeuser okay, need password.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | User "joeuser" found in /etc/passwd (uid=493).
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << PASS ********
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 230-You are user #2 of 3 simultaneous users allowed.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 230-
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 230 Logged in.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << CWD public_html
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 550 No such directory.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << MKD public_html
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 257 "/home/joeuser/public_html" directory created.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << CWD public_html
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 250 "/home/joeuser/public_html" is new cwd.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << TYPE A
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 200 Type okay.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << PORT 192,168,7,49,8,88
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 200 PORT command successful.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << LIST
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 150 Opening ASCII mode data connection for /bin/ls.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | ls 000 /home/joeuser/public_html all
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | Data connection closed.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 226 Listing completed.
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << MKD _private
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 550 Could not make directories: No space left on device
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | << MKD images
2000-02-07 04:23:20 #u2    | >> 550 Could not make directories: No space left on device
2000-02-07 04:23:21 #u2    | << TYPE I
2000-02-07 04:23:21 #u2    | >> 200 Type okay.
2000-02-07 04:23:21 #u2    | << PORT 192,168,7,49,8,89
2000-02-07 04:23:21 #u2    | >> 200 PORT command successful.
2000-02-07 04:23:21 #u2    | << STOR index.htm
2000-02-07 04:23:21 #u2    | >> 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection.
2000-02-07 04:23:21 #u2    | >> 450 Write error: No space left on device
2000-02-07 04:23:21 #u2    | Data connection closed.
2000-02-07 04:23:21 #u2    | Connection closed.

Unfortunately, like many of today's client programs, this particular program failed to recognize the numerous errors that had occurred and proclaimed success.

This is actually an alternate method of enabling verbose mode that was introduced for NcFTPd 2.8.0; another way, which works on all versions, is described in the FAQ.

It bears repeating, but don't forget to restart NcFTPd after modifying the general.cf file, otherwise you won't see any verbose logging. Doing this is usually as simple as running /usr/local/sbin/restart_ncftpd as root.

Examples:

verbose-mode=1
verbose-mode=2
verbose-mode=0
verbose-mode=yes
verbose-mode=no
# verbose-mode= (commented out; defaults to 0)

Recommendation:

# verbose-mode= (commented out)