vsftpd settings

I am having trouble setting up the vsftpd server on ubuntu desktop 8.04.
I have followed naq's guide but everyime i try to connect to it it says connection refused.
here are my settings in the vsftpd.conf


rsa_private_key_file=/etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
ssl_enable=YES
force_local_logons_ssl=YES
ssl_tlsv1=YES
ssl_sslv2=YES
ssl_sslv3=YES
rsa_cert_file=/root/vsftpd.pem
listen_port=54321
pasv_min_port=54323
pasv_max_port=54340

I have followed the guide to open the ports also so i'm not sure what is wrong

When i edit the file and try to restart vsftpd it says this

Stopping FTP server: vsftpd No /usr/sbin/vsftpd found running; none killed.
[ OK ]
* Starting FTP server: vsftpd [ OK ]

something must be wrong in the config file as it is not starting. you may try to remove some settings, to see which one causes this.

Check your /etc/ftpusers file and make sure that the user you are trying to login with is not prohibited. Also check the chroot_list option in your config file. If you have it enabled the file MUST exist (even if blank). Use a ftp client that shows logs and post the logs here if that still doesn't work

Here are my settings in vsftpd.conf that are enabled ( the options without #in front?)

# Run standalone? vsftpd can run either from an inetd or as a standalone
# daemon started from an initscript.
listen=YES

Allow anonymous FTP? (Beware - allowed by default if you comment this out).
anonymous_enable=NO
# Uncomment this to allow local users to log in.
local_enable=YES
# Uncomment this to enable any form of FTP write command.
write_enable=YES
# go into a certain directory.
dirmessage_enable=YES
# Activate logging of uploads/downloads.
xferlog_enable=YES
# Make sure PORT transfer connections originate from port 20 (ftp-data).
connect_from_port_20=YES

at the end i added

ssl_enable=YES
force_local_logons_ssl=YES
ssl_tlsv1=YES
ssl_sslv2=YES
ssl_sslv3=YES
rsa_cert_file=/etc/ssl/certs/vsftpd.pem
listen_port=54321
pasv_min_port=54323
pasv_max_port=54340

I looked at my users file and my user name isn't there, but i saw a entry for daemon , is that anything to do with vsftpd?

When i try to connect to the ftp using cuteftp pro i get this error The connection failed due to an error or timeout.
I have tried all the different ssl settings to connect so i think its a problem with the vsftpd settings.
Also i don't have access to root account.

make sure in cuteftp that you're connecting by "SFTP using SSH2 (secure shell)."

i'm not sure if this was the default connection, but i think i had to change it from standard FTP.