Hi,
~INTRO (Skip if you're impatient)~ As I browsed the Internet, I realized that there really wasn't a straight-forward guide to setting up an FTP server. So I created a little tutorial to help out a bit.
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is one of the oldest and most reliable ways of transferring files there is. Almost all web browsers (Firefox, Safari, IE, ect.) support it, making it even easy for the most non-technical users.
~PREPARATION~ First of all, there's a few requirements for an FTP server (or, at least these are the requirements used for the rest of this guide). Here they are:
- A Linux OS. Preferably Ubuntu, doesn't need to be the server edition.
- About 256MB of RAM. You may be able to do it w/ less, but it will be extremely slow
- An Internet Connection. At least 10MB/min to run comfortably.
~DOWNLOADING & INSTALLING~ For this guide, I'm using vsftpd (Very Smart FTP Daemon). I don't want to start a flame war on which FTP sever app is better. I just prefer vsftpd.
Just download it by running this command
sudo apt-get install vsftpdThat's it for this part. But you're not done yet...
~Configuring~ Next, press ALT+F2 and type in:
gksudo gedit /etc/vsftpd.confOR, IF YOU ARE USING XUBUNTU/DON'T HAVE GEDIT:
gksudo mousepad /etc/vsftpd.confAnd replace the contents of this file with this:
Example config file /etc/vsftpd.conf
#
The default compiled in settings are fairly paranoid. This sample file
loosens things up a bit, to make the ftp daemon more usable.
Please see vsftpd.conf.5 for all compiled in defaults.
#
READ THIS: This example file is NOT an exhaustive list of vsftpd options.
Please read the vsftpd.conf.5 manual page to get a full idea of vsftpd's
capabilities.
# #
Run standalone? vsftpd can run either from an inetd or as a standalone
daemon started from an initscript.
listen=YES
#
Run standalone with IPv6?
Like the listen parameter, except vsftpd will listen on an IPv6 socket
instead of an IPv4 one. This parameter and the listen parameter are mutually
exclusive.
listen_ipv6=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 #
Default umask for local users is 077. You may wish to change this to 022,
if your users expect that (022 is used by most other ftpd's)
#local_umask=022 #
Uncomment this to allow the anonymous FTP user to upload files. This only
has an effect if the above global write enable is activated. Also, you will
obviously need to create a directory writable by the FTP user.
anon_upload_enable=NO
#
Uncomment this if you want the anonymous FTP user to be able to create
new directories.
anon_mkdir_write_enable=NO #
Activate directory messages - messages given to remote users when they
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 #
If you want, you can arrange for uploaded anonymous files to be owned by
a different user. Note! Using "root" for uploaded files is not
recommended!
#chown_uploads=YES #chown_username=ftpuser #
You may override where the log file goes if you like. The default is shown
below.
#xferlog_file=/var/log/vsftpd.log #
If you want, you can have your log file in standard ftpd xferlog format
#xferlog_std_format=YES #
You may change the default value for timing out an idle session.
#idle_session_timeout=600 #
You may change the default value for timing out a data connection.
#data_connection_timeout=120 #
It is recommended that you define on your system a unique user which the
ftp server can use as a totally isolated and unprivileged user.
#nopriv_user=ftpserver #
Enable this and the server will recognise asynchronous ABOR requests. Not
recommended for security (the code is non-trivial). Not enabling it,
however, may confuse older FTP clients.
#async_abor_enable=YES #
By default the server will pretend to allow ASCII mode but in fact ignore
the request. Turn on the below options to have the server actually do ASCII
mangling on files when in ASCII mode.
Beware that on some FTP servers, ASCII support allows a denial of service
attack (DoS) via the command "SIZE /big/file" in ASCII mode. vsftpd
predicted this attack and has always been safe, reporting the size of the
raw file.
ASCII mangling is a horrible feature of the protocol.
#ascii_upload_enable=YES #ascii_download_enable=YES #
You may fully customise the login banner string:
ftpd_banner=Welcome to the FTP Server #
You may specify a file of disallowed anonymous e-mail addresses. Apparently
useful for combatting certain DoS attacks.
#deny_email_enable=YES
(default follows)
#banned_email_file=/etc/vsftpd.banned_emails #
You may restrict local users to their home directories. See the FAQ for
the possible risks in this before using chroot_local_user or
chroot_list_enable below.
chroot_local_user=YES
chroot_list_enable=YES
#
You may specify an explicit list of local users to chroot() to their home
directory. If chroot_local_user is YES, then this list becomes a list of
users to NOT chroot().
#chroot_list_enable=YES
(default follows)
#chroot_list_file=/etc/vsftpd.chroot_list #
You may activate the "-R" option to the builtin ls. This is disabled by
default to avoid remote users being able to cause excessive I/O on large
sites. However, some broken FTP clients such as "ncftp" and "mirror" assume
the presence of the "-R" option, so there is a strong case for enabling it.
#ls_recurse_enable=YES # #
Debian customization
#
Some of vsftpd's settings don't fit the Debian filesystem layout by
default. These settings are more Debian-friendly.
#
This option should be the name of a directory which is empty. Also, the
directory should not be writable by the ftp user. This directory is used
as a secure chroot() jail at times vsftpd does not require filesystem
access.
secure_chroot_dir=/var/run/vsftpd #
This string is the name of the PAM service vsftpd will use.
pam_service_name=vsftpd #
This option specifies the location of the RSA certificate to use for SSL
encrypted connections.
rsa_cert_file=/etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem
This option specifies the location of the RSA key to use for SSL
encrypted connections.
rsa_private_key_file=/etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key
Then save and reboot your computer.
~TESTING~ You can access your shiny new FTP server by typing in this address in the web browser of the computer you installed your FTP server on: ftp://localhost It will ask for a username and password. Just enter the username and password for your account on the FTP server. As soon as you hit enter after typing your password, you should see the files in your home folder.
(SKIP THIS STEP IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANOTHER COMPUTER ON YOUR NETWORK) Now repeat the step you just did, but instead of going on the computer that you installed the server on, go to a different computer on your network and go to ftp://[internal ip address of FTP server] and replace [internal ip address of the FTP server] with.... well... the internal ip address of the FTP server.
Now repeat the step you just did , but instead of going to ftp://[internal ip of the ....., go to ftp://[external IP of the FTP server] And replace [external IP of the FTP server] with... well... your external IP address, which you can find at whatismytip.com
If all that worked, then your done! I will probably not be updating this guide. So remember, if you have problems, GOOGLE is your friend.:D