HOW TO : Create a FTP server with user access (proftpd)

[frodon]

This thread is obsolete but there is useful support in, refer to the breezy one now :
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=429783#post429783
Thank you


I created this How to for people who want to share files with friends using FTP protocol, like FTPservU under windows. The way i give you is not the only one, I hope my How to is enough clear.
This FTP server will allow only users with the good password (persons to whom you gave the password and username). So you will be sure that only known persons will access your FTP server.

1- Install proftpd with synaptic or with this command :

sudo apt-get install proftpd

2- Add this line in /etc/shells file (sudo gedit /etc/shells to open the file) :

/bin/false

Create a /home/FTP-shared directory :

cd /home
sudo mkdir FTP-shared

Create a user named userftp which will be used only for ftp access. This user don't need a valid shell (more secure) therefore select /bin/false shell for userftp and /home/FTP-shared as home directory (property button in user and group window).
To make this section clearer, i give you the equivalent command line to create the user :

sudo useradd userftp -p your_password -d /home/FTP-shared -s /bin/false

In FTP-shared directory create a download and an upload directory :

cd /home/FTP-shared/
sudo mkdir download
sudo mkdir upload

Now we have to set the good permissions for these directories :

cd /home
sudo chmod 755 FTP-shared
cd FTP-shared
sudo chmod 755 download
sudo chmod 777 upload

3- OK, now go to the proftpd configuration file :

sudo gedit /etc/proftpd.conf

and edit your proftpd.conf file like that if it fit to your need :

# To really apply changes reload proftpd after modifications.
AllowOverwrite on
AuthAliasOnly on

# Choose here the user alias you want !!!!
UserAlias sauron userftp

ServerName			"ChezFrodon"
ServerType 			standalone
DeferWelcome			on

MultilineRFC2228 on
DefaultServer			on
ShowSymlinks			off

TimeoutNoTransfer 600
TimeoutStalled 100
TimeoutIdle 2200

DisplayFirstChdir               .message
ListOptions                	"-l"

RequireValidShell 		off

TimeoutLogin 20

RootLogin 			off

# It's better for debug to create log files ;-)
ExtendedLog 			/var/log/ftp.log
TransferLog 			/var/log/xferlog
SystemLog			/var/log/syslog.log

#DenyFilter			\*.*/

# I don't choose to use /etc/ftpusers file (set inside the users you want to ban, not useful for me)
UseFtpUsers off

# Allow to restart a download
AllowStoreRestart		on

# Port 21 is the standard FTP port, so don't use it for security reasons (choose here the port you want)
Port				1980

# To prevent DoS attacks, set the maximum number of child processes
# to 30.  If you need to allow more than 30 concurrent connections
# at once, simply increase this value.  Note that this ONLY works
# in standalone mode, in inetd mode you should use an inetd server
# that allows you to limit maximum number of processes per service
# (such as xinetd)
MaxInstances 8

# Set the user and group that the server normally runs at.
User                  nobody
Group                 nogroup

# Umask 022 is a good standard umask to prevent new files and dirs
# (second parm) from being group and world writable.
Umask				022	022

PersistentPasswd		off

MaxClients 8
MaxClientsPerHost 8
MaxClientsPerUser 8
MaxHostsPerUser 8

# Display a message after a successful login
AccessGrantMsg "welcome !!!"
# This message is displayed for each access good or not
ServerIdent                  on       "you're at home"

# Set /home/FTP-shared directory as home directory
DefaultRoot /home/FTP-shared

# Lock all the users in home directory, ***** really important *****
DefaultRoot ~

MaxLoginAttempts    5

#VALID LOGINS
<Limit LOGIN>
AllowUser userftp
DenyALL
</Limit>

<Directory /home/FTP-shared>
Umask 022 022
AllowOverwrite off
	<Limit MKD STOR DELE XMKD RNRF RNTO RMD XRMD>
	DenyAll
	</Limit>
</Directory>

<Directory /home/FTP-shared/download/*>
Umask 022 022
AllowOverwrite off
	<Limit MKD STOR DELE XMKD RNEF RNTO RMD XRMD>
	DenyAll
	</Limit>
</Directory>

<Directory> /home/FTP-shared/upload/>
Umask 022 022
AllowOverwrite on
	<Limit READ RMD DELE>
      	DenyAll
    	</Limit>

    	<Limit STOR CWD MKD>
      	AllowAll
    	</Limit>
</Directory>

Ok you have done proftpd configuration. Your server is on port 1980 (in this exemple) and the access parameters are
user : sauron
password : the one you've set for userftp

4- To start/stop/restart your server :

sudo /etc/init.d/proftpd start
sudo /etc/init.d/proftpd stop
sudo /etc/init.d/proftpd restart

To perform a syntax check of your proftpd.conf file :

sudo proftpd -td5

To know who is connected on your server in realtime use "ftptop" command (use "t" caracter to swich to rate display), you can also use the "ftpwho" command.
other informations here


Misc
ProftpTools 1.0
ProftpTools is a script I wrote thanks to swoop's feedback. This script allow you to start/stop proftpd, mount/unmount auto/manually directories, show your IP, ... and all of that with a GUI in order to use proftpd in a really easy way !
To install ProftpTools, download ProftpTools_v1-0.tar.gz (at the bottom of the page) and untar it where you want and then move the ProftpTools file in /usr/bin :

tar -xzvf ProftpTools_v1-0.tar.gz
cd ProftpTools_v1-0/
sudo mv ProftpTools /usr/bin/

Then add this line in your .bashrc (it's in your home directory : gedit /home/username/.bashrc) file in order to specify what is the ProftpTools directory path, YOU MUST REMOVE THE "/" CHARACTER at the end of the path. I give you an exemple if your ProftpTools directory is in your home directory :

ProftpTools_dir=/home/username/ProftpTools_v1-0
export ProftpTools_dir

Now all you have to do is to type ProftpTools in a terminal and .... enjoy
You need zenity installed to use this script.

Don't hesitate to post in this thread or send me PM to report bugs, ask new features, correct my english, suggest improvement and thank you to give me feedback about this tool.

useful trick :
This trick is integrated in ProftpTools.
If you don't want (like me ) to use space in your /home directory, and use space on another hard drive, or if you just want to share a directory from another partition ... you can mount the directory you want in your download or upload directory without changing anything in proftpd.conf file, use these commands :

sudo mount -o bind the_directory_you_want_to_share /home/FTP-shared/download
or
sudo mount -o bind the_directory_you_want_to_use_for_upload /home/FTP-shared/upload

This command will not overwrite the directory, the idea is just to mount a directory in another one without overwritng anything, so when someone will log in your server he will see and use the mounted directory if you have mounted one. To unmout a directory (download directory for exemple):

sudo umount /home/FTP-shared/download

Permanent mount :
If you don't want to re-mount your directories after a reboot you can add a line in fstab file like that (sudo gedit /etc/fstab to open the file) :

the_directory_to_mount /home/FTP-shared/download vfat bind 0 0

thanks reet

If you want to create other directories in FTP-shared, think to add it in proftpd.conf file.
Don't hesitate to test yourself your server using gFTP for exemple, it's really helpful to debug your server.

Other stuff
If you have a router you should read that, it describe the 2 commands to add in proftpd.conf and why.
If you have a dynamic DNS have a look here, you can also use ddclient(maybe easier for newbies).
Most of informations you're looking for are here
To get more debug informations : http://www.proftpd.org/localsite/Use...ked/x1058.html
You can specify a specific passive port range using PassivePorts command, it's very useful when you use a firewall in order to know which ports to allow.



Thanks for feedback, and sorry if my english is sometimes really bad

Don't hesitate to post questions about proftpd in this thread.