HOWTO : Create a FTP server with user access (proftpd)

[MyR]

Enable the "universe" repositories in system > admin > software sources.
peace

[tomstealthports]

Okay, I have gproftpd, a file on my hard drive at /home/file.txt and a chum.

There are no special folders, or anything like that, that either I or my friend have made. Literally, I've done nothing yet except the things listed above.

Let's say I have ip address 87.100.92.2 and my friend has ip address 86.90.17.50

How the fsck do I send him the bloody file?

Sorry, don't have much time to check google at the moment.

Other non-gproftpd solutions are welcome, the simpler the better!

Thanks!

[MyR]

Okay, I have gproftpd, a file on my hard drive at /home/file.txt and a chum.

There are no special folders, or anything like that, that either I or my friend have made. Literally, I've done nothing yet except the things listed above.

Let's say I have ip address 87.100.92.2 and my friend has ip address 86.90.17.50

How the fsck do I send him the bloody file?

Sorry, don't have much time to check google at the moment.

Other non-gproftpd solutions are welcome, the simpler the better!

Thanks!

email it to him?

[tomstealthports]

Good idea. And it made me laugh.

[loudog23]

Hey,
i folloewd every step and now i have a server running.
-I'm able to connect to myself
-I see myself in the ftptop

Need Help with this: i can connect, send password but then it stucks on "loading files names", ive tried with 2 different client and with firefox. with firefox i stall half way loading.

i don't know if it's related to my conf file but i attached it anyway.
I took the defaults and modified it with some of your advise.
Take note i use a 2nd hardrive for sharing so my ftp path is '/media/louserv/loushared' also use 'louserv' instead of ftpuser


Tweaking help please: The second thing i need help with, is i want to create an separate full access folder for each user and one shared (read only) folder. I will only have few friend connecting to my ftp.
exemple:
one Read only folder (/media/louserv/loushared/shared)
one folder for me (/media/louserv/loushared/lou
on for my friend julie (/media/louserv/loushared/julie)
and so on....

is there a way i can access my shared folder with full access localy and keep it read only in the ftp?

Thank so much for your help and time
lou

[frodon]

Is "/media/louserv/loushared" the home directory of the user you use for FTP connection ?

For your tweaking you have some explanation on how filter based on user in first post then the "DefaultRoot ~" command alone will lock all users in their home directory. Finally you would need to create one shared directory inside the home directory of each user and mount your /media/louserv/loushared/shared directory there. There're surely many other options to do this, this one is just the most secure i have in mind.

[loudog23]

Is "/media/louserv/loushared" the home directory of the user you use for FTP connection ?

For your tweaking you have some explanation on how filter based on user in first post then the "DefaultRoot ~" command alone will lock all users in their home directory. Finally you would need to create one shared directory inside the home directory of each user and mount your /media/louserv/loushared/shared directory there. There're surely many other options to do this, this one is just the most secure i have in mind.

Yes, loushared is the home directory of user 'louserv' (i know it's confusing since the label of my hdd is called louserv too)
if i understood correctly i can make my shared folder wherever i want on my system and just mount it into the user's home if i want him to have access.

To allow a friend into my FTP, where do i set his userename and password?
the GUI dosen't work on my system. Is it linked with the user on my system? I saw your exemple of user1 and user2 with different access, but still i wonder how to create those user.

And this morning as i woke up, i had a flash and now i wonder if an VPN would be more what i'm looking for.

Merci beaucoup de votre aide!
And thank for the prompt reply, all my student-friend-with-limited-space-laptop are thanking you as well
lou

[frodon]

Yes, loushared is the home directory of user 'louserv' (i know it's confusing since the label of my hdd is called louserv too)
if i understood correctly i can make my shared folder wherever i want on my system and just mount it into the user's home if i want him to have access.

Yes it's the most convenient way i found to do it, i don't know all the way to do though.

To allow a friend into my FTP, where do i set his userename and password?

He just need to have the username and password of a user listed in your ftp config.

the GUI dosen't work on my system. Is it linked with the user on my system? I saw your exemple of user1 and user2 with different access, but still i wonder how to create those user.

Forget the GUI, your use is not common and i'm not sure you will be able to do what you want to do with the GUI.

And this morning as i woke up, i had a flash and now i wonder if an VPN would be more what i'm looking for.

I can't really answer you by lack of VPN knowledge but ssh can also be an option for you, many ftp client are able to connect ssh server for file transfer stuff it is called SFTP.

[loudog23]

I feel dumb asking you this but,

To create a user on the ftp, i need to:
1-Create the user and password in my system (system -> admin -> usergroup) (example: User=julie pwd=1234)
2-I set his home folder to 'media/louserv/loushared/julie'
3-Add 'UserAlias julienick julie' to the .conf file
And from there, julie can access my FTP by login in as 'julienick' and need to use the password 1234 i've set on my system. Is that right?

Sorry to ask you all these question, i really apreciate your help. I saw in the symapect packge manager the proftp-doc pacakge, i will download it an will read it when i get home tonight.

[frodon]

You should have all you need in first post about user creation but you are right with 1, 2 and 3. However you must also add in the LIMIT LOGIN section each user you want to be able to login the FTP server.