How to Setup an FTP Server in Ubuntu

A File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server allows users to upload and download files to a server using the FTP protocol. FTP is useful because it is cross platform and faster than HTTP for large files. It also allows a far wider range of transfer commands, including batch transfers and transfers optimized for either ASCII or binary files. Ubuntu is a very popular distribution of the Linux operating system. Ubuntu is available as either a desktop or server distribution. The steps below provide a better understanding of the two programs.

Instructions

1. Open a terminal window.

2. Install vsftpd. Vsftpd is the daemon, or server, that users will connect to. To install vsftpd, type "sudo apt-get install vsftpd." Ubuntu will ask for your password. Follow the on screen instructions to install the server.

3. Edit the configuration, or conf, file. To do this, browse to "/etc" using the Nautilus file browser. Nautilus is the default file browser on most Ubuntu installations. Find "vsftpd.conf" and double-click on the file.

4. Enable or disable anonymous access. Anonymous access allows people to access your server by simply giving you their email address. If anonymous access is disabled, you will need to create an account for each person who you wish to access your FTP server.

5. Set the location for the root of the FTP file structure. This setting is controlled by "secure_chroot_dir" in the vsftpd.conf file.

6. Restart the FTP server by typing "sudo /etc/init.d/vsftpd restart."

7. Place the files you want to share in the FTP root.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Ubuntu information