How to setup a Linux FTP server

This article should help you install and configure the Proftpd software on a Fedora Linux server using RPM packages for the install.

Assuming you’re using RedHat, Fedora, or CentOS, you should already have a tool called ‘yum’ installed on the server. Yum is an acronym for ‘Yellowdog Updater, Modified’ and is a very useful tool for installing and updating RPM packages on your Linux server. It will usually take care of all needed dependencies for a package(s) , sometimes saving you hours of time that it would normally take to manually download and install each piece of software.

To install proftpd use the following command

# yum install proftpd

You should see output similar to the following.

Loading “installonlyn” plugin
Setting up Install Process
Setting up repositories
core 100% |=========================| 1.1 kB 00:00



Dependencies Resolved

==================================
Package Arch Version Repository Size
==================================
Installing:
proftpd i386 1.3.0a-3.fc6 extras 954k

Transaction Summary
==================================
Install 1 Package(s)
Update 0 Package(s)
Remove 0 Package(s)

Total download size: 954 k
Is this ok [y/N]:

At this point, press ‘y’ to confirm you want to continue with the installation and hit enter.
It should now continue the install with something like

Downloading Packages:
(1/1): proftpd-1.3.0a-3.f 100% |=========================| 954 kB 00:14
Running Transaction Test
Finished Transaction Test
Transaction Test Succeeded
Running Transaction
Installing: proftpd [1/1]
Installing: proftpd ######################### [1/1]

Installed: proftpd.i386 0:1.3.0a-3.fc6
Complete!

Assuming this completed successfully you now have the proftpd ftp server installed.
You can start the service with the command

# /etc/init.d/proftpd start

… and set it to start automatically on boot with

# chkconfig proftpd on

*Note: Make sure the hostname of the server resolves to an IP (even if it’s only to localhost).
Otherwise proftpd might give errors and fail to start.
To test your hostname use the following command

# ping `hostname`
(Those are back tics, not single quotes)

If that gives a successful response then you’re good to go. Otherwise you’ll either need to change the hostname to something that actually resolves in DNS, or add an appropriate entry in your hosts file to resolve the current hostname.

You should now be able to login with FTP using any Linux user account with a valid shell.
To add a new account you can do

# useradd [username]
# passwd [username]
… enter the new password when prompted

For those of you that need a more extreme ftp server configuration check the proftpd.org example configurations page at http://www.proftpd.org/docs/example-conf.html

Hope this helps.

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7 Responses to “How to setup a Linux FTP server”

  1. Bobo Says:

    Nice one!

  2. Azhar Says:

    Nice effort
    Thanks

  3. Wahoo Says:

    Thank you for sharing!

  4. Jessica Stam Says:

    Hello…I Googled for ip address configuration, but found your page about setup a Linux ftp server with proftpd…and have to say thanks. nice read.

  5. Jessica Stam Says:

    Hello…Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts..what a nice Monday

  6. jasmin Says:

    thanks for sharing this great article, I had some firewall issues using passive mode, any way this site http://www.compwrite.com/index.php/2008/04/03/installing-proftpd-on-linux/ solved my firewall issue with proftpd,

  7. r-bowmana Says:

    To be sincere, I have never been here before, and as a new person I can say that this website looks amazing. I really enjoy it

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