Install FTP Server (ProFTPD) on Ubuntu VPS

At this point, we have installed our apache, php and secured using suPHP. So, the next in the list is installing an FTP server. Let us see how.

FTP Server

The FTP Server software we are going to use is proftp. It is known FTP server for its performance, scalability and security. In this post though, we are going to see how to install proftpd and configure for optimum usage.

#1: Installation:

As usual, run the following command:

sudo apt-get install proftpd

Select standalone when prompted and it will install proftpd with basic configuration.

#2: Editing configuration:

Edit /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf

sudo nano /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf

And change the followings to set the new values:

ServerName       "My VPS"

What ever is your host name.

DefaultRoot      ~

Jail users in their home directory.

Umask                           022  022

Set UMask

# Set the user and group that the server normally runs at.
User                            www-data
Group                           www-data

Save the file (Ctrl +X, Y, Enter) and you are done.

Add Resume Capability

When uploading large files, resuming capability may come in handy. To add this feature to proftpd simply edit /etc/proftpd/proftpd.conf again and add the following lines:

#Max Upload and Retrieve
MaxStoreFileSize 2048 Mb
MaxRetrieveFileSize 2048 Mb

#Allow store restart
AllowStoreRestart on

Now restart your proftpd server

sudo nano service proftpd restart

And you are good to go.

Testing:

Use any FTP Client (I would prefer FileZilla) to login to your server.

Well that’s it. If you want to further secure your FTP connection using SSL, then I recommend reading this at howtoforge.

So that was all about having a working VPS setup. Now go ahead and install your first WordPress site in a virtual host. If you have any problems, then you know where to ask!