How to quickly add FTP/SFTP support in Linux

Enabling FTP in Linux is actually really simple and not that daunting. Here is a quick, simple tutorial on how to enable FTP in Linux!

Installation

Our first step is to install vsftpd. We can do this by running:

sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install vsftpd

Now after we install it, we need to start it. To do this, run:

sudo systemctl start vsftpd
sudo systemctl enable vsftpd

And that’s the basic setup! You now should have an FTP server up and running!

Configuration

This part is optional really, since most of the configuration settings that are essential are already enabled but it’s really important to know about configuring vsftpd.

First, before we configure vsftpd, lets make a backup of the original configuration file:

sudo cp /etc/vsftpd.conf /etc/vsftpd.conf.original

And configuring the file is just a matter of opening up the configuration file! Remember that the location of the configuration file is at /etc/vsftpd.conf

Basic Setup of the Configuration File

To disable anonymous login and to enable local users login and give them write permissions:

# No anonymous login
anonymous_enable=NO

# Let local users login
# If you connect from the internet with local users, you should enable TLS/SSL/FTPS
local_enable=YES

# Write permissions
write_enable=YES

To deny some users to login, add the following options in the end of the file:

userlist_deny=YES
userlist_file=/etc/vsftpd.denied_users

To allow just some users to login:

userlist_deny=NO
userlist_enable=YES
userlist_file=/etc/vsftpd.allowed_users

To use vsftpd with encryption (it’s safer), change or add the following options (some options aren’t on the original config file, so add them):

ssl_enable=YES
allow_anon_ssl=NO
force_local_data_ssl=YES
force_local_logins_ssl=YES
ssl_tlsv1=YES
ssl_sslv2=YES
ssl_sslv3=YES

# Filezilla uses port 21 if you don't set any port
# in Servertype "FTPES - FTP over explicit TLS/SSL"
# Port 990 is the default used for FTPS protocol.
# Uncomment it if you want/have to use port 990.

# listen_port=990

Here are other additional options that may come handy:

# Show hidden files and the "." and ".." folders.
# Useful to not write over hidden files:
force_dot_files=YES

# Hide the info about the owner (user and group) of the files.
hide_ids=YES

# Connection limit for each IP:
max_per_ip=2

# Maximum number of clients:
max_clients=20

Apply Configuration Changes

If you have modified the configuration file, remember that we need to apply them! To do this, run:

sudo /etc/init.d/vsftpd restart

And that is pretty much it for this tutorial! You now successfully have enabled FTP/SFTP on Linux! I hope this tutorial helped you!